Respond To James Gatdet Dak’s Agonized View Over Gen. Gatdual’s Protest of the Humiliation

Mak Banguot Gok  (Makjohnson),

June 26, 2021 — It has been a couple of days that loads of the social media bloggers have busted into contradictory and antagonist’s commentaries.  With the preponderance of the writers applauding Gen. Gatwech Dual’s turning down of unjust appointment to the so-called Peace Advisory post in Juba.  Very few of the social media heralds with the First Vice President’s Press Secretary- James Gatdet Dak Lampuar included, are giving their own description in favour of winding up General Gatdual. 

Each of the fretful scrutiny may have its own way of interpretation giving the diversities of the people’s interests. However, my concern is with James Gatdet’s contentious annotations about what he assumes General Gatdual made-up to do looking upon his relief and phony slot by the two (Kiir & Machar). This is because; unlike the others, a nonaligned viewer, James Gatdet was verbally communicating to the public what has been originally an account of the deals. As one of a closest amongst the schemers to the C-IN-C of SPLM/A-IO and its associated apparatuses in Juba, I would like to figured out what was not rights whence the likes of James Gatdet amongst many others closets to the Chairman have came up with that very relegate plan of the Chief’s lessening and dumping somewhere unknown political corridor. 

 Briefly to the inscription of James Gatdet today, I doubt very much that, a  rationale behind the unilateral relieve of SPLM/A-IO Chief of Army was coupled with what I quoted from Gatdet’s own writing as the following (1) The Chief’s old ages was a factor in relation to the post R-ARCSS ‘Security arrangements ‘unified command’s restructuring and vice versa (2) That there will be no two Chiefs of General Staff after Security is arranged and that, Gatdual will likely lose his privilege in the military (3) That Gatdual served for too long as the SPLM/A-IO Chief of General Staff, and therefore need a descent stepping down to leave behind a healthy legacies (4) And ,availability of what Gatdet has sympathetically claimed to be the prevailing of a young Commanders within the SPLM/A-IO ranks and files who can takeovers what he dubbed as” the torch”. These according to the Press Secretary in the office of Chairman were to be well thought-out as the reasons behind the SPLM/A-IO ‘C-In-C‘s taking an action to demobilize the army Chief from his active services.

Whatever the justification may have led to, I can only let James Gatdet know that, Gen. Gatdual is stronger than an old man of his ages. We don’t know how long he will be living and it is an unnecessary stimulus when subjecting a living human being’s natural life to political calculation. The fact that, after a proper security arrangement and, the necessary unified forces is amalgamated, if indeed that will happen with the R-ARCSS status coup that we are seeing, the question of the  general to will be appointed as the Chief of a unified army has not been articulated in the peace agreement. It hasn’t indicated that (for example after the unified forces, who will be the Chief, is none of the others, but, from Salva Kiir’s SPLA-IG. The issue of who is/and how to appoint a Chief is up for grabs (open for discussion). And, as a part of the continuing debate in Juba, it’s to be determined later in the causes of negotiation by the two (Kiir and Machar). 

Therefore, it is premature for the Press Secretary in office of the  C-in-C to cheaply conclude it that way. Or, it may be of Gatdet’s affiliation to the SPLM-IO Chairman that he leaked what thought of credibility that has been already agreed upon by the clique in Juba. And, Gatdet’s contention of the Chief’s serving the SPLM/A-IO for too long and, all the gibberish contrast of Gen. Gatdual with the likes of JJ. OKot, Kuol Manyang, James Hoth Mai and so on, I bet this is a malice at the General’s long records of valor and consistency to the cause of his own people. 

There is a significant curve of those whom Gatdet brought forth with Gen. Gatdual’s. If  Gatdet failed to ask over himself of how long he has been serving as Press Secretary in office of the same chairman, it is deemed like this question of too long services could have been omitted by James Gatdet. And, to equip him with further comparable histories, I would like to refer to him for a basis with similar characteristics. Simply by giving an example of the Vietnamese 20th C legendary Military General Vo Nguyen Giap and his longtime Vietnamese political leader Uncle Ho Chi Minh. How hard these two Vietnamese revolutionary leaders have struggled together for about 50 consecutive years since earlier the 1940s-1990s.  

I really doubt if Gatdet was aware whence brought forth the issue of long serving as an excuse of a genuine bases against the Chief because, he alone would have countered to his own unsubstantiated assertion vis-à-vis the Chief’s patriotic long-services if for example Gatdet ever talked to himself about how long he has been serving with the same chairman. James Gatdet served for nearly 30 years since the 1990s as the Press Secretary in the office of Machar. As far as he is quite easy with his job, no one is nerve-racking about how one man can glue on a small career throughout his productive lives.  The same situation that kept Gatdet statics in doing the same job for nearly 39 years may have a similar characteristic with the Gen. Gatdual’s. 

And, whence I read Gatdet’s strain of the need for General Gradual descent stepping down as demanded by C-IN-C, I quoted “so that the Chief leaves at the back a healthy legacy”, I doubt very much that Gatdet was fully aware of Gen. Gatdual’s socio-political background. And, if he did, there would have been not anything permitted him to couple the Gen. Gatdual’s long and holy services he rendered to this nation with the current political dilemma that exists within the SPLM-IO movement. Gen. Gatdual has done all a man can do in investing his dear life for the services to the people of South Sudan. Meanwhile, Gatdet’s insertion that there are young Commanders within the SPLM-IO military rank and files to takeover is similar to the claims by so many others that the same SPLM-IO has got young energetic and politically enthusiastic people who can take over from Machar. The same as so many others who urge that, Gatdet is too old for Press Secretary and therefore needs to be replaced with a suitable age. These claims and similar others scapegoating are best for accusation. And, if Gatdet Dak was of a realistic anxiety on the Chief’s current and future venture, I doubt very much that the Press Secretary in the Office of FVP and C-in-C of the SPLM/A-IO was to expresses as a bystanders viewers rather a well informed devotee from within

Here therefore, I wouldn’t hesitate to make James Gatdet comes to the term with the fact that, the recently  discarded relieve and appointment of the Chief to other confinement shell  was originally made to looked like real despite being just a politically disguised attempt to lure in the SPLM/A-IO ‘Chief of General Staff to Juba so that the deals is finally reached. This is because the political schemers in Juba feel threatened by the Gen. Gatdual’s holdings of the military fabrics of the revolution. The reason for the likes of James Gatdet to believe that, I quoted, “Gen. Gradual’s holding on the SPLM/A- military front is just a pessimistic distance that Gatdet thought it would help.  The time (presence of the SPLM-IO Chairman in Juba) is according to James Gatdet justified as the means to the end of military hostilities.

 If the rendezvous were to be somewhat of a meaning, the initial choice to be pre arranged was Santino Deng Wuol or, else from within the bulk of job-seekers adjoining the SPLM-IO Chairman in Juba. It was a fake allotment that makes it unacceptable whatsoever the interpretation might lead to. If almost everything including the Security Arrangements (graduation of a necessary unified forces, unification of the required portion of national army, redeployment of a unified forces throughout the country)’ the impartial reinstatement of the Parliament follows by an ideal Constitutionalism;  the two warring armies amalgamated and form a unified national defence, then the newly instituted and accepted political system will work on if it sees that there is need for a political lodging of an old guards with times passing political posts.  I think that will be the time for a decision if necessary for  any one of the General Gatdual’s age mates needing a decent redundancy. Gen. Gatdual’s denunciation of that politically formulated pronouncements of his appointment as Presidential Advisor on Peace buildings, peace implementation, or an entire Peace agreement, nobody knows, is an act of patriotism. The Chief has a genuine reason to object to that sort of conspicuous political scheme by the architect of a current social evil in Juba. And, beyond any reasonable doubt, the whole SPLM/A-IO military organisation stands unshakable by the Chief’s protestation of such a suspicious political offer on its merit that this is not the right time for unjust decisions made out of conflicts of political interests to lead the revolution. It is equally the same to those who thoughts provoking of the relative momentary intermission of the bloody conflict is satisfactory to make one believe that, South Sudan ceased entirely the military hostilities, and therefore without a probability of its resumption. So, what hypothetically was to be an important advice to General Gatdual is that ‘if the bucks ended with the accommodation of the C-in-C in Juba, it remains an obligation to his own people (Lou-Nuer) that, a proper relocation of Simon Gatwech from where he is currently residing in the name and pretext of SPLM/A-IO to his birth place (Yuai) and for his Holy Resting In Peace.

First, the nature of the current peace agreement is providing all the SPLM-IO followers with reasons to doubt its credibility. Nearly three years have gone by with nothing ever implemented apart from dealing with each other of the parties ‘leaders to the R-ARCSS. What we hear in Juba pertaining to the R-ARCSS ‘implementation is only an accommodation of political leaders in the hotels and with inactive appointments to political positions. The interlude is good for individuals and not everybody from both the government and revolutionary has a reason to keep alive the spirit of hope that R-ARCSS is somewhat realistic. S. Sudan has been dragged into a negative peace agreement that still keeps separate the warring armies, and that still makes South Sudan certainly insecure as a country with two warring standing armies. The reluctances of the foes to commit faithfully on an ideal implementation of R-ARCSS in later and spirit makes the current status coup a helpless projection.

The author, Mak Johnson, can be reached through email at  Makjohnson2005@yahoo.com/johnsonmak61@gmail.com,

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