By Deng Vanang,
Dec 15, 2020(Nyamilepedia) — Aging under threat of dying and leaving behind a broken country gripped with fear of racial civil war for countless generations to come, Nelson Mandela on sunny Wednesday afternoon May 25th, 1988 at Pollsmoor prison outside Cape Town flunked by two heavily armed guards courageously strode to the adjacent office to his cell and opened secret informal talks with members of South Africa intelligence service headed by security chief, Niel Barnard. He found a willing partner in peace in PW Botha who authorized Mr. Barnard and who in 1989 resigned from the Presidency under an internal National Party power struggle, decades long barrage of mass protests and depressing international economic sanctions for another willing partner in peace, FW De Klerk.
Thirty years after his release this year no sign of any Mandela electric effect in South Sudanese body politics. If any, is the cruel episode coinciding his timely demise in the same December, 2012 when newly independent country had a poisonous beef with second largest ethnic group, Nuer. Quite an unsavory way of seeing off an iconic Madiba to his eternal resting place. Judging from sorry state things look right now, no let up any time soon despite Salva Kiir Mayardit, the President rapidly closing the age gap between him and Mandela, then 77 when heroically dashing out of iron-gated prison after 27 years with clenched right fist held high in victory.
Unlike De Klerk, Kiir was not and until now leading a country on a strong mandate having rig-looted 2010 pre-independence Presidential elections as well as ran down a rich country by African standards with malicious tribal sleaze. Subsequently denying him any democratic pretense after going on full scale civil war with more than 80 percent South Sudanese voters he claimed to have elected him.His genocidal regime is illegally and continuously governing, while the diplomatic community still rubbing shoulders with him does so against the international human rights protocols.
Went extra mile to buy off every cash starved foreign regime elements to finish off genocide survivors in the years that follow.In Rolnath or Nuer country, 15th December remains a dark stain on what was once a proud history of the conquerors turned conquered in unthinkable ways outside national and international realms.
Negatively, the genocide has robbed the Nuers of the renowned pride and prestige globally. Drastically reduced their population and shrunk four centuries of territorial expansion. Socially alienated them from the rest of the country until recently in 2016 when the conflict was nationalized by SPLM/A-IO presence in Equatoria, Western Bhar el Ghazel and Colo Kingdom. Disrupted their economic livelihood. And rallied the misinformed compact of regional and international communities against them.
Positively however, Nuer have known their enemies more than ever before and how determined they are to wipe them out from the face of the earth. The same globalized conflict discovered what they are capable of doing to defend themselves not only to their astonishment, but also that of the world.Â
The corrupt state tribal genociders intention behind the massacre left nothing to imagination, which is to shame and frighten the Nuer and other South Sudanese into total submission, using harrowing and non-normative methods. Particularly drawn from forced cannibalization in eating fellow human flesh, woman raped with sharp objects other than in the natural way, rape of men by the same sex and killing of delivering mothers and their new born babies, even fetuses were dissected from mothers’ wombs either dead or alive.
All pointing fingers couldn’t be directed to the enemies alone. Nuers’ role in the genocide is visibly conspicuous in a big way through their leaders in government offering services in exchange for positions and money as hired goons. Others were reluctant to act pre-emptively or fearful to do so in defense of their helpless people. Few from the aggressing group were even more holier having shown mercy for the victims than their own kith and kin in position of power by hiding or helping to escape those who would have been sent to their makeshift death chambers.Â
Genocide has also done some strange brainwashing, with a good number of Nuers wrongly made to believe they are violent others portray them and therefore, deserving of being killed behind the banner of supper imposed Donald Trump-like political correctness. Something out of touch with the reality when they are only reacting in self-defense to sheer provocation.
Rest jumped into unsubstantiated conclusions of forgiving their aggressors who have not accepted the wrong doing to be forgiven out of soliciting unqualified empathy.
Much as they should know that those pitied are losers and worse when they are on the right side of history. Particularly when they face off with uncompromising likes of Aldo Ajou Dengs well armed with vengeful thinking of historical injustices to over turn now that they are in power.
Government as an entity is furthermore desperately trying to escape responsibility for heinous war crimes by going extra miles in organizing one sided reconciliation and healing process platforms before the conflict is over, with more atrocities getting committed in each passing day.
Such untimely, non-transparent and non-inclusive dialogue is the ploy to avert justice through yet to be established Hybrid Court in Arusha, Tanzania, effectively indulging in unmandela way of turning around December the 15th Nuer genocides.
Why dialogue now when previously rejected it after the then Vice President and current First Vice of the Republic, Dr. Riek Machar unilaterally apologized to the Dinka Bor community in 2011 due to 1991 massacre and only to be served with yet another massacre in retaliation a year later.
When ultimate end to conflict and publicly announced apology by perpetrators could only be a sure route of reaching genuine peace on all that divides us through an inclusive national dialogue, reconciliation and healing under newly adopted federalist governance to turn a Mandela-like new page of accepting and forgiving the guilt. Nothing less, nothing more.
Deng Vanang is an opposition UDRM/A Secretary-General. He is reachable at dvanang@gmail.com
The statements, comments, or opinions published by Nyamilepedia are solely those of their respective authors, which do not necessarily represent the views held by the moderators of Nyamilepedia. The veracity of any claims made are the responsibility of the writer(s), and not the staff and the management of Nyamilepedia.
Nyamilepedia reserves the right to moderate, publish or delete a post without warning or consultation with the author(s). To publish your article, contact our editorial team at nyamilepedia@gmail.com or info@nyamile.com. FYI- we NO longer publish articles submitted through nyamileeditors@gmail.com
