Yes, the Dinka populace shouldn’t be held hostage for the sins of a few (A concurrence with Mr. Peter Lual Ajak in his article on SSN of May 13, 2011)
BY: Laila B. Lokosang, SOUTH AFRICA MAY 15/2011, SSN; Mr. Peter Lual Ajak has written a moving article, at least in the way I see it. Reading through his article, I could only see bare truth. Indeed Lual’s article is not only a point of concern, but also unveiling of the demon in us that, if allowed to go on unchallenged, might rock South Sudan all the way to another Somalia! God forbid! For sure South Sudan is still living in the Dark days when people are identified by where they come from, rather than who they really are. For example, both my first and last names tell where I come from. I can be sure that somewhere, sometime in South Sudan, I must have been denied service or favor because of my name. As I write, there are boys and girls out there who, bar their ethnical backgrounds, would have taken their secret love affair to eternity; but for fear of the inevitable question, "What tribe is your friend from?" they would not even dare telling their respective parents or guardians. What a shame for South Sudan! I am yet to read about a country where such problem is so pronounced, so overt! I couldn't agree more with you on the main theme of your article; that your people, the Dinka, are being unfairly vilified for wrongs of a few. Although by their nature humans easily succumb to the temptation of venting their anger on someone, especially those closely linked with the ones who have wronged them, that act is alien even to natural justice. Pouncing on the next of kin of your victimizer is never going to bring a heeling remedy to your afflictions. Mr. Lual Ajak has made a very strong point in that the few villains do not look beyond their own shoulders. Illustrating with the highly reported cases of corruption in South Sudan, he deduces that those few elites gripping power do not only work for themselves and their immediate family members, but also do not care about the consequences of vindication against their own kith and kin. Mr. Lual’s point reminds me of the heartless assassination during the first struggle, of Commander Michael Loruwe, a member of my community in 1969. Michael Loruwe was the Commander of Morta Camp during the Anyanya One strife. While attending a senior Commanders meeting at Angu’di near the South Sudan-DR Congo border, a Dinka officer of the Anya Nya fighters gunned Commander Loruwe down. This officer (name withheld), who is still alive today and is holding high military ranks, was so foolish that he could not see the repercussions of his callous action. That mistake caused almost his entire regiment of troops, which he led to the scene of his crime! Of course it was disaster as that single silly mistake drew the worse from the Equatorian villagers in the surrounds of the camp. Very sad, we lost a gallant commander in the heat of the struggle and with him a score of innocent young men! Mr. Lual Ajak also reminds me of the notorious Muammar Ghadhaffi, who after the shelling to death of his youngest son and three innocent grandchildren, by NATO forces, is adamant to see the reality and surrender and stop more carnage in his nation! As I kept reading Lual’s article, my memory flashed back at my personal experience when I traveled to Warrap State for the first and last time in April 2007. I couldn't even fathom why we have to put in place state governments in the first place. If I say I saw a contradiction, I would be making an understatement. I think stupid ostentation is what characterizes that scene in Kuajok. A state minister's residence could only be distinguished from the rest in an expanse of mud and grass houses by the luxurious, one hundred thousand dollar Toyota Land cruiser parked in front of it – totally a bizarre contrast! Staying in Kuajok for four days awoke me to the reality that people there are enjoying the abstract honor of the President being one of their own, while suffering the lowest forms of livelihoods. I came to know that the poorest family in my own county lived better than an average person in Warrap State! I thought of convincing myself that the contrast could not be realistic, given the fact that the entire state capital’s population just returned from displacement. However, the image of the luxurious life by the civil servants refused to vanish in my memory. Surely, a sensible and patriotic state government could have easily foregone the purchase of vehicles worth hundreds of thousands of US Dollars, to rehabilitate the lives of the people it is there to serve. The Sudan Household Health Survey of 2006 Report confirms my analysis. From the report, the UN-based Reliefweb website extracts the so-called ‘Scary Statistics of Southern Sudan’. The statistics surely postulate South Sudan as the poorest of territories in living memory. By ‘scary’ one does not fail to see what the compilers of the statistics are trying to convey. South Sudanese should be the last people to go to bed at night and the first to wake up in the morning. South Sudanese should not afford any form of wasteful and luxurious lifestyles, but to concert their efforts toward nation building; economizing and saving every pound to prop up their nation out of poverty. I want to particularly salute Mr. Lual Ajak for raising a very important issue that could spell perpetual misery to South Sudan right at its infancy. True, the rest of the non-Dinka populace needs to see the realism in the whole situation. It pays to realize that the whole Dinka tribe is not a beneficiary of the deeds of its own elitist sons and daughters, who have the grip of power. One is tempted to postulate that the poor person in the villages of Lakes, Warrap, among other states, is being intentionally condemned to Stone Age illiteracy levels, in order to keep them as herdsmen looking after the cattle of their elite relatives. Otherwise, what's the point really in driving Hammer vehicles when one's own village is living in abject poverty? What's the point in buying a villa in affluent countries and building ultra-modern bungalows in Juba, when one knows that his remains will be buried at his village the total wealth of which does not amount to half the value of the house he is going to live behind? Although the solution to the menace could be prescribed in simple terms, that is, to beg those recklessly working to uncap the drum of toxic gas unto their own nation to stop forthwith, I think there is more to it than meets the eye. I think the real solution lies in informing the people that they have the virtual say to breaking the chain that elitists bind us to poverty with. That power rests in their votes or collective action. There are many examples shown in other countries already. At the same time, those playing with our destiny need to be told in no uncertain terms that should they ignore the outcries of the wise, they should remember that starving dogs can feed on their master’s flesh. The emerging class of elitists also needs to be reminded of the famous French Revolution of the 17th Century. It is ironic our earlier loud cries of injustices by Khartoum are being washed down the drain in a blink of an eye! Laila B Lokosang : The author is a South Sudanese national currently based in South Africa as a scholar. 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