The fallacy of the SPLM re-unification
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By Amir Idris
South Sudan, the newest African country, is dangerously digging itself
into a deeper hole. A deeper hole offers people of South Sudan neither
peace in the short term nor a bright future in the long run. Instead,
the cycles of death, pain, and misery will continue to terrorize its
innocent children. Ironically, its political leaders who are
shepherding them to death and darkness seem to believe that they can
rescue them from their unspeakable ordeal. The cries of innocent
children who have been praising the elements for eighteen months at
the United Nations Displaced camps in Juba, Bor, Malakal and Bentiu do
not seem to awaken their conscience either. They have naively
convinced themselves that the political crisis that they created in
the first place can be resolved by reunifying their fractured
political party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). The
hurried return of the self-named Former Political Detainees (FPDs) to
Juba and rejoining the ‘rotten’ political regime after securing their
financial and political interests, while hundreds of thousands of
victims remain in IDPs camps, highlights the fallacy of reunification
and the absence of quality statesman in South Sudan. Recent and
ancient political history teaches us that political choices driven by
sheer greed, narrow self-interest, and shortsighted vision are doom to
fail. In many incidents, the rise and the collapse of nations and
states were determined by the actions and behaviors of their political
leaders.
No doubt, South Sudan from its inception in July 9, 2011 has been
facing enormous challenges of constructing a new state and a nation.
These challenges could have been addressed had its political leaders
understood what it takes to build a new state. Paralyzed by a lack of
vision and character, its political leaders were neither able to
realize the great expectations of their own people nor to foresee the
gradual demise of the new state. Instead of good governance, economic
development, and the rule of law, dictatorship, corruption, and
injustice became the main characteristics of the political regime. The
records of government of South Sudan in terms of providing basic
services to its citizens are dismaying to say the least. Hence, the
people of South Sudan have found themselves in less than three years
after independence at the mercy of political leaders who constantly
throw them into a pool of desperation, anger, regret, and pain, and a
series of unfortunate events.
The deadly events of December 2013 in Juba, the capital city, and the
subsequent violence and atrocities against civilians, have also raised
questions about the legitimacy of the government and the sovereignty
of the state. Although South Sudan is considered legally a sovereign
state, its government has failed to earn it. In the language of
political science, South Sudan can hardly be described as a
functioning state. It seems the only source of its legitimacy comes
from its membership in the United Nations. But even this shaky source
of legitimacy is beginning to wither away as its government continues
to defy the rules and norms of the United Nations.
Indeed great nations and states were not built by politicians, but by
statesmen. South Sudan seems to have no shortage of professional
politicians who are unashamed in putting their interests before the
interests of their people. South Sudan is desperately in need of a new
leadership led by statesmen, not politicians, who can stir the
struggling ship to safety. What South Sudan urgently needs is a
leadership with a strong principle, a moral compass, a clear vision,
and a capacity to build a consensus among the multiethnic societies of
South Sudan.
South Sudan can’t be saved by professional politicians who lack the
needed virtues of statesmanship. The gateway to sustainable peace and
prosperity can only pass through a comprehensive peace agreement
brokered by the IGAD-Plus in Addis Ababa that addresses the underlying
causes of the tragedy which in turn will pave the way for effective
economic and political reforms. A peace agreement that speaks the
language of those who were victimized by the utterly unspeakable
actions of their professional politicians. The world might have
forgotten about the ongoing tragedy of South Sudan, but the resilience
of its people in particular its children who remain in IDPs camps,
makes me hopeful about South Sudan’s future.
Amir Idris is Professor and Chair of Department of African and African
American Studies at Fordham University, New York City, USA. He can be
reached at [email protected]
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26 June 04:51, by Lotodo Awino Odug
This SPLM re-unification is not going to bring peace,it may be a
step towards (something). war will still rage because many of the
militia generals are making decent living through the sale of guns
from dead SPLA soldiers and their fellow militias. some like
Gatdeet,Garhoth and CDR know they have no more amnesty, they will have
to fight for life or surrender to face death penalty.
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