By. Mak Banguot Gok (Makjohnson),
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Aug 15, 2021 — There is nothing impossible whence willingness and objectivity lead the two leaders. If faithful compulsion escorts both Dr. Machar and Gen. Gatwech as their guiding principle, they can be easily reconciled and return the SPLM-IO movement to its consolidated political foot. Likewise, the taking part of outsiders into a purely SPLM/A-IO’s internal political misconstruction wouldn’t help reconciling the two giving the verity that, all and sundry of them who are concerning to act as a go-between the SPLM-IO ‘movement’s conflicting personalities has an interests. Instead, an interlopers ‘hands will continue setting hurdles. Equally the same, a community – centered initiative that many might have suggested to bring in concert the two for talks will also render no help. This is because; Nuer community ‘members of different social alignment have individually or in groups tried in vain their best to mediate between the two. Meanwhile, before the situation exceeded to its unfortunate stage/points of bloodletting, many, including elders, community leaders, intellectuals, and youth within amongst the Nuer community in particular, and from others South Sudanese communities have approached through many perspectives the SPLM/A-IO leaders with an objective of defusing tension peacefully between them. None of the community or individuals ‘initiatives have yielded a ground so far. And, with a little help from the outcast, the two SPLM-IO leaders failed to find the middle ground and saved the revolutionary movement from needless crumbling. And, now than before, there are urgent needs for objective responses to the growing breakdown of the SPLM-IO movement. Otherwise, the revolution risks being helpless and therefore discarded.
The very steps that we are appreciative to take should be somewhat well coordinated and, above all, to be spearheaded by the two warring personalities (Dr. Machar and Gen. Gatwech). However, the option to prefer squaring off (peaceful settlement) and, with common purpose, choosing compromise over egoism and self-centered prides perfectly need the two big men (Machar and Gatwech). The two are the ones, if they embraced with keenness to put to rights their deference, and work for the SPLM-IO’s prosperity. For the SPLM-IO movement’s supporters of all walks, our backdoor support as potential members of the movement is to prop up the spirits of peace amongst the top leaders. This is possible if we prioritize individually and, as a group, to preach the languages of peace and reconciliation amongst the warring personalities.
Whether you are in or out, and you have any reason to spare the movement from unnecessary collapse, speaking languages of peace remains the role we can do. Nevertheless, those who are still holding on their feet and, for the bad or good turns of the revolutionary struggle, you shouldn’t be a leading antagonist against your own political movement only that, you are overwhelmed by the notion of ethnocentrism. Don’t take a side as many of the SPLM-IO members have done since the fallout. The most destructive approach that you shouldn’t do as a member derived from an objective is negative talk such as, propagandas, insults and deliberate attacks on each other. You don’t need to encourage more divisions.
Now that, almost all of the SPLM-IO movement ‘followers comes to the familiar term with coming up of an uncalled for vastness of antagonism within the SPLM-IO movement, and, for an objective of rescuing the movement from collapse, we don’t wants in any form to see the people ‘movement falling short halfway the victory. This is because, the SPLM-IO after so many years of great effort and, indeed so many precious lives that have been wasted on its current proportion, deserves triumph over these political misfortunes.
Hence! If we all wanted to work for the SPLM-IO movement and, certainly, its reunification after Kitgwang Declaration, we support possibilities that leads to the reconciliation amongst the SPLM-IO movement’s leaders who have failed to hold us together towards the initial cause and the revolution’s prime objective. But, not only by displaying mere wishes for a quick way out of the splitting up by SPLM-IO enthusiasts that will bring back together the SPLM-IO movement. The more we spend sometimes on blaming either side for what has already happened, the more we end up helping the SPLM-IO ‘spoilers insert too much of their destructive efforts. More than before, we need a consolidated willingness, patriotic viability, and true show of objectivity to encounter the movement’s leadership fault.
Now all from the SPLM-IO movement are yearning for a peaceful solution to the current abnormal event. However, to display positivity in making any reasonable progress, we first need to ensure the root causes of the unevenness are properly addressed (starts off everything by looking into the areas of disputations).
Who amongst the two personalities (Machar and Gatwech) bears the responsibility on what?
Where and how will the issue be politically approached by the SPLM/A-IO to avert an escalation?
 Who is to be probable between the two camps to first contact who for the initial contact?
These and many others pressing questions are taking us back to the initial points on which the real friction has originated. Here therefore, we give what belongs to Tom or of Jerry as it is. What belongs to Machar remains as also to Gatwech and Vice versa needs to be thrashing out. For instance:
Dr. Machar and Gen. Gatwech fell apart (loggerheads) because of the enemy’s disparaging projection. The cause of the latest fragmentation of the SPLM-IO movement was a frustration generally made by the very enemy of the people in Juba. Salva Kiir’s entrenched genocidal regime that deployed tactics of preferential politics (delaying strategy to exhaust and divide the SPLM-IO movement) as a result was the primary cause agent.
Tactical delays of the R-ARCSS implementing partners followed by Dr. Machar’s stationing in Juba without making any progress whilst in pretext of the R-ARCSS implementation. But, mishandling of that political mess within the SPLM-IO movement is the movement’s failure. Although the drift was caused by the enemy’s caustic efforts, indeed, the SPLM-IO movement’s malfunction not to work for its own structural remedy, was attributed to the very SPLM-IO Chairman’s politically being statics (unable to manage the mess). For the meantime, the root causes of the political uncertainties that led to conflict within the SPLM-IO leaders are traceable and, none would have been unsure of how it came about since the grievances were plainly obvious.
Meanwhile, since the signing of R-ARCSS nearly three years ago, and, all the way through successive reinstitutionalization processes of R-TGoNU, it remained undisputed that, most of the SPLM-IO ‘occupied territories were left out of the relevant information about the progress being made so far in regard to the peace implementations. And, whence comparing Dr. Machar’s two years spent under force-confinement in South Africa and the three years he is making in Juba in pretext of the peace agreement, and without productivity, the later years in Juba are worse spent than the former in South Africa. So far, three years have gone by with no reasonable political or military projection due to the fact that the SPLM-IO Chairman has lost contacts with the movement’s political and military structures after he chose to relocate his political front to Juba. His action to relocate to Juba has been widely criticized by the SPLM-IO movement’s political spectrum in what many of SPLM-IO enthusiasts perceive as betrayal of SPLM-IO ‘military and political leaderships by the SPLM-IO Chairman.
Many people (SPLM-IO supporters) remained in an indeterminate state (what has been best described as ‘political dilemma”.) Lack of political communication from the SPLM-IO’s Chairman was deadly obvious. Absence of political contacts with the masses (Counties, Payams and Bumas) continues depriving the movement’s supporters from acquiring objective information about SPLM-IO’s political development after the Chairman relocated to Juba. Nonexistence of the sociopolitical awareness (lack of political awareness) led to the populace standing apart in receipt of the news about what is really obtainable with the R-ARCSS ‘implementation processes in Juba. Due to the deficiency of political mobility of the SPLM-IO chairman, an objective communication with the SPLM-IO ‘grassroots followers hardly existed.
Nepotism was also playing its vicious part when it came to the fair distribution of the opportunities and resources within the SPLM/A-IO members. The Chairman failed to recognize that the movement (SPLM/A-IO) is a collection of communities, a union of local political units and branches; a caucuses of political representatives and union of local associations. Etc. All these political apparatuses are linked by a coordinate institution. Instead, too many complaints of obvious nepotism keep mounting.
Thus! The SPLM-IO leadership, after repositioning to Juba, failed to carry out the job of a political mobilization of people ‘support. Meanwhile, the movement botched to activate the population (using a means of rallies, party uniforms, flags, and others SPLM/A-IO ‘displays of unity to emphasis the identification of the individual with the SPLM-IO ‘political movement, secularization, political recruitments, framing of political issues for the people and etc). Therefore, Dr. Machar from his part bears the huge part of responsibility for SPLM-IO ‘internal breakdowns that led to the mistrust, insubordination, decline and, finally to the rampant imperfections, including the recent development by the generals in Maganis: Moreover, the outcomes of unsounded political leaderships are that brought the movement to its current levels of dissection.
 In this regard, many are siding with Gen. Simon Gatwech Dual. His recent option being the only substitute for recalibrating optimism that we already have shattered in the face of all political adversities stocked the SPLM-IO movement. And, for the betterment of the SPLM-IO movement, there are still possibilities to exploit in seeking a beneficial way out that would bring together the two leaders for talks. This problem of the SPLM-IO losing its potential grounds is attributed to the chairman’s action to favour a deadly trust and confidence he forged with the enemy at the expense of his own movement’s (his forces, his political structures, his ordinary followers……..).
No matter what excuse are being inserts by some others SPLM-IO members in favour of/and to cover up the Chairman’s fault, Machar’s nearly three years settlement in Juba with the same situations still prevailing even for how long the Peace Agreement has been signed and, alleged to be in context. The nonexistence of a systematic and organizational communication through the SPLM-IO hierarchy; lack of political mobilization and recruitments among many others pressing issues have predominated the SPLM-IO movement’s untimely verging on the relapse. So, the times still in our favor that, if indeed, the following contentious issues fuelling misunderstanding amongst the SPLM-IO leaders are objectively encounter and addresses:
Graduation and Reunification of necessary unified forces.
Establishment of Hybrid Court.
Ideal Constitutional Reviews.
Reorganization of the SPLM/A-IO military and ‘political structures.
Removal of the SPLM/A-IO’s security Chief.
The author can be reached through his email at johnsonmak61@gmail.com
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