Duping and lack of political Shrewdness led to the suspension of
national reconciliation .
President Kiir suspended national reconciliation on April 15, 2015.
Photo: Reuters
.
By J. Nguen Nyol
“We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.” –Aesop-
April 24, 2013 (SSNA) -- This is what ought to happen in South Sudan
but it is unlikely because we are too immature, too tribalized and too
irrational to the core. If I may, rationality is being truthful and
driven by honest conviction to act and die for what is highly moral as
“law is the objectivity” of good instinct. True, but I resent that
good never seems to triumph for long before some evil interrupts.
Sadly, this is the case in the Republic South Sudan considering the
recent suspension of nationwide national reconciliation rescheduled
for June 2013.
President Kiir suspended that landmark event despite its overwhelming
supports from South Sudanese and friends across diversity and various
geographical locations around the globe. Inability to think, tribalism
and political jealous to earn credits for what one did not sow matters
in South Sudan so long one is in position of powers. This is where
things don’t get done in that country because free thinkers are not
allows to thinks freely to enhance innovative ideas. Everyone is
expected to play dump to resemble the big man at the top. Such trends
are the political reality where I was born and where the national
reconciliation was suspended on baseless grounds.
After the fact, I felt sadden and disgusted simply because I am aware
of the implications because people who needed to heal in order to
repair their shattered lives and redevelop a damaged nation were held
hostage without national reconciliation in the country. By all
accounts, it was a desperate and blinded move ever to say the least.
This is equally painful to many wanted to heal and desperately
disappointing to learn that President Kiir was indeed an obstacle to
peace process.
It is one of the gross mistakes ever committed by a sitting president.
It is a political blunder, deplorable and unforgivable injustice done
by President Kiir to his own people. Above all, it is undoubtedly an
endorsement and affirmation of hatred and simmering sentiments among
South Sudan’s sixty three tribes. This brings me to the reason why I
decided to write this commentary. My aim is to help readers understand
that President Kiir was duped into such deplorable eventuality. Also
to point out that lack of political shrewdness has complicated the
matters and in many respects led to the unsolicited political decision
which was poorly presented just like the previous insidious political
verdict before it. In a nutshell, since the untimely death of late Dr.
John Garang in 2005, South Sudan has politically been downgrading at a
disappointing rapid pace and more so toward rogue state.
To start with, it is true that President Kiir was part of the movement
who fought on the basis to overhaul deformed Khartoum regime and then
build on common values guided by clear conscience goals to ensure
peace and freedom. However, after he (president) ascended to power in
2005, such liberation ideals, values and principles were thrown
overboard and became things of the past.
Hoodwinked or not, Mr. President has placed South Sudan and its people
before the custodian of misguided, ill-informed and opportunists
cliques. At will, Kiir placed his cronies in sensitive positions in
the Republic of South Sudan (RSS) which include the banking and
financial system, judiciary, foreign missions, military and security
apparatus.
After ensuring control over these institutions, the president and his
clan-mate cliques set out on the next phase of embezzling public funds
in billions of dollars in the cover of dark or in a broad daylight.
Four shocking examples of this scheme that caught international
headlines were:
1. The $ 3.millions dollars caught red-handed from Mr. Stephen Madut
Baak at the Heathrow International Airport in London in 2008, where
Mr. Baak was unhesitant to mention that he was working for president
as an advisor;
2. The $4 billion reported missing by none other than President Kiir
himself in 2012 and the $ 600 million reported stolen by the former
RSS minister of finance Arthur Akuien Chol in 2008;
3. The $20 million stolen by Stephen Baak Wuol and $293 million
reported by Aaron Young stolen by none other than Elijah Salva Mathok
Gengdit, the current deputy minister of interior in RSS;
4. And the $6 million dollars and South Sudan pounds reported stolen
from the president’s office 2013;
These are not mere allegations but proven facts simply because the RSS
as a nation started this journey with the wrong foot. For example, the
former Governor of South Sudan bank Mr. Elijah Malok Aleng was not
hesitant to assert this that “we already know of people who have
millions in their accounts, whether in Ivory or Buffalo Bank. Where
did you get the money from, it is simply because you got it wrongly.”
That said the suspension of national reconciliation by the president
is just another insidious political blunder in human context. With the
latest, South Sudan is once again placed at the crossroad, between
good and evil. Weirdly, the evils in their distorted terms are
appreciative of the direction of which a nation is heading while the
good masses are indifferent and confused. People are numbed to the
core and ceased to think. Few who asked honest questions were
threatened, kidnapped, killed and accused of wanting to overthrow the
broken government. What a shame! No one can justify beyond reasonable
doubt that the suspended national reconciliation was a political
enterprise or has been used as one by anyone. The fear is based on
political insecurity and lack of political shrewdness from the top
spoiled brat.
Another disappointing fact was that President Kiir allowed himself to
be driven, misled and grossly manipulated at his disadvantage by well
stationed crooks whose aims are to set him up for failure and expose
his weaknesses as a head of state. The April 15 presidential decree
read on South Sudan Television (SSTV) was one of them and meant to
trash the president’s records. The decree read dissolved national
reconciliation committee and suspended national reconciliation process
based on misconstrued political insecurity and erroneous speculations
to say the least. However, this was not the first time President Kiir
made such erroneous and regrettable decisions based on ill-informed
advice which exploited Mr. President’s weak self-confidence,
self-esteem and the absent of political shrewdness.
In 2011, President Kiir demanded more powers to avoid unfounded
insecurity and was bestowed unnecessary absolute powers in the South
Sudan Interim Constitution. The clause granted the president power to
remove elected officials including the governors. Four months ago,
Kiir acted on this misplaced clause and removed Lakes state elected
Governor, Mr. Chol Tong. Mr. Chol’s replacement was a military man.
Subsequently, Kiir emotionally led South Sudan to war with Khartoum
regime which in eventuality led to Panthou crisis and the bombing of
civilian targets by the Khartoum’s rogue regime. In that incident,
more than 1000 SPLA soldiers died and to this day no one in South
Sudan talked about this humiliating adventure. After the fact,
President Kiir made an uncivilized political remark toward Ban
Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General. Kiir told South Sudan parliament on
the televised broadcast that “I told Ban Ki-moon that I am not your
commander and not answerable to your directive”
The most disappointing part in that fiasco was that Kiir cave in and
withdrew South Sudan troops from Helige in a cowardly disorganized
fashion which resulted to the above reported thousand death tolls.
Another poignant event emerged out of the Panthou Crisis was salaries
of the deceased SPLA’s’ soldiers were cut in half by the same month
they perished by the same government who sent to harm way.
Out of emotive, Kiir frantically ordered the closure of South Sudan
oil production without back up plan. For the last 20 months South
Sudan’s civil servants barely got paid due to the fact there was no
money in South Sudan reserve opposite to what president Kiir claimed.
Early this year, President Kiir relieved 153 senior army officers at
once and replaced most of them with new close associates and tribal
men. The move was nothing short of consolidating power and for South
Sudan to become a rogue state. The move was seen by many analysts as a
dangerous and irrelevant since it sets the new country into the wrong
path of dictatorship.
Before President Kiir retired 153 senior armed officers, however, he
also personally signed off big junk of South Sudan’s land to Arabs in
the name of the questionable demilitarized zone between two countries.
The signed off places have never been in the history part of the
northern Sudan but Kiir signed them off to appease Arab Northern
(Sudan) for South Sudan’s oil to flow north. The sell out did not stop
there. The president pledged to compensate North Sudan with $ 3
billion US dollars simply because South Sudan separated from Sudan. If
President Kiir was politically smart and think independently as able
politician, Sudan would have compensated South Sudan for the
atrocities and human sufferings the north inflicted on South Sudan and
not otherwise.
Rumor had it that President Kiir suspended national reconciliation
because of an internal strife in the SPLM between him and his VP, Riek
Machar. Mading Ngor wrote, “the Vice President Riek appears to
overplay his hands at times and some of his moves border on
insubordination, expressed consciously or not.” In this quote, Mading
failed on specifying which area the VP may have overplayed his powers
over his boss, which in my view amounts to mere speculations of a
sought and insignificantly factual. If President Kiir has based his
decision in suspending the national reconciliation citing above
mentioned point as a reference, therefore, it’s fair to conclude that
lack of confidence and political shrewdness are the driving factors.
As I was about to publish this commentary, I realized that President
Kiir has on Monday appointed Archbishop of Episcopal Church, Daniel
Deng Bul Yak to chair the national reconciliation and Archbishop of
Catholic Church, Paride Taban as his deputy. This is indeed a good
gesture as far as peace process is concerned in South Sudan,
considering the fact those appointed are clergies of the House of God.
Who is Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul Yak?
Who is Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul Yak? Is he the right clergyman to
lead so much politicized national reconciliation? Archbishop Daniel
Deng Bul was born in 1950 in Twic East County, Jonglei State, South
Sudan. Archbishop Bul has studied theology in Sudan and United State
of American. His work with church since 1970s undoubtedly suggested a
good clergy man but his work with people traumatized war suggested
otherwise.
Archbishop Bul spent most of his clergy work in the northern Sudan
during the Sudan civil war, particularly in Port Sudan and Renk.
Archbishop Bul did not live through the horrors during war time.
During Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) it seemed, Archbishop Bul
moved to Juba where he became the archbishop of the Episcopal Church
of South Sudan.
After Sudan elections in 2010, Archbishop Bul was appointed to lead a
peace delegation to make peace between rebel led by George Athor and
the Republic of South Sudan. That peace initiative failed because
Archbishop Bul was accused was conspiring with the RSS to capture
George Athor instead.
During the Jonglei crisis, Archbishop Bul was also appointed to head
the reconciliation process between the warring tribes in the Jonglei.
In the process Archbishop Bul “was {also}accused by the Murle
community of allegedly siding with the Dinka Bor, his tribe, prompting
the Murle to withdraw from the reconciliation process and demanding
for appointment of a neutral person to chair it.”
Given what we know, Archbishop Bul appeared problematic and might not
be the right person to chair national reconciliation in South Sudan
for the following reasons:
1. Archbishop Bul has never been in the bush and never experience bush
lives and therefore he has no personal experience to relate to during
the process of healing.
2. Archbishop Bul is already accused twice: one for siding with his
native tribe during Jonglei peace process and for conspiring with RSS
to capture George Athor. Therefore, his neutrality is in serious
question;
3. Archbishop Bul’s appointment will be views as politically motivated
and considered as the Dinka led political hegemony in the country;
4. Because national reconciliation is already politicized on tribal
basis and that President Kiir has intentionally avoided Archbishop
Paride Taban to chair the process is another serious phenomenon and
hurdle;
5. The two tribes that need serious focus in South Sudan in the course
of this national reconciliation are the Dinka and The Nuer. They
(Dinka &Nuer) must be led through this peaceful healing process by a
neutral personality like Archbishop Paride Taban to avoid tribal
siding.
Though I personally applauded and supported the formation of the new
national reconciliation committee by the president, I honestly feel
that President Kiir has again made another political blunder by not
appointing Archbishop Paride Taban to lead the process. Archbishop
Taban will be a right choice and consider neutral by all parties
involved in the healing process. Because this issue was grossly
ignored, there is no doubt that neutrality and fairness is in serious
question.
J. Nguen Nyol is a concerned South Sudan citizen living in Canada. He
can be reached at [email protected]
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