South Sudan is on the verge of war. Uganda stepped in to help by deploying its troops in Juba on realising that escalating conflict could destabilise the world’s youngest nation.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan has warned that the country risked losing the “hard-won gains of the past seven years” if it returned to “a state of war”.

It all started on March 4, when a Nuer militia with ties to Vice-President Riek Machar captured an army base in Nasir, a major town on the South Sudan-Ethiopia border. Machar accuses President Salva Kiir’s army of launching attacks on his forces in the northern part of the country. Amid the tension, Kiir put Machar under house arrest.

The conflict threatens the fragile unity government, formed under a 2018 peace deal that ended a five-year civil war.

South Sudan’s neighbours are watching the situation with alarm. Every effort must be made to prevent escalation of hostilities.

This should involve leaders from Uganda, Kenya, the Sudan, Rwanda and Tanzania. Uganda’s reaction is understandable because Juba is its main market. But the shared refugee burden due to the South Sudan conflicts should be a source of concern to regional leaders.

President William Ruto dispatched ODM leader Raila Odinga to Juba to meet the main parties, but he was not allowed to see Machar. Kiir is said to be angry about the killing of one of his generals.

“I had a lengthy discussion with President Kiir, who told me that there was a killing of a general and over 10 other people in the town of Nasir in Upper Nile, and this is what they are investigating,” Raila said on his return to Kenya.

“Because of this, he said that … Machar had been put under house arrest as they continue with their investigations.”

Given the continued hostilities, Raila’s mission as Kenya’s special envoy to South Sudan did not succeed. That is why we welcome new efforts by the African Union Commission chairperson Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, who on Monday revealed he had engaged in direct talks with Kiir.

Youssouf disclosed plans to dispatch an African Union (AU) “panel of the wise” to Juba as part of greater efforts to enhance the ongoing mediation.

The AU further called on all parties to uphold the provisions of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS), signed on September 12, 2018. This is the way to go.