The danger of mounting rift among southerners BY: Urbano Tipo, RSS
NOV. 01/2011, SSN; SPLM was never a revolutionary movement but a collision of African tribes fighting Arab North whom they regarded to have dominating them for too long. Peace and independence were attained through negotiations and referendum and not through the barrel of the gun as most of our so-called liberators may assume. Any revolutionary movement is nationalistic and has a vision. A revolutionary person is not a thief or corrupt or even with attitude of tribalism. He is guarded by revolutionary principles and vision. The expression being provided here is not being cynical or diatribe. But the truth has to be told even if it is hard to swallow. >From the inception of GoSS in 2005, SPLM showed its real colors on how it will rule the South. Corruption became the order of the day. Sixty-million dollars provided by Central Government to establish the regional government were squandered immediately by those who found themselves in the top management without shame or remorse. The recent auditor-general's report is a living proof of the dimension of corruption that is going on unabated in addition to the said names that have squandered the public of millions of dollars and deposited them into their personal accounts abroad. Next to corruption are nepotism and tribalism. Appointments into public institutions are based on tribes and next of kin. Qualifications and skillfulness and experience which are bases for good governance are not important. The only qualification considered is not IT or doctor but “I fought in the liberation”, forgetting that independence was negotiated and through referendum in which all the southerners participated. There is disparity with the government of SPLM that will never do away with corruption, tribalism and nepotism. We will have to live with it until 'thy kingdom come.' It is being rumored that Minister Awut was relieved from her position as Minister of Public Service when she wanted to uncover those in public service with bogus qualifications. The civil service has been politicized and corrupted. Since it lacks vision and goals, the actions or performance of SPLM has negative impact on the future of the south as a nation. Southerners are already divided into tribes and their participation in the government based on ethnicity As a result, there is mounting rift among southerners between those who consider themselves as liberators and those who remained inside Sudan as internal displaced persons. The liberators look down scornfully on former IDPs and now returnees as betrayers. But, not all who resided in the north were IDPs. There are those who were in north as government or private sector employees. They are skilled workers and professionals in whatever trade they were doing. After independence of South Sudan on 9th July 2011, all southerners who were employed either in public service or private sector in the north were laid off and their status nullified as citizens in Sudan. The civilian former skilled civil servants since their services in South Sudan may not be wanted may just retire and possibly start their own ways of livelihood. The problem will be with men and women who were in uniform as soldiers and other organized forces in the north. Their number is estimated to be over 40,000. Our liberators, the SPLM may consider them as betrayers and will not need them all together in South Sudan soil. First and for most, they are the sons and daughters of South Sudan. If the liberators SPLM ignore their problem then it will become another renegade military group (RMG) in the making. There are a number of RMGs currently operating in South Sudan. Compared to SPLA, they are professionally well trained soldiers. The north could easily use them as an opportunity to destabilize the Republic of South Sudan. The other dimension of mounting rift is the dismissal of independent candidates who did not succeed during April elections from their jobs. The dismissal of these persons is unlawful. The election laws should have indicated it from the very beginning. SPLM given the reasons mentioned above is encouraging segregation southerners along ethnic lines. The government policies before and after the independence are the same. Due to lack of directional policies of SPLM, the rift is mounting between southerners. Such a rift can make the south a failed state. The recent indicator of rift is the apprehension of Sule Abdul Rahaman trying to form a rebel group if that was true. There is no way forward to stop the mounting rift between South Sudanese because it has been institutionalized by SPLM government in order to function as a nation. In conclusion, the rift between southerners may drag us to the footsteps of another fully-pledged civil war which nobody wants. Urbano Tipo, reachable at email: [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 "South Sudan Info - The Kob" 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/SouthSudanKob?hl=en.
