Is there such thing as a right intercession in South Sudan? "Plucking "disreputable" personalities will change nothing as the societies that first produced them will soon replace them with identical or worse heirs." 17 July 2016
By Mawan Muortat The idea of sending an African brigade into South Sudan is the weakest yet in a string of inadequate outside interventions in the country. The colossal failure of the CPA to protect the people of Blue Nile, Nuba Mountains and Abyei; and the on-going suffering in Darfur have been quietly set aside as South Sudan, has once again, become an attractive testing ground for the creative thinking of powerful outsiders whose credentials do not require a homage to South Sudan. South Sudanese are no angels, their vicious infighting has attracted many people of goodwill to come and offer help. And this is admirable. But when a good neighbour ceases to be a listening friend and good council and becomes a stick-wielding schoolmaster, neighbourliness dies. South Sudan needs to be understood not imposed upon. Media love of shorthand phrases and its obsession with "monsters" serves nothing beyond the cheap entertainment of their often inqusitive but unsympathetic readers. Salva Kiir, Riek Machar, Peter Gadet, Paul Malong and even John Garang have been vilified and labelled as menaces on the poor South Sudanese public (on whose behalf the outsiders claim the moral right for their aggressive interventionist policies). While it is impossible to defend many of their actions, these people remain heroes in the eyes of their supporters and communities. If each community regards itself as being exclusively on the right side of justice, it seems to me that the solution cannot be found in persuading people to abandon their icons or beliefs, but instead, in helping them explore other areas of interest in which they can find consensus. Plucking "disreputable" personalities will change nothing as the societies that first produced them will soon replace them with identical or worse heirs. In most of South Sudan, society believes in bad acts rather than evil people: there is a positive side in everyone. That is why retribution and reconciliation (rather that incarceration or execution) have been the basis of social justice and cohesion for centuries. Any attempt by ideologues (be they internal reformers, or international proponents of transitional justice) to change this by coercive means would be disastrous for South Sudan and would amount to a willful attempt to destroy its culture and erase its history. South Sudan's ills are symptomatic of a society in transition. They are moving from a system of autonomous subsistence communities where land and other resources are owned collectively but with each individual inheriting his or her share. Labour and political allegiance are first pledged to the family, to the clan, to the subtribe then the tribe. There are foes inside this hierarchy as there are outside it. Throughout the modern period of slavery, British rule and Northern rule, South Sudanese had no or little say in the matters of the state, that had come to encircle them and dictate their affairs. South Sudanese acted in the only way they could. They resisted and fought against it. And now that they have won and have come to possess this alien thing called the state, they are required to abandon their old notions of duty and allegiance to the community and replace them with the doctrine of equal citizenship. It is going to be a long journey for South Sudan. Relatively speaking, South Sudan, has come a long way and it must be allowed, like every other nation, to forge its own future. Juba today, with all its dust and shabbiness, is beyond the imagination of the previous generation of South Sudan freedom fighters - my late father included. There is still much to be done and no one feels the pain of South Sudan's self-inflicted wounds more than its own people. As we speak a ceasefire is holding and Riek Machar and Salva Kiir are in constant and direct communication. SPLM-IO ministers are in Juba and they continue to work with the rest of their colleagues in the cabinet. All are pledging peace. However, there is an eerie absence of the mediators. No envoys have arrived nor heads of state. The security situation might well deteriorate, in the light of the recent events, and more effort than ever before will be required to face them. But sending foreign armies to shoot South Sudanese would be moral bankruptcy and will only add a new layer of violence. That the occupying armies are African, is no guarantee that they will build harmonious relations with the communities. Cultural differences remain huge and South Sudanese can be exceedingly fearful and hostile to outsiders. Nor is it a guarantee that they (the occupying armies) will not behave like rulers towards the people or will not engage in illicit pursuits. And for those who might not know, South Sudanese remain bitter toward Africa (barring a handful of countries) for their indifference during their 50-year struggle against Sudan in which over 2 million South Sudanese died. Nothing rings more hollow than to watch an African Union that is suddenly weeping over South Sudan. An African Union decision to send in an occupying force will be seen in South Sudan as a black man's scramble for another black man's riches as we have seen before in Congo. So, good-neighbour, be with us by all means to help and assist, but if you are too impatient to listen and understand, then, by all means, move on. 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