Be Ware of Security Deficit Mr President! 17 November 2013
*By Jacob J Akol* *(Editorial, Gurtong Focus Magazine, Nov. 2013)* *While the security around our President has become visibly expansive and very scary at times, the security of the ordinary citizen in many of the South Sudan’s states and the national capital has become increasingly threatened day by day, thus raising questions: Is the President’s life truly threatened to have such a huge and heavily armed convoy each time he moves around in Juba? Is our nation under siege or are the security agents simply enjoying themselves in Juba, terrorising motorists and pedestrians in the name of “security for the President?”* When, in September this year, a presidential convoy proceeded at breakneck speed through the streets of Juba, I began to wonder what it was all about! A friend and I were sitting under a tree overlooking the main road from the Juba Ministries to Munuki when, suddenly, a cacophony of sirens pierced through the heavy humidity at increasing intensity from the direction of Munuki. “That’s the President returning from his farm,” my friend interjected. Motorists from both sides of the road hurriedly pulled their vehicles out of the way to the extreme edge of the road and stood still. Pedestrians watched the spectacle approaching with blaring sirens and flashing coloured lights. A convoy of black limousines sped by at breakneck speed. Following closely behind were a number of pickup vehicles, loaded to the brim with uniformed security men. I wondered aloud: “Why this heavy security around the President? Anything to do with the recent Presidential Decrees…” “It is not over yet,” my friend pointed out, “there is more. They passed here in the morning. The President goes to his farm on Sundays.” There were more security vehicles loaded with soldiers following the convoy. It would be valid to suppose that any group of people, which had witnessed the passing of the convoy, would be talking about the security or ‘insecurity!’ of the President, and by extension the Nation; all that would have become the subject of increasing concern and speculation. Put the clock forward to Sunday October 20th 2013. That afternoon, a friend called to say that he was receiving mobile phone calls from the Tui East villages, some 80 miles north of Bor, capital of Jonglei State. There was apparently an armed attack underway which had been going on since the morning. Over 30 people were killed and over 40 people were wounded. An unknown number of women and children were kidnapped by the attackers, believed to have been organized and led by a local militiaman called David Yau Yau. I asked: What was the government and security forces doing about it? Had security forces been dispatched to the scene or to intercept the attacking force, estimated to be over 700 men and which reportedly had overrun the small police station in the area? The answers were negative. By late afternoon, the attackers were reported to be heading towards Pibor, some 100 miles south east of Tui county, herding “thousands” of looted cattle, along with some women and children who they had kidnapped. There was, at first, confusion in the administration as to who should respond immediately, the state or the national government or both? Who should they send in, a police force or the army? By what means? The flooded and muddy roads remained impassable; neither the national or state government had helicopters large enough to drop a sizeable force in the path of the attackers and to intercept them. So no action was being taken fast enough. When I posted a brief news item of the on-going attack on Gurtong’s website at the end of that Sunday, I commented on the lack of speedy action by the government: “This is where and when it all goes wrong: When there is no immediate reaction from the security forces to intercept and bring the situation swiftly to an end, a number of things follow, usually too late: (see news posting of Oct 20th on www.gurtong.net ). On Monday morning, I travelled to Bor to attend a meeting on a “Policy for Jonglei Public Radio”, to be attended by the Acting Governor of Jonglei State, Mr Hussein Maar, with members of the state’s government and parliament. Quite appropriately, the acting governor, his cabinet and members of parliament were preoccupied with the attack in Tui County and could only send a token representation to the meeting on Tuesday. By Monday morning, a more accurate count had doubled the previous day’s count of casualties, dead or injured. Still, no public statement was coming from either the national or state government about the attack. Earlier on Monday, the staff of the new Jonglei Public Radio (intended to serve peace in the state), their consultant trainers and the Deputy Director of the station, had agreed that the lead news of the day had to be the attack at Tui East. They would take care not to put any blame on any ethnic community. But the news was ordered off the air as it was being read, with the explanation that the government had not given them permission to announce it. On the road from Bor Airport, there was a demonstration denouncing the inaction by the government and demanding the intervention of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) to protect civilians. The demonstrators demanded that the government either protect their communities or they would rearm themselves. Back in Juba, President Bashir of Sudan was on a return visit to South Sudan. That gave the security personnel in the capital an excuse to go hunting for “spies” and terrorising innocent citizens. A couple of security men visited Gurtong’s radio production studio on top of a tall building overlooking the street the presidents’ convoy was passing through from Juba Airport. They wanted to know why the curtains were not drawn closed? They accused the two journalists on duty of having taken photographs of the passing convoy with their mobile phones. When they said they did not see why they had to close the curtains in an office and denied having taken any photos, they were accused of “spying”, their mobile phones were confiscated and the two were bundled off to “the security office near the President’s Office”, so I was told on the phone in Bor. On finding that they had not taken any pictures, only one mobile phone was returned and the other was first said to be with someone who was not present at that moment. The owner decided to wait; but somewhere along the line, they changed their story and accused the journalist of having dared to falsely accuse the security men of theft; that they had only taken one mobile phone, and that should the journalists insist on their story they would be sorry for it. They told the owner to go home and to return at 9 o’clock in the morning. But when the Gurtong’s staffer returned to the office in the morning, the night guard of the building handed him his mobile phone, saying that someone had given it to him earlier in the morning. He did not know who had given him the phone, but he was instructed to give it back. That should have settled it, except that the journalists were threatened and suspicious-looking individuals have been seen nosing around the entrance to the rooftop studio/office, indicating that clear threat and intimidation was still in progress. But, who is there to police the “Security” in South Sudan, particularly if they claim to be associated with Presidential Security? The incidents narrated here are not the first or the only ones. Both citizens and visitors alike have been victims to such activities without any redress. When, Mr President, a man herding his cattle or tending his farm in the village is no longer feeling secure; when citizens shiver at the sound of a Presidential motorcade and are ordered to close office curtains or accused of having taken photographs of public spectacles like a passing motorcade, their property taken and threatened when they complain, citizens begin to see their leader as someone to be feared rather than respected and they begin to see nothing less than security imbalance or deficit in the heavy protection around their President. When the “Security personnel” appear to be a law anto themselves and accountable to no one, the citizens will be looking around each time they start a conversation for fear of being picked up by “insecurity police” even for laughing aloud! When that happens, if it has not already started, our country will begin to resemble less and less a democracy and more and more a police state. Should we not hope for better? Posted in: Opinions<http://www.gurtong.net/ECM/Editorial/tabid/124/ctl/CategoryView/mid/519/categoryId/24/Opinions.aspx> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/SouthSudanKob/CAJb14oqGf0wws8o8HnoXxWPnmqcZMBuj3TFR1%3DtRhiJL53i%2BtQ%40mail.gmail.com. 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