By Mading Lual,
Opinion.
April 10, 2017(Nyamilepedia) —— The latest political ruptures within the Nuer political leadership into SPLM/A-IO mainstream headed by Dr Riek Machar and SPLM/A-IO peace wing led by Gen Taban Deng Gai jointly with erstwhile fragmented smallest factions of the Hon. Changson Chang , Gen Peter Gatdet faction , Gen Gathoth Gatkouth and Gen Gordon Koang Chuol splinted small- scale factions operating in parallel while encountering the generic nemesis which is the government of South Sudan. The hoodwinks is that all those fragmented circles who have the same political vision , program and moral obligation toward their own citizens transpire to be fighting each one of them for hegemony and dominancy over the Nuerland and its people . These fragmented factions believes on vindicated the remnants of the other cliques within the nuer land, and entirely thus skirmish for local hegemony, always give rise to recruitments of the local youth to clash with each other in support of other cliques and in most state of affairs it generates internal clannish schism and its give the common foes the upper hand to exploit this internal communal fighting, political and military splits for their very advantages.
The Nuer political and military leadership is constantly the geneses of the disorganization , anguish and lack of ability for the Nuer to posture their political and social integrated interest since the independency of Sudan and in aftermath of onset of the civil strife between SPLM/A and government of Sudan . The nuer community has never been united or never forged one common political agenda to salvage their community .Hence the Nuer political and military leadership had been the primary dissenting dynamic for the ordinary civil populations and this constant internal split at level of political and military leadership has extremely severe deleterious impacts on the political likelihoods on the nuer land and community in particular.
The nuer community are currently known for widespread of lawlessness and disorganizations caused by the poor political and military leadership who are frittering valuable time on engendering superfluous internal discords and mayhem to enriches themselves and to achieves their military and political interests in the deprivation of the majority poor in the villages . The good illustrations is that, in all political disputes and military clashes, it’s always the nuer who usually fighting the other nuer for no authentic causes.
The Nuer civilians always pays very high prices of the futile and poor political and military leadership together with lack clear and unified political directions at the higher levels . Most of the worse military battles are usually fought in the nuer land and in most scenarios commanded by the nuer senior military leaders using the ordinary civilians as protective shells.
The Internal riven of SPLM/A and Anyanya two movement on the political ideologies in 1983, Bilpam town in Ethiopia , has triggered the un-accounted massacred and ethnic target killing of the Gajaak Nuer by the SPLM/A troop under the direct command of Gen William Nyuon Bany and Its well believed that , many of the Nuer communities nationwide paid a very high prices in term of materials and lives due to eight years hostilities without any rules of engagement by both the SPLM/A and Anyanya two movement .
The split of SPLM/A into Torit and Nasir factions has similarly impacted adversely on the Nuer community nationwide when the SPLM/A Nasir faction, gradually disintegrated into infinitesimal cliques which are in schism with each other . The failure of the SPLM/A Nasir to forged strong political and military manifesto in order to maintain unity of commands and discipline within its forces in the end give rise to widespread of uncontrollable huge number of weapons into the hands of tribal or clannish militias and this become destabilization factors within the civil population in the Nuerland . The proliferation of small arms within civil populations promoted the clannish conflicts and the good examples is the longest conflict between Jikany and Lou nuer which was promoted by selfish military and political leaders from both sides
The latest split of the SPLM back in 2013 has also affected the nuer community in general and the political and military leadership at the highest magnitude when compared to the 1991 and 1983 calamity , the experiences has surfaced that Gen Samuel Gai Tut and Gen Abdulla Chuol Deng were killed by the Nuer led SPLM/A soldiers . Some of the Anyanya two senior commanders had been prime targets for assassination from their own fellow Nuer officers who opted stays with SPLM/A . The 1991 SPLM/A internal split also give rise to the killing of the senior generals by their fellow nuer officers and good the example is Gen Manyal Kueth, Gen Koang Banyping, Gen Nyany Duir, Gen Lul Kuar duek, Gen Yak Chan, Gen Kuach Kang, Gen Keach Nyong and other senior Gajak senior military officers who were executed by Pinylik and Thorajikany militias factions in early 2000.
The recent killing of General Gabriel Tanginye by the SPLM/A-IO forces under Dr Riek Machar Teny, can be best portrayed to the same extend of perpetuation of the cycles of extermination of the nuer political and military leaders by their own brothers and sisters due to ceaseless internal split and hostilities within the political and military leadership of the Nuer community in South Sudan.
Even though, political and military state of affairs in the nuer land and community in particular , may perhaps change with time due to emerging young political and military leaders , there is notwithstanding appeared to be some grave trepidations in the aftermath of the defection of Hon. Gabriel Changson Chang, Generals group and the Nuer council of elders back in 2015. The latest split of SPLM/A- IO into the Dr Riek Machar mainstream and Gen Taban Deng peace wing reminded us of unnecessary militias and internal divisions permanently  create by the political and military leadership will definitely be in expense of the majority poor in the rural settlements.
The biggest question is what is political future of the divided nuer community in the Republic of South Sudan?
The up-to-dates technical rapid assessments mission in the nuer land divulged that, there will be potential internal divisions and hostilities within the local community unless urgent political settlement in achieve to salvages the innocent civilian and clear political strategies are developed to maintain the unity of the nuer at the villages and beyond . However the recent split of the SPLM-IO political and military leadership  and the mammoth defection of some disgruntle politicians and together with an open-ended political prostitution of the nuer intellectuals by constant kaleidoscopic culture without accountability between political and military organizations such as
1.SPLM/A IO Mainstream lead by Dr Riek .
2.SPLM/A –IO peace wing lead by Gen Taban.
- SSLA/M lead by Gen Peter Gatdet .
4.SPDF lead by Changson Chang .
- SSLA/M of Bapiny Manytuel
- SPLM of Gen Gathoth Gatkuoth
- SSDF of Gordon Koang Chuol
- SSLA/M of Bapiny Manytuel
- SSLA/M of Pul Jang
- FDS of John Luk Jock
- SPLM/A- IG of Gen Hoth Mai, Gen Bol Koang , Gen Gony Beliw, Gen Kun Puoch , Gen , Taib Gatluak, Gen Gatduel Nyakuai , Gen Buay Roalnyany, Gen Duoth Guet , Dr Riek Gai , El haj Tut Kew , Hon. Magok Rundial , Dr Gai Yoa in addition to other senior political and military leaders who opted to stay behind with the Juba regime in aftermath of the conflict in December 2013.
The bluff is that, entirely the above mentioned splinted political and military entities are combatting for hegemony and supremacy in the Nuer land and in many scenarios tries to mobilize their own clans and tribesmen to support them in the fight against their political opponents in the Nuer land and all these groups fights their common foes after clearing their fellow brothers. This internal division and hostilities also affects the unity of the nuer community directly or indirectly.
The split in the political and military leadership of the Nuer is always giving their external enemies and foes an upper hand to overrun or subverted in the nuer areas without encountering any stupendous resistance or non-resistance entirely. The worthy illustration was the case of 1996 when the Sudan Army forces swiftly exploited the internal fragmentation within the military and political leadership due to the skirmish between the Lou and Jikany community. The SAF successfully recaptured the Nasir town and other major cities without any military resistance.
The contemporary split within SPLM/A- IO in July 2016 , permitted the government troops to launch military operations to  invades some military stronghold of IO in shilluk and the Lou Nuer areas with the help from some of the Nuer political and military leaders .
The SPLM/A-IO has subsequently lost Unity State to the government forces due to the internal split and hostilities within the Nuer political and military leadership. The latest rapid technical assessment lucidly indicated that , there is potential danger of SPLM/A-IO Mainstream losing more territories to the government troop mainly in Upper Nile and Jonglei states due to lack trust and confident created by the continual internal division , defections in the political and military leadership of the Nuer .
My question is to all intellectuals, political and military leadership nationwide and worldwide
- What will be the future of the fragmented Nuer community? And what is political likelihood of the divided nuer in the Republic of South Sudan?
- What can be done by the Nuer intellectual, religious, traditional, political and military leadership to salvage their community from the senseless manmade suffering? What are the roles of the political, military, religious and intellectual leadership to forge common political agenda and program for their dear community irrespective of their political affiliations?
Even though I am not from the Nuer society by tribe, the unending political and military unrest in the country evidently signified that, and proof beyond reasonable doubts that, The Nuer community can be stabilizing and destabilizing factors not only to the Nuer land but at the nationwide .Therefore , the ceaseless fragmentation of the Nuer political and military leadership will similarly impacted adversely on other communities and to the political stability of nationwide, either directly or indirectly. We all have moral responsibilities and obligations to urge our fellow countrymen the Nuer intellectual, religious, political and military leadership to straight away forge clear inclusive political agenda in order to rescue their community and the nation from their unnecessary political disorganization, lawlessness, confusion and political prostitutions to salvage our country and peoples from their mad made catastrophe.
The writer is Master Researchers and activist and can be reached at madinglual1@yahoo.com
1 comment
Individual’s greed for wealth and power should not be understood as a problem. The problem(power struggle) those families in Unity State are having should not be mistaken as a Nuer problem rather a than to say it is a family affair cloaked as an splm-in opposition problem. Splm-in opposition and that family is not bigger than Nuer and should it come down to it..Nuer in its raw essense of the meaning is much more bigger than what might be associated with it..be it taban, Riek, splm-in opposition or the confused writer of this article. Having said that, defections are synonymous with struggle of this sort South Sudan is facing and Nuer in particular. Thus Taban defected, Lul, Lol, and many more Nuer community members have defected to the genocidals government of jaang yet the name Nuer have not change nor will it ever. The same sell out who defected or who are still with the genocidal government will also never shet the tribal name as nuer and will eventually die with that tittle as Nuer because they cannot defect from it. To say that their defection has affected Nuer community negatively..yes but its not as far fetch of fragmentation of ethnicity as the writer claimed. It is rather a minor bump on a road Nuer have found themselves forced into chartering.