Call your self-loyalists and others not to get ministerial positions BY: Major General Malual Ayom Dor, Director Military Production, Ministry of SPLA Affairs, Juba South
JULY 03/2011, SSN; As the 9 July approaches, lobbying for senior positions in the post independence South Sudan government seriously increases. The lobbyists apply a number of tactics to get the president’s sympathy. Mostly they identified themselves as loyalists on the basis of region or tribal lineage. But these tactics seem not to work or partly work because of the consciousness of the people of South Sudan. For example General Salva Mathok Gengdit, the Presidential Advisor on the military, stood up and said no nonsense any more. Mathok was responding to an accusation by some members of the SPLA/M who superstitiously think they are loyal to President Kiir more than the rest of SPLA/M or the people of south Sudan simply because they come from a region. Mathok is right and must be supported in this matter. The agenda of this so-called loyalists group is very clear. They want ministerial jobs in the approaching post-independence south government, and the only way to reach there is to falsely categorize people into loyalists and non-loyalists. ".....plotting a coup against President Kiir..." As a result we have been hearing allegations of some officers and to some extent some communities staging or plotting coup d’état against President Salva Kiir. Such allegations are destructive rather than constructive and cannot take our country ahead. It is worth highlighting few problems with such categorization. The immediate effect is that the SPLA/M will be fragmented along tribal, clannish, and regional lines. Secondly, President Salva will be misunderstood as a tribalist if he does not loudly denounce such allegations when he himself is not. My past experience with Kiir clearly convenes me that he is a calm, unselfish, and untribalistic man but he is challenged with what to do with this wrong group. South Sudanese have demonstrated in the last year April's south Sudan presidential elections that Salva Kiir is their president. They all voted for President Kiir. It was not the so-called loyalists who won Salva the presidency but the people of south Sudan at large. ".....Kiir shouldn't be localized...." In my understanding, Salva Kiir is a national figure. His tribe, clan is south Sudan not a Dinka, Warrap or Bhar el Gazal. The fact that he is born in the Dinka community, and specifically Awan section of Dinka or that he comes from the greater Bhar-el Ghazal or Warrap State is undeniable but the trust given to him by the people of south Sudan has made him a member of each tribe or clan in South Sudan. He should not be localized. Before concluding, I want to define what is loyalty and who is a loyalist? According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2000:799), loyalty is a quality of being faithful in your support; and a loyalist is a person who is loyal to the ruler or government or to a political party especially during a time of change. In this definition it is clearly understood that loyalty is not a tribe but a political association. It is on this basis that the people of south Sudan voted overwhelmingly for Salva. He won on the SPLM ticket not tribal or regional. In fact a good leader is the one who gains majority confidence within the boundaries of its constituency. In a real democracy or in the politics of governance, it is those who voted most that deserved more seats because they have demonstrated their loyalty numerically. Finally, we may draw our attention to the current events in the Middle East and North Africa where family, clan and tribal allegiances have been endemic. I believe we in south Sudan do not want to go that way. Let’s continue to adhere to our long time practice. That is to look at ourselves as one people- the people of the Republic of South Sudan. Stand up against divisions on tribal and regional basis. Can be reached at: [email protected] COMMENTS, PLEASE CLICK HERE Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author(s) and do not represent those of the website. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
