Politicising death, where is humanity around J1?!
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By Lucy Ayak Malek (wife of Gen. Paul Malong)
On the 02nd of September, a fire that gutted a girls’ dormitory at Moi
High School, claiming the lives of 10 students with many others
critically injured, was another test and touching trial for my family.
I had two students in this school, a 14-year-old, and a 16-year-old.
My 14-year-old survived the fire with minor injuries, thanks to her
brave late elder sister who managed to push her through the window
before she was caught up when she ran back to save her friend. As my
14-year-old recovers in hospital, her elder sister is still
unaccounted for and thought to be among the 10 who burnt in the fire.
That unstoppably welled our cheeks with tears and engulfed us with
unfathomable grieves because as a tradition, in death, a little relief
comes from the ability to identify and bury the remains of our loved
ones. My late daughter (Alakir Malong) was a very cheerful, kind and
humble girl who had a bright future. The Parents of the missing
children have been asked to provide DNA samples to help identify the
remains of their loved ones who died in that sad tragedy.
Sadly, my husband Gen. Paul Malong has not been permitted by South
Sudan’s government to provide a DNA sample to help identify his
daughter, leave alone that he is socially required to mourn and
console with his family. When the news of the fire broke out, we were
all struck heavily, but more devastation came with the reports that
our daughter may be one of the victims since she was reported missing.
This grief was compounded more on the morning of 6/9/2017 when I
called my husband to inquire whether he will be permitted to come and
give a DNA sample to identify his deceased daughter and he sadly told
me that President Kiir (well knowing our current predicament) has
declined to let him come and help to identify his deceased daughter’s
remains and arrange for her burial.
Traditionally as Africans, life and death mean a lot and that is why
the tragedy of death brings people together with none ready to mock
the other because of power or whatsoever. Unfortunately, the
leadership in Juba seems to have lost this basic social element of our
tradition and humanity to the extent that they deny Gen. Malong the
chance to mourn and bury his daughter. In nutshell, it is really
tantamount and can be considered the lowest level of thinking even if
one lacks compassion and sympathy in such a tragedy and trial. My
question is, have the powers around J1 become so rigid that they have
lost that basic social element?
When I first published an appeal for my husband’s release on grounds
of his health, the response from the President’s spokesman was a plain
denial that Gen. Malong was not under house arrest. He openly lied
that Malong is free to move as he wishes. In the thinking of Mr Ateny
(president Kirr’s spokesman), Gen. Malong has simply chosen not to go
for medical treatment even when he is not in a good health. Now, I
presume they will claim that he has chosen not to provide a DNA sample
to identify his daughter’s remains and equally chosen not to mourn
with his family.
I call upon President Kiir, and his handlers to reconsider and show
some humanity. If you would not let my husband out of detention, then
at least allow him to come and provide a DNA sample to help in
identifying his daughter’s body. There is no threat in that and
denying him that is just being unemphatic. And if the government
reaches such proportion of being too inhumane, then everyone should be
scared. Because if they can do that to Gen. Malong if they can refuse
to let him get his daughter’s body and bury the remains because of the
“fear of the unknown,” what about the lives of other citizens whose
names are unknown to president Kiir, will anything matter to J1?
While Gen. Malong and others are being persecuted without any charge,
those in the corridors of power who stay silent in the face of this
grievous and engraving injustice should be on notice. Because your
silence gives credence and a node to the unlawful actions in J1, you
are just preparing the ground for yourselves to suffer the same fate,
tomorrow or the next day. Remember the words of Martin Luther King
Junior when he said, “our lives just stop the same moment we chose to
be silent about the things that matter to us.”
My late Alakiir Malong, May your soul rest in Peace!
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