By Deng Vanang,
Jan 05, 2015(Nyamilepedia) —- One image, a cartoon drawn by one Danny in The Daily Nation Mirror Newspaper of 30th December in Juba, 2015, caught my curious eyes among other prints.
The cartoon depicted SPLM/A-IO’s soldier carrying peace in form of a luggage on his head while he threw a way an AK47 rifle behind him a few meters nearby.
No body offered a helping hand to SPLM/A-IO in its noble endeavor of carrying peace. And neither was anybody making efforts to lift the peace burden off his head. It is only and only SPLM/A –IO’s business alone that peace burden and nobody else.
The cartoon in itself implicitly appreciates SPLM/A-IO’s commitment to peace while questions its partner, SPLM/A- In – Government’s seriousness on peace the former is carrying with all the gusto.
Joining Danny in his well-placed concern is one of my most loyal readers of my weekly column on Nyamilepedia website who goes by his pen name Gatdarwic.
In his comment on my last week column entitled: Pre-interim period and All It Entails, he blasted me for being fooled by both Festus Mogae and Troika. But fortunately fell short of declaring me as compromised by cash laden Mogae and Troika.
As known to most of us, Mogae is the head of JMEC in the Transitional Government of National Unity arrangements, both IGAD and Troika tasked with South Sudan’s peace implementation.
Troika is the tripartite bilateral institution composed of United States, Britain and Norway that foots larger portion of the bill of the IGAD – sponsored South Sudan’s peace process and its implementation.
All in separate locations and probably unknown to each, the two gentlemen’s pessimism widely reflects what general public think of peace and how it is going through thick and thin. Although the two major parties to peace process belt – out the opposite, a more reconciliatory and optimistic tone.
But what is more important in their collective opinion is that the two gentlemen dwelled on the actions of the two peace partners than what they say. Similarly they indirectly analogized peace to a dance in the party that takes two to tango to materialize far from what is going on here in South Sudan.
Nothing, to be precise, is authenticating the concerns of the two than the law of nature that what always reflects the true feelings of someone about something it is what he does than what he says about it.” Actions don’t lie but words do, natural law concludes’’.
If desperate actions to undo peace are anything to go by, just reflect on the recent events and those that are likely to follow.
During the day of signing peace in Addis Ababa, President Kiir stormed out of the venue screaming not to sign peace unless he consulted with his people back in Juba, while SPLM/A-IO’s Machar and Pagan Amum of Former Detainees Faction did.
Albert the fact that all knew including him when he was leaving Juba for Addis was going to be the last round for peace talks to be signed.
Accompanied with warnings of possible sanctions for failure to sign peace from international community, President Kiir finally succumbed with a number of reservations attached to condition of appending signature.
Lacking time and interest to return to Addis, East African Heads of state had to sacrifice busy schedules and valuable resources to come to one man in Juba to sign peace he clearly objected, if his statement that peace is neither Holy Bible nor Quran not to be tempered with is anything to be taken seriously.
More compounding to follow his forced signature was the formation of 28 states by fragmenting the already existing 10 states in the country to the wild out cry of the international community but without action to follow till now.
Immediately smarting on the foot step of 28 states’ formation was his dissolution of SPLM party’s governing structures which constitutes yet another violation of a certain complementary peace pact to Compromise Peace Agreement, CPA.
That pact is the Arusha SPLM party internal agreement signed in the Tanzanian town of Arusha as brokered by Tanzanians with the support of South Africans.
Currently SPLA-In-Government is raining bombs on SPLA-IO’s designated cantonment areas with helicopter gunships meant to prevent rebel army from assembling lest to organize for peace implementation and come to Juba including other states’ capitals.
Coupled with SPLM/A – IG’s troops build up in Juba as more military ordinance rolled in instead of evacuating to 25 miles away to the dictate of the peace agreement implementation.
SPLM/A – IO‘s first advance team’s coming to Juba is as well an eventful adventure. SPLM/A-IG obstructed its coming over timing and statistics until IGAD and Troika broke the impasse.
Four days later before the aching heels of the advance team’s members cooled in Juba, Kiir rubbed the hot pepper on the blisters by appointing 28 Governors and swearing them into office in full public glare and in an open contempt of the international community.
Proceeding actions greeting the gubernatorial appointments from those entrusted with peace implementation on the side of SPLM/A-IG in words and deeds speak for themselves. Chief of General Staff, General Paul Malong Awan was quick to hug and congratulate President Kiir on appointing the 28 Governors against the stark odds.
Defense Minister, Honorable Kuol Manyang Juuk drenched in his own sweat in grey suits and tie among joyous crowds thronging John Garang’s Mausoleum was busy mobbing the newly appointed and festoons draped Governor of Jonglei, Philip Aguer Panyang.
The latter, Aguer, was the SPLA-IG’s official spokesman the time he was assigned to the new political office. The gubernatorial appointments bared to all the doubting Thomases the true feelings of those prominent SPLM/A – IG officials’ unwillingness to give peace a chance.
All their hands they devoted to hugging and mobbing one another in streams of congratulations, for personal short term gains far from being engrained in posterity, could have been used to carrying peace high up together with SPLM/A-IO.
Instead, found themselves egoistically bolstered amidst hired ecstatic crowds that sang their voices hoarse and danced themselves lame to their masters’ thrilling tone of war cry away from legally instituted Compromise Peace Agreement as current supreme law of the land in Addis Ababa back in August.
To the dismay of the watchful local populace and global community, both the duped crowds and strong headed bosses have depicted themselves as nothing but a bunch of outlaws rumbling in their own jungle of lawlessness.
Finally, the words the same government’s anti – peace crusaders feared to say with their lips point blank got an opportunity to be lent out to SPLM/A-IO’s defectors. Who in broad daylight on 4th of January arrived in Juba to the usually deafening ululations from similar cast of hired crowds.
Mouthful with venomous words of bitterness due to Nuer community’s roundly rejection while brimming with energy they ill-acquired from government – sponsored accommodation in five star hotels in down town Nairobi, the paranoid defectors landed excruciating punches on Troika as their punching bag.
The Troika’s only sin, is why bringing peace to war torn country that could have been brought forth by South Sudanese themselves. Quite same old story of Africans solving their own problems which severally failed due to the known abject lack of statesmanship.
For African politicians only mastered the art of making money from the West’s dollar funded peace talks as their innocent people continue to die mercilessly from the intractable conflicts of their own making. Home-grown evidences attesting to this reality can be availed as follows:
First South – North’s Addis Ababa peace agreement of 1972 as brokered by the revered Ethiopian Emperor, Haile Selassie couldn’t survive typical African realpolitik of field marshal Gaafar Mohammed Numeri in 1983.
Second South – North’s Khartoum Peace Agreement of 1997 followed the same tragedy of African maxim: Africans solving their own problems.
Third South – North’s peace talks under the auspices of IGAD took a decade old until the benevolent West prevailed through Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005.
Then tell me if I’m short of memory where such maxim succeeded since time immemorial from North to South, West to East and heart of African continent. Have a blessed year of 2016.
Deng Vanang, member of SPLM/-IO’s advance team in Juba. To be reached at:dvanang@gmail.com
5 comments
The so-called SPLM-IO are not lonely,we as general public want their CURRICULUM VITAE (CV) records in public. Show us their CV’s in public.
Deng,
It is evidently clear that President Festus and the SPLA-IO have been and are being outsmarted by the Killer NyanKiir and the Jenges Council of Evils.
Your hasty racing to Juba without a permanent cessation hostilities fully implemented, was undeniably a blessing to the Killer NyanKiir’s kleptocracy-genocidal regime because of your-SPLA-IO present in Juba now, TROIKA will and shall indirectly financed Killer NyanKiir’s and the Jenges Council of Evils’ tribal agenda-implement the annexation of the patriots-63 tribes’ lands to the Jenges with ease(through the pseudo 28 states).
Plainly put, SPLA-IO in Juba, President Festus, and the TROIKA representatives in Juba, are obviously being tactfully use by the Killer NyanKiir and the JCE as pawns period
Gatdawich highly doubt if SPLA-IO have any tenable and achievable plan B besides gambling and helplessly begging on the President Festus and TROIKA to pressure the peace agreement implementation, obstructor, Killer NyanKiir, to magically honor the peace deal.
Happy New Year, 2016, and boldly enjoys the well deserved miscalculations or humiliations in Juba period
Brother Deng Banang,
Your analysis is correct and it’s very clear to everyone that IGAD, Troika, and your IO are not serious about following up with the agreement. When are the three parties, ie, IGAD, troika and IO going to stand up against the violation of the peace deal? When more death happened? The longer your party, IO, play along with the shocking silent of IGAD/troika, the more the JCE will be convince that their position is worthy. Their supporters will dig in especially in regard to 28 states. The longer this unbelievable situation unfolded, then it will be difficult to reverse the decree even if the international community intervene. The problem will be more complicated and Somalia predicament will look much better than what will be of South Sudan. I am in awe about how IO has no vision and courage to lead the way to better future of South Sudan. Instead, you all are not courageous to know and see beyond. IO leadership is so weak, allowing what they know to be a truth to be sway by international threat. IO by now, should stay firm in their rejection of 28 states violation and force IGAD/troika to make a choice of peace or war.
Gat.darwich thank you for calling IO out as the weaker institution they are. Every day, they are losing supporters.
My reply gose to the one above called himself Beek, If you don’t know about the SPLM- IO leaders especially Dr. Riek Machar, during our stuggle with the north, Machar came up with the idea of dividing the country into the parts that we South Sudanese and North Sudanese are enjoying now. This idea was refused by you the enemies of peace at begining. But now you are eating the fruits of this idea and you called the government of this idea your government.
Againt Machar want this cuontry to be ruled in a demcratic way of governance, you are also refusing. Where do want to take this cuontry? And how do you want this cuontry to be? You want it to be for one tribe ? Please make sure that all South Sudanese are watching you and they will all reponse to what you are doing.
Please correct your English Grammar if you could,but i am not an English writer.Try to come down.