Charting African Solutions and a Decolonial Approach to Peace in South Sudan: What Are the Prospects?

After more than five decades of conflict, South Sudan’s secession and self-determination from the Republic of Sudan in July 2011 signalled a new hope for the people of South Sudan and Africa at large. However, just over two years into this notable development, South Sudan was engulfed in a violent civil war that lasted five years, leaving the country in a state of fragility and vulnerability as well as serious humanitarian crises. While several attempts at resolution proved unsuccessful, the two main warring factions reached and signed the ‘Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan’ for peace and stability in 2018, which reportedly calmed the conflict in parts of the country. Despite this, the country is still riddled by political and socio-economic instability and the implementation of the peace accord remains slow even to this day, making it appear more like an alliance of convenience. The chapter questions whether the apparent delay in implementing the South Sudan 2018 peace agreement is due to the western-centred approach of African-led peace processes, the gap between ownership and commitment rhetoric to peace processes or the limitations of ‘universal’ approaches and methods of peacebuilding. In the light of this, the chapter proposes an African-centred and inclusive approach to chart new ways to peace that does not seek to sustain an infrastructure of coloniality or a hierarchised way of being. It also recommends a decolonial approach to peace that is based on the concept of Africanness and prioritises humanity and development with the potential to end the cycle of violent conflicts and ensures sustainable peace not only in South Sudan, but across the continent.