Salva Kiir : The Wrong Joshua Who Kills and Loots!

Opinion,

By Tut Kuany Kok,

Sept 21, 2019(Nyamilepedia) — After the ill-timed death of Dr. John Garang De Mabior on July 30th, 2005 in a helicopter crash, six months after he signed what was commonly known as Comprehensive Peace Agreement  (CPA) with his recently ousted counterpart, President Omar Al-bashir, and twenty one days after he took up his role as the first Vice President of the Republic of Sudan. Within those moments of confusion, his unfit deputy, Salva Kiir, who had rebelled a year earlier, saw an opportunity to grab the power. There was no evidence that Kiir and Museveni did not play a role in Garang’s death; however, Kiir was accepted to be the new Joshua to avoid internal power wrangle and more bloodshed. Hardly did the SPLM and many South Sudan realize that Kiir will not only kill the country but also loot all its resources.

Before his (Garang) death, down the line, he felt that Salva Kiir was his right hand man because he was blindly loyal to him during sorrows and happiness (in an era of 21 years in the bush) of which he would be the man to lead after him but then Kiir had no education and political training to run a country. After signing the CPA and forming his first cabinet, Garang revealed that his long-term deputy, Salva Kiir who was sandwiched between two doctors of philosophy, Dr. Garang himself and Dr. Riek Machar in the third position, was going to be retired to the army.  Unfortunately, the death engineered by criminals allies robbed him of his life. In this case, we let history be the judge, may his soul rests in peace!

To impersonate himself (Salva Kiir) as well as concealing his inner greed for power and his premature defection from the SPLA in the year 2004 after he disparaged the late Garang as someone who led the movement as his  “family affairs” he then made the pact with late’s detractors and integrated them into SPLA, however, that step sparks the hope for obliteration and eradication of tribalism and also it brought him homage from all South Sudanese who believe that he could successfully fit Garang’s shoes. On the other hand, South Sudanese felt that he was indeed a biblical Joshua who would reached them to the land of milk and honey which literally meant “South Sudan is a promised land”. 

Kiir, who has been killing South Sudanese especially SPLM/A leaders but continued to pretend that he is a very humble man and a peacemaker, stepped up like someone who could complete the mission and vision that was started by the founding fathers (forefathers) for South Sudan to stand a chance to gain her inalienable freedoms as it was their only objective. But few years later, after he built his potbelly after long-years starvation in the bush, he developed senses full of tribal mindsets and cronyism which ruined all his promises that he gave to South Sudanese when he took over the leadership from his late master. In this scenario it’s without doubt that Salva Kiir failed Garang and the people of South Sudan as a whole. 

Genesis of his leadership incompetency. 

Few years after having been in power, the same power that was given to him without any controversies despite his ineptitude in leadership. He immediately adopted the system of one-man rules, which culminated the country to inevitable violence and unstoppable suffering for more than six years since his sole aims is to scrambled wealth and power while leaving alone those who own the country to suffer. And this scenario indicated that he was not the Joshua that South Sudanese anticipated to have. Regrettably, he is indeed the Judas, who sold his master for wealth. Even more painful, Salva Kiir is not just after wealth but after tribal revenges, tribal hegemony and worshiping of foreign gods such as Yoweri Museveni, regional and Asian leaders.

In reference to the ongoing crisis that erupted in 2013 between him and his erstwhile Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, the now SPLM/A In Opposition leader, President Salva Kiir lost trust internationally and nationally through the leadership style he has been using to rule the country, South Sudan, and his leadership style demonstrates how naive and destructive he is.

Therefore, he is a man who never had a nightmare base on the impoverished conditions South Sudanese are undergoing for more than half of a decade, while his sole aim is to rule forever in spite of the crippling conditions and destruction he submerged the country into since the inception of the war. 

Reluctance and Intransigence

In August 2015, before the signing of the peace agreement  (ARCISS) in Addis Ababa-Ethiopia, Kiir refused to sign the agreement despite that Dr Riek Machar and other stakeholders signed it. One week later in Juba, after Dr Riek Machar signed the agreement (ARCISS), he succumbed and signed the peace agreement but with conditions. For the sake of peace to return home, the IGAD, AU, Trioka representatives, Kenyan and Ugandan Presidents made their way to Juba per the request he made to signed the agreement that he forsaked in Ethiopia. 

Before signing the deal, he held a long closed-doors meeting with regional leaders saying he won’t sign the agreement unless his “reservations” are accepted but the regional leaders declined including the United States. They did not recognize his reservations because it could simply that he redesigned the peace agreement to his favor. Although he eventually signed it, he did not really signed it. This was naive but anyhow the peace guarantors accepted it without keeping a strict eye on him.

In this case, Salva Kiir openly shown the people of South Sudan that he does not work for their interest (peace and stability) but for his own personal interest(power).  Because of the reservations he created and were rejected, Salva Kiir used his massive manpower and intentionally started the war again in J1 on July 8th, 2016 to force the peace agreement to collapse. This is the reason South Sudan is still suffering today, because of one greedy man who wants nothing but wealth and power. Nothing has been accomplished so far!

Again on September 12, 2018, Kiir repeated his monkey business. First he refused to greet his rival Dr. Riek Machar on the stage and since then Kiir has refused to released prisoners of war and refused to implement the Security Arrangement, number of states, lifting of state of emergency and constitutional reforms plus the releasing of fund to expedite the process. All these delaying tactics and hindrance coerced the leadership of the SPLM-A In Opposition to demands for the six (6) months extension. The first eight months pre-interim period elapsed on 12th May this year because the government have drastically failed to implement the factors required by the agreement and even after the extension, they are still playing seek and hide.

Recently, the IGAD invited him to meet Dr. Riek in Addis Ababa on 21th August this year, he  wickedly turned down the invitation saying that he is busy with national duties but he already accepted an invitation from Yoweri Museveni. These procrastination tactics have been showcasing his lack of interest to address national crises and catastrophe. It also tells the people of South Sudan that he is someone that should not be trusted to resolve their problems because he is the problem.

Last week on Monday when Dr. Riek decided to come and meet him at his comfort zone in Juba in order to build trust and to resolve outstanding issues, Kiir took everything for a joke. The following day he had to postpone the meeting claiming that he was busy and left many South Sudanese wondering of what else would be important that meeting his rival to end the conflict; However, it all goes back to the same mindset – he is set to loot the country and stay in power at whatever cost!

Again, recently at J1 in the prayers ceremony, which was organised by the South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC), Kiir could not hide his hypocrisy. He told the gathering that he is going to form the Transitional government of National Unity on 12th November 2019 with or without Dr. Riek Machar. This shows that he is not ready for peace to come to the country since the agreement called for the implementation of the agreement once the security arrangement is put in place for the main opposition leader to land in Juba per the agreement. Surprisingly, this threatened remarks proof he is not yet prepared for peace.

Therefore, it is upto the IGAD, AU and Trioka to watch this man closely before he hijacks the peace agreement for the second time. Kiir cannot be trusted at this point. He is in fact the enemy of the state!

The author is a concerned South Sudanese. He can be reached through his email at tutkuany7@gmail.com

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