TO: THE CHAIRMAN OF IGAD, CHAIRMAN OF AU COMMISSION, EU, UN SG, TRIOKA COUNTRIES (NORWAY, UK & US), CHINA & RUSSIA
CC: THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH SUDAN
I. Introduction
April 1, 2015 (Nyamilepedia) — The Jieng (Dinka) Council of Elders wishes to inform the South Sudanese citizens and the whole world of an ominous cloud that has been gathering momentum regionally and internationally to destabilize South Sudan. The scheme was initially masked by the pretentious actions of a few neighbors who presented themselves as concerned friends of South Sudanese whose mission was informed by humanitarian need to help the Republic of South Sudan out of the ongoing situation. This thin veil of pretentious posturing is slowly being lifted and the real faces of the conspirators are beginning to emerge. The ongoing unpredictable behavior of Kenya near our eastern borders is a case in point.
The real intention of the international community, which has been quite critical of the government since the commencement of the ongoing crisis, has now been unmasked by the recently leaked AU Commission’s report with its damning recommendations on South Sudan situation. As much as they would want to officially deny it, this report has once and for all laid bare what the regional and international actors have been hatching covertly against South Sudan. It is unequivocally clear that the world is hell bent on thwarting the South Sudanese aspiration to be a free, and sovereign people.
If one takes a disinterested look at the leaked AU’s commission report, it is not difficult to come to a sad conclusion that what has been obstructing peace since the government unilaterally called upon the rebels to sit down and resolve their differences as brothers and sisters is not necessarily the intransigence of the warring parties, as we have continuously been made to believe, but the interference of external forces, which, like the rebels, want to see an elected president removed illegally. This clandestine plan to thwart the progress of our nascent democracy by illegally removing an elected President is coupled with an even more sinister motive that seeks to destroy the historical legacy of our people’s movement, the SPLM, its achievements, and the whole literature of our liberation struggle.
It appears now that South Sudan is locked in weird whirlwinds of intersecting regional and international interests that are divergent, yet unified on one thing – the destabilization of South Sudan and the need to dismantle the existing government. This may appear to some as being alarmists, but the truth is that there is enough evidence to suggest that the plans to revoke South Sudan’s sovereignty and make it ungovernable are now complete and set. Three main reasons support this conclusion: (1) The leaked African Union Commission Report, (2) The behavior, speeches, and actions of some regional and international actors, and (3) The recently leaked IGAD Plan of Action.
II. The Leaked AU’s report and its recommendations
The recommendations of the leaked AU commission report clearly show that the Troika countries are unanimous in their view that President Kiir and his government can no longer lead the country. Hence, the South Sudan’s problems can no longer be negotiated and settled through a peace agreement. According to Hilde Johnson, former Special Representative of Secretary-General in South Sudan, UNMISS, the whole system “needs a reboot”, as one would intentionally crash a stalled computer ostensibly to restart it afresh. In political lingo, however, ‘Rebooting’ the system means dismantling the existing institutions of governance and restarting them from scratch. The only problem now is what they called “a central conundrum”, which is that the Jieng and Nuer nationalities would not accept any actions that negate their hard won independence.
Sadly enough, the African Union Commission of Inquiry, which was tasked to investigate human rights violations and the causes of the conflict bought into this thinking, taking a cue primarily from the Troika countries and the UN Secretary-General Representative to South Sudan. The AU Commission pulled out a common hackneyed mantra called, “an African problem needs an African solution”, essentially accusing supposedly naïve western counterparts for the inadequacy of their understanding of complex and intricate African problems. To the Commission, the problem of the Troika members and other western allies is that they lack social context, which is something they believe is necessary as it allows the actors in taking stock of historical, political, economic, social and moral spheres related to a peculiar African problem before one ponders on how to resolve it.
What seems to inform this line of thinking is the thought that South Sudan was going to precipitously fall and so it will be up for grabs. The AU Commission seems decided to prevent the Troika and UN from picking up the pieces as the two are unqualified and so the more qualified regional body, the AU should take South Sudan’s sovereignty to the Union’s custody. Fortunately, South Sudan still has a government and its sovereignty remains with its people.
To arrive at an African solution in South Sudan, in the thought of AU Commissioners, one must isolate the so-called planners of the political violence from their constituencies. One of the ways in which such sequestration could be effected is the creation of Transitional Government that excludes those that are considered politically accountable for the crisis. The reasoning is that South Sudanese have lost their sovereignty because of the violence. Therefore, the AU Commission proposed a transitional period with three distinctive features: (1) A High Level Oversight panel (non- South Sudanese) to guide the period of transition, (2) A transitional government that excludes those politically accountable for the crisis, and (3) A transitional program that addresses the question of justice in different forms.
Since South Sudanese sovereignty will be housed at the continental Headquarters in Addis Ababa, the Oversight Panel shall be answerable to the Peace and Security Council of the African Union and its members to be appointed directly by the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, mandated by and shall report to both the AU and the UN Security Council. The panel would be made up of three persons; finance expert, security expert and an expert in statecraft all under a permanent Chairperson. The assumption here is that South Sudan has been mismanaged in three areas – the finance, the military and South Sudanese are clueless about governance.
These plans could not come into effect unless there is an absolute silence of guns. In their view, the best way to put the conflict to an end is to engender in an interim transitional period for five years, led by a Transitional Executive. Members of the Transitional Executive shall be South Sudanese. Thereafter, a collegial presidency drawn from three broad geographical constituencies of Bahr el Ghazal, Equatoria, and Upper Nile regions and shall be chosen through a process overseen by the High Level Oversight Panel, which shall be instituted through a three-step process: (1) There shall be broad consultation, leading to nominations by different sectors of society in a process designed to identify “persons of consensus”, (2) Vetting by a reconvened all-South Sudan Political Parties Convention expanded to include representatives of civil society, churches and chiefs, (3) Ratification by parliament.
The said Executive Council shall constitute the cabinet and shall be appointed by the Collegial Presidency in consultation with the Parliament and the High Level Oversight Panel. The Commission recommends that anyone who was in the cabinet in the past before the dissolution of government in 2013 shall be excluded from any government.
The Commission seemingly suggests the dissolution of all government institutions, except for the parliament. The reason for the dissolution of these institutions is not given. It is not clear how the formation of the Transitional Executive would actually end the conflict. There are a number of undeclared assumptions underpinning some of these recommendations. Perhaps, one of the assumptions is that the people of South Sudan are so fed up with the government and so they will sit and watch it being dismantled and taken over by neocolonial usurpers.
Another assumption is the idea that there is no national army and so no person would put up a resistance to an African Union takeover. Notwithstanding the condescending nature of such assumptions, they are dangerously wrong. Any person who underestimates the will of liberators to defend the price of their liberation struggle is simply toying around with fire. What is not also so clear is what this transitional executive, serving under the African Union would actually do for the people of South Sudan. The Commission recommends three sketchy tasks of the said Transitional Executive as: (1) Political justice through state reform. In the view of the commission, the key to the pursuit of the political justice in the transitional period is the exclusion from high office of all those held politically accountable for the mass violence. The political justice would be achieved through a two-pronged process of demilitarization and democratization, (2) Resettlement of refugees and IDPs as well as (3) Criminal Justice.
Regarding the Security Sector reform, the Commission recommends the establishment of an African Oversight Force, comprised of troops from African countries beyond the surrounding region. The said force would operate under the AU command, but under UNMISS and thereafter, the High Level Oversight Panel shall appoint a joint African/South Sudanese Military Commission, whose members are to be drawn from senior military persons from both the South Sudan and other African countries and whose mandate is to draw up a program to build the capacity, screen, reduce, reorganize and “where necessary”, retain the forces that currently exist under the umbrella of the SPLA. The Commission holds the view that the army should be diversified like the parliament through democratization process at the local level.
The Commission’s view is informed as alluded to in the previous section by the assumption that there is truly no national army and that South Sudanese are of course assumed to be incompetent and so the African Oversight Force with the help of some handpicked military personnel from South Sudan and other African countries shall form and run the army. This of course would complete the destruction phase of the liberation history and the re-writing of the history will begin from there.
The most glaring question here is how the AU Oversight Panel and the Oversight Force are going to be financed. The Commission certainly believes that South Sudanese oil and mineral resources should fund AU operations. To this effect, the Commission recommends that the African Development Bank, in coordination with the World Bank and the International Monitoring Fund, establish an active and continuous oversight over all key public financial institutions in South Sudan.
The Commission further recommends that all oil proceeds be placed in an escrow account under the oversight of this joint committee, and that these funds be used to finance both the recurrent expense of government and administration, and the funding of the triple transitional mandate, including the cost of the African Peace-keeping Force. Therefore, South Sudanese are not only going to be robbed of their sovereignty, independence, and the erosion of their liberation history, but their resources are up for grabs and plunder by the continental body and its cohorts.
What is evident from the foregoing summary of the recommendations of the Commission is the revocation of South Sudan’s sovereignty, which shall be placed under a fuzzy leadership of the African Union and the UN. The Commission does not acknowledge the existence of an elected government and failed to make reference to our historic and collective decision to self-determination. It is not clear how the AU and its three- person panel would handle resistance that will surely be erected against their doomed ploy to take over our country. This proposal is of course similar to placing the country under UN Trusteeship; the only difference is the vocabulary. The world should know that South Sudan’s sovereignty and its independence are irrevocable and that those who will try this shall meet the rage of men and women who liberated this country.
When these recommendations are read together with the UN resolution 2206/2015 on the imposition of sanctions on individuals deemed to be obstructing the peace, it is clear that the international community is decided that South Sudanese crisis needs no diplomacy but coercive measures. Obstruction of peace is of course an obscure abstract whose meaning is only fully understood by those imposing sanctions. In our view, imposition of sanctions and laying hurdles in the way of negotiations are the clear definitions of obstruction of peace process.
III. The Troika and IGAD hands in the peace process
The reviewed clandestine actions of AU Commission of Inquiry and its sponsors shed more light on the recent statement by John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, on March 2, 2015 in which he questioned the legitimacy of the government and that of the President of the Republic of South Sudan when he said, “Legitimacy is not a presumed right of any government. It is conferred by the people, and it is sustained only by demonstrating leadership to protect and serve all citizens – responsibilities the government has neglected”.
This statement stands in sharp contrast with Secretary Kerry’s statement on May 2, 2014 here in Juba when he declared that there should be “no moral equivalence between an elected president and a rebel leader”. What informed the change of the Secretary’s position? How much worse has South Sudan government done since the last time Mr. Kerry was here? This position has to be read together with President Obama’s speech that addressed the people of South Sudan directly, bypassing the South Sudanese leadership, a direct violation of diplomatic etiquettes, but is part of the scheme to try to undermine the country’s leadership.
This is where the Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia picked up his cue in his inflammatory speech on March 5th, 2015 where he directly incited the people of South Sudan to rise up against their leaders, who, according to him, have abdicated their responsibilities. This is the man who is the head of IGAD, the body that is mediating peace. How do you mediate between two leaders for whom you hold no respect? It should be obvious that when a mediator despises its own clients, it goes without saying that the mission would certainly fail and so the causes of the failure of the IGAD-led peace talks should be sought within the premises of IGAD.
All these conspiracies are converging in the so-called IGAD-Plus peace initiative. The leaked IGAD action plan shows clearly that the peace process is no longer a South Sudanese affair, but it will be a hijacked peace process in which many in the international community are going to hold their sticks high on the heads of the warring parties. Should the two leaders fail to sign an agreement they did not negotiate, this will be used as a pretext for the invasion of South Sudan and the implementation of the African Union recommendations.
IV. Misunderstanding of the current unrest as a Nuer – Jieng war
The question that sorely begs asking is: Why is the international community trying to destroy South Sudan? We the members of the Council, based on our extensive analysis of the prevailing international opinion, are convinced that the international community’s opinion is ill- advised and misinformed. The international actors seem to have succeeded in painting the current conflict as a war between the Jieng and Nuer. This is a terrible superficial understanding of a conflict that is complex and historically deep-rooted. The war that is raging in South Sudan has its roots in the internal intrigues of the SPLM party; it has nothing to do with Jieng and Nuer, however much of it is misconstrued internationally and regionally. The Nuer and Jieng are societies with historical and politicalties. These societies harbor no genocidal intents toward each other. Between these two communities, people have been taken and given through inter-tribal marriages; there are intricate webs of relations between these two communities that cannot easily be thrown into the dustbin of political paranoia.
Although it is erroneously being spread that in the midst of this conflict the Jieng are out to ethnically cleanse the Nuer, the facts on the ground speak to the contrary. This is a terrible propaganda that demands disapproval. For instance, presently, the displaced Nuer civilians are taking refuge in the two Jieng dominated States of Warrap, Lakes, and even in Jonglei state were the Jieng are also a sizable majority. The Jieng civil populations in these three states have received the Nuer IDPs with open arms. There have been no incidences in which these Nuer IDPs were lynched by their host communities.
Also, the Nuer who have not bought into Riek Machar’s political ideology continue to serve in the government, which is erroneously being portrayed as a Jieng Government. These Nuer nationalists are exerting powerful influences to bring back peace to the country. If there is a war between the Jieng and Nuer, and if the present government is a Jieng government as it is being alleged, why then are these Nuer politicians partaking in the alleged genocide against their kin and kith?
It should therefore be admitted that what the Republic of South Sudan is dealing with is a sad political unrest, which stemmed from a failed coup attempt by Dr. Riek Machar and cohorts. This group of disgruntled politicians sought to usurp people’s power militarily. A similar situation happened in 1991 when Riek Machar’s coup against Dr. John Garang polarized the two communities of Nuer and Jieng. Eventually, these communities managed to contextualize the conflict and were able to reconcile. These grassroots efforts eventually culminated in the return of Riek into the SPLM in 2002.
In order to attain a just and lasting resolution to the present war, the international mediators need to give the people of South Sudan a chance to work out a solution, starting from the grassroots levels all the way to the national levels. In fact, similar efforts are being exerted at the grassroots levels. Currently, there are ongoing community dialogues between the Jieng (Dinka) Council of Elders and the Nuer elders. There are also talks going on between the Jieng and other South Sudanese communities to find ways in which a common alliance of progress could be forged. We believe that these dialogues will eventually culminate in a homegrown solution to the current crisis.
We are also confident that the leaders will eventually listen to the voices of reason originating from these community dialogues. We believe without any shred of doubt that it is through these grassroots efforts that this conflict could be amicably ended. Also, the government is committed to dialogue with the rebels and other dissidents unconditionally. Given a chance, these efforts will bring about a peaceful resolution to the current conflict, and the suffering of our citizens will be alleviated. However, these efforts are being blatantly ignored by the regional and international actors who are trying to push for their agenda, which is now beginning to emerge as an attempt to obstruct the peace process to justify the forceful takeover of South Sudan.
V. The Council’s vehement opposition to re-colonization of South Sudan
Given this situation, we would like to alert the world of the inherent complications that will be engendered by this planned invasion of our country. Our country is very fragile, socially, economically, and politically. The long bouts of the relentless civil wars that our people have gone through have shaken our country to the core. Any disturbance in the present setup will drastically send our country, and by extension the region, spinning dangerously into the abyss.
Despite the prevailing rhetoric in the international circles that this external intervention will bring the ongoing conflict to an expeditious end, the fact of the matter is that the current situation will be worsened by this external meddling. Given the tribal nature of the current insurgencies, armed and unarmed dissidents, it is conceivable that these groups will be emboldened by their newly found power, as they will definitely attack other tribes. This will encourage an arm race among various tribes, as every tribe will be trying to acquire means of self-defense. What will then invariably ensue is a complicated web of tribal warfare at a scale never before witnessed in the history of South Sudan. This will send our population fleeing to foreign countries to seek refuge in the refugee camps where they will reside in sub- human conditions.
Not only that, the governance vacuum that will be created will encourage non-state actors such as terrorists’ organizations to establish training camps where they will launch their campaigns against the free world. The neighboring countries may also feel bothered by the lawlessness near their borders and may choose to invade parts of South Sudan just to push the chaos away from their borders. It is also conceivable that these neighboring countries may start extracting South Sudan’s vast natural resources illegally.
If this is allowed to happen, the struggle of the martyrs who laid down their lives to free this country would have been wasted; the lives of our citizens would have been plunged into unnecessary risk, the dignity of the South Sudanese and that of the African race in the entire Sudan would have been insulted, and the United Nations, that assembly of free nations, would have abdicated its obligation to serve as the shield for the weak and the preserver of peace. By allowing this to happen, the UN would have instead purveyed an unfathomable violence against one of its members.
Given the pending destruction of our country and our dignity as a people, we would like the world to know that, like any other people in the world, the South Sudanese reserve the right to defend themselves against unjust aggression anywhere and at any time. Our internal contradictions notwithstanding, the world must understand that the South Sudanese will unite in their resistance against any imposed agreement.
It should also be made known to IGAD and the African Union that South Sudan will not become a testing ground for crude and new governance theories and that such attempts will be resisted to the fullest. As for the proposed African Oversight Force, it should be clear to the continental body that such a force could only touch ground in South Sudan only with the government’s permission. Any movement of such force illegally into South Sudan would be an act of war and will be met with a tested resistance. We want peace, but it has to be our homegrown, not a regional or international peace that undermines the sanctity of our sovereignty.
Signed on behalf of Jieng Council of Elders:
1.Justice, Ambrose Riny Thiik
2. Hon. Joshua Dau Diu
3. Hon. Aldo Ajou Deng
4. Hon. Deng Dau Deng
5. Hon. Charles Majak Aleer
6. Hon. Parmena Awerial Aluong
27 comments
What is Dinka Council of Elders? Instead it would have keld water if it wash South Sudan Council of Elders. This explains why you Dink-ass are so tribalisticalled!!!
Dear Readers,
Even the blind can said, it is coined-up in the media. God is great Nuers had back to the media war because physical war is not easily. They tried with Arab against Dr.Garang in 1991-2005 and both failed. Shame at you.
Gueto, go a head with your ignorance by pointing your dirty figure against Nuer. The all you mention is garbage. The Nuer were first tribe who started the movement in1983. To prove my claim, watch the Dr.Garang video on YouTube. To come back to what you called fail agreement. In other world, they called it, reunion because whenever there is an agreement or coming back together after conflict, and you solve that conflict without a demand, we called it ” Re-union” but with your tribal dirty mind, you called it a failure like you said. Look! there will be no reunion at this time. ” DEAL OR NO DEAL”
People are really confused
Dinka council of Elders, Shame to America and Nuers spoilers, we can not surrender to any Nuer mobilizer, this is the fruits of our liberators , since 1983—2015 , Nuers were killing us and Arab to give up the liberation wars, but ,Dinka vision defeated them , Now Nuer call themselves liberators, while they were doing opposite . In Dinka mind internal liberation with our former enemies ,not Nuer alone, any other tribes who is against us , we are ready to face any body with gun barrel, Jieng Oyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, Kiir Oyeeeeeeeeeee Elders Oyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee , Sorry to announce that any body in South Sudan ,,,,wait your time or you joint Reik ,,,No discussions , Nuer always died like flies crying for leadership and asking more food, how can you struggle to death, to eat colleagues food, you beg , not threat of being fighters where are you now, If Nuer continue aggression on us, we will send more Nuers to grave, we know where to find them.
The problem with the above article it is not neutral in its nature, it takes side. It does not touch Salva kiir who is the root cause instigating and imposed the current war to Nuer tribe. The article present only the view and interest of Dinka tribe who want their son Kiir to stay in power with no one challenges him despite his incompetency to lead the nation. If this war is not a war between Nuer and Dinka,why do the the maascre in Juba carried out by the government forces directed to Nuer civilians? And also those who carried the maascre where trained from Bhar elgazal which is incumbent home town so-called Duku beny. You people, it is better to tell the truth than lie!
Deng, don’t pretend to be a liberator. All South Sudanese were liberators to this country. Listen, what the Kiir has been using is not a Jieng power, in political terminology, it’s called, “State power” because when leader of the country using the national resources and foreign force against one ethnic group or other, he is using a “state power” against his own people in order to stay on power. The good news is that, all south Sudanese are having guns in their hands. If that is the kind of leadership that you were dreaming about, South Sudan will never enjoy an stability until that ignorance ideology will be no longer this country. it’s a matter of time. Enjoy your last minute.
Mr. Deng, please talkt like a nationalist. Do you really know that it’s shameful to be slaves to Ugandans or to be protected by Ugandans? I am not saying the current government belongs to Dinka, but rather, it’s a Dinka-led gvt, which is being brief casted by mercenaries. Had it not been for that protection, then guess what would be its fate. I mean to tell you that you need not boast in the power of Museveni’s hands. Look out for what is unfolding, when non-Dinka takes over, then you Dinkas will be surprise how South Sudan must be the best place of living for all mankind.
Reik Machar , failed Kiir to make peace decision , because all his agendas ,full with conditions ,more positions to be given to his fighters and all his white army [civilians army] who destroyed the country on his behavior, must be integrated as part of national army , to cause more havoc, if he fail elections , Nuer rebels since Matip , they threat government to gain high positions as payments for the internal destruction they did in South Sudan specially to Dinka civilians their traditional enemy.
Kenya have to control it’s border because Kenya border have being use as The Defection roots by Top Position Seekers of SPLM-IO.
South Sudan belong to 64 tribes.Jieng Council of Elder must be destroyed like Soviet Union so that South Sudan remain a federal democratic state with justice flowing like water..
Kenya is not a Route for SPLM-IO,they sack themselves and go to Kenya defect back again to Juba to claimed their Highest positions.
How could they look and valued themselves(jieng) to represent s sudanese, their closemine have been understand all over the world.
It like when unproductive man claim a child who’s not his own blood, shameless people.
Jang cie ran!
DAk Kuol, Jang ran, or Dinka is human being, better then Nuer, I wander why Nuers are so bitter to rule while they came yesterday from Khartoum , force by CPA, that either they like or not Dinka liberate the country. Arab told them that joint your people ,no hope. Until CPA Reik and his tribe were fighting Dinka and SPLA, to fail the liberation projects, After joining he took Wani Ega, position by threat. even now he want to take his position again , but dinka refuse, and Equatorians are confuse who to defend between WAni and REik because the don’t know their right, waiting to join the winner.
This group of sinile dinka men should not meddle with national issues as though South Sudan is dinka property! Even though dinka makes up 90% of South Sudan, that does not give dinkas any right to dictate terms.
A country does not leave in isolation but through interactions with neighbours and those far flunked from it.
The acts of Dinka always wanting to the ones calling the shot in South Sudan will lead their further antagonisation by the rest they continue to refer as minorities.
The Dinka elders, best described as cattle camp leaders, should advise one of their own, Salva Kiir (also donning their trademark hat) to listen to what others have to say. The 22 years or so that Kiir spent under Garang’s wings denied him leadership accument; Kiir is better placed to manage the army not a country certainly.
Dear Jieng Council of Elders:
Like many South Sudanese, I have been reading your writings in both news papers and the net and this one has caught a particular attention of mind. First of all, the danger in which our country has entered into was in deeded exaggerated by your strategies. For instance, what was supposed to have been a limited crisis in the country fitting power hungry people ( Riek , Taban, Ezekiel Lol and G12) and the government of South Sudan resulted in the planned killing of unarmed Nuer civilians in Juba. This forced the Nuer people in Juba to flee for their lives and guess who they ended up joining in the bush? It is Riek Machar and this triggered the revenge killing which Riek had to utilize politically for his gain. Riek was supposed to flee alone with his brother-in-law Taban if you didn’t kill Nuer people. Those who conspired with him were all those were in the Khartoum Peace agreement and their influence in the circles of the Nuer villages was limited. You now stand accused for orchestrated such inhuman crime against Nuer in Juba. As if this is not enough, you continue to advise the President not to accept peace, in fact, threatening him with his life if he ever accept the demands presented by rebels. You also continued to write in the news papers threatening Equatorians citing the feud between Abel Alier and Joseph Lago, etc.
Now, as if messing up our domestic policy is not enough, you have jumped to foreign policy which you have no knowledge or experience about. All you have raised in your letter are in place, the only problem is that no vultures will fall from the sky unless there is a kill on the forest floor. Our country is bleeding, our country is on the verge of destruction and yet you don’ t see sense in resolving the current conflict. If you were savvy in your foreign policy analysis, you would know that threatening Africa Union, IGAD members, EU, Troika, China and Russia will not solve our problem. Obama knows where you sleep, what you eat and so on, but you have no clue what is he is up to. The point is that South Sudan is no match for the world; you know that and I know that. The best strategy that will stop South Sudan from invasion is by ending this war peacefully in the next few weeks. Then all the vultures will have no excuse to land in our country. As you rightly put it, South Sudan has resources and all these countries need them. They will do whatever they can to ensure that our country is unstable so that they can come in. We have been telling you since we formed our government in 2011 that you need to allot some oil wells to America, France, Britian, etc so that those who helped us during the national liberation struggle can also benefit from the fruits of their labour. Instead, your advise and mantra has been China, China and China. Western countries are imperialist powers in case you don’t know…they don’t care how handsome or beautiful you look…if you don’t give them their cut, they will cut you and that is exactly why the chicken is now coming home to roost. They were the ones who pressured Riek Machar and the group to usurp power in December. I remember Hilde John and Susan Page( US Ambassador) being brought to the private residents of senior government officials and having even boy friends among them and we advised you that this was too much of a diplomatic work. They were collecting information about us…they now know even the colour of you pants. there is no hiding place.
My submission is that your advise to the President of the Republic that there is no peace, but surrender of the Rebels and now declaring war against the world has now backfired. You are killing him and you are destroying South Sudan by extension. Even if We fight the West, whose country will be destroy? whose interest will be served? Since the independence of South Sudan, president Kiir has only been listening to you and some former members of the National Congress Party who have been just bootlicking and worshipping Kiir (just to quote Nyaba). Our opinion to the president has been the opposite of what you were doing, but the President listens to you more because he believes that his own elders cannot advise him to do something wrong. Look now, even after the failure of the peace talks in Addis, we didn’t come back as government and plan some scenarios for the next round of talks and what is in the works by IGAD-plus. We will go back to Addis without any plans. What type of government works like? For me, I would like to advise that you give president Kiir a chance to lead the country on his own. He is a good man and I know that if he were allowed to think independently, he will bring this country back to normal. Look, you are writing this letter to the international community as Jieng, what happen to South Sudanese Elders who are not Dinkas. Do you think that someone will listen to your voice alone without asking where are the others? If this letter was written by a collective voice of intellectuals across South Sudan, leaders of the world will read it. How can you, who are accused of planning the masscare of Juba, expect the world to listen to you? The only salvation we have got now as a country…doesn’t matter whether you are in government or rebels…is to swallow your greed for positions and bring peace home. Failure to do so will land some of you in the ICC.
This council called “Jieng council” should not talk on behalf of all south Sudanese they are only representing Jieng community as such. when they say the south Sudanese will fight the invaders who are these south Sudanese? again when they say the African Union are planning to loot the natural resources of south Sudan and that this will not be accepted by south Sudanese, but if the said natural resources are being looted by the current government, which looting is preferable to the other. I believe if the resources are looted by the African Union and not Kiir government the better because after all they will loot them to satisfy their financial need but not to buy arms and mercenaries to killed other south Sudanese people. whom do you think is stupid here, where you sense imminent threat to your leadership we become brothers and in the absence of such threat you are the untouchable in south Sudan. shame on you those who value food more human life.
The problem is that they(Jaang Elders) have not been challenged yet on their tribally motivated destructive role by South Sudanese communities or the Jaang Communities if there are any with a voice beside this community/group of elders. I wouldn’t want the other tribal communities/councils to respond to this Jaang elders because I don’t want this conflict to continue being fuel by tribal ideology rather than a South Sudanese aspired ideology.
Nyaluak Lual, or Mr Rommel, I have to give you this one. You are simply eloquent
You hit the Nail Nyaluak Lual even though I haven’t read your all post due to the lack of time, by the way, Why not a council Of South Sudanese Alders?
I know very well that useless elders always thinks stupid and this is exactly the case with the so-called Dinka/Jaang elders. And to useless Jaan’s wife so-called Nyangoth Lual, be warned against Nuer/Naath otherwise this war will end without your present on earth or in this world! Okay?
Nyaluak Lual,
Many thanks for the advice to Jieng elders. I must admit this is the first time I agree with you in this forum. Indeed disagreement is also healthy in any democratic society that is to say no need to shoot at each other when disagreement occur. One of the most important thing I would like to highlight is nobody should have rebelled had the Dinka not target Nuer in Juba in December 2013. Riek Machar is a very lucky man, because the Dinka elders have as you eloquently put it drove the Nuer to him..
That what we say and that what we said women always are good then men in thinking in wards too , thank you sister Nyaluak Lual , actually there is no comment in what you wrote it above 1000% of realities thank you .
The AU/IGAD mediators have done something to satisfy their home countries,interests in South Sudan by appointing themselves to rule the country instead of intervention by removing both killers kiir and riek only and appointing someone whose hands are not tainted with south sudanese blood and to run the country for interim period of 9 months and for south sudanese to choose for themselves right leader.what will happen, If this igad proposal is approve the Dinka,Nuer and others tribes will unite against African oversight force and fight their common enemy and then after defeating the African force Dinka and Nuer will again resume their conflict because of different interests and believe between the two tribes,we the Dinkas believe that when it come to leadership some posts such as presidency, defence, governor of the central bank and the ministry of livestock for Dinka’s cattle to prosper are reserve for Dinkas only Which the Nuer and other tribes are against, the Nuer also believe that they are the only brave fighers in Africa, the mediators not are solving anything and for the current peace talk the IGAD mediators need to bring right people /group such as Paul Malong Awan,Gatwichdual, peter Gatdet, Dinka council of elders and Nuer council of elders to Addisababa the crisis will end immediately.
Jiengs Elders! Please note that you have completely exposed yourselves naked to the entire world. All your lies are out in the open. As a group, you are responsible for the destruction of South Sudan and don’t look for scapegoats. The days of Dr. John Garang, the smooth taker, lying all over the world by hiding the actual situation in the jungle of South Sudan are over! Yes, Dr. established the impunity, flunder, and looting in the bushes of South Sudan, and Mr. Kirr just perfected the ugly system; exposing to the outside world. If South Sudan falls into receivership by the UN or AU, it is your fault! As Jiengs, you have turned South Sudan into a killing field and the world has a moral duty to intervene to save lives. Any delay will definitely lead to total genocide in the days to come. I don’t think your saviour Dr. Riek Machar will restraint the victims of Juba massacre for ever form revenging. The day Riek quits or leaves the leadership of SPLA/M-IO the hell will break open! Therefore, instead to talking nonsense, just advise your primitive president Salva Kirr to quit now!!!
Pawil and Hoiloom,
I always write balanced articles. Your only problem is that you look at one side of the coin, which is yours and ignore the other side. What happened in this article is that the Jieng elders presented one side and left their role in the mess which resulted in this conflict. That is why, I reject any advise by relatives. There are reasons for appointing government advisor who should be accountable legally for what they tell the president. I talk with some of the sober Jieng elders here and we tell them to stop this group as it will not help anyone other than incite other elders to do the same. When Salva was elected, he won all over South Sudan except in the Shollo Kingdom where they failed all SPLM candidates in favour of SPLM-DC.
The West and particularly the United States Of America is fueling the war through its support of Uganda as one of their main agent against terrorism in the region of East, West, and North Africa. What is misleading here is that in South Sudan there are no Islamic terrorist extremists in South Sudan. The extremists are revealing themselves to be Kiir, M7, some Jaang think tanks and Jaang councils of elders, and those who misled to the West by supporting and or encouraging a direct involvement of Uganda and ultimately involving the west and Americans. Should the west reconsider its role and direction of their regional policies in relations to East Africa, South Sudan and Uganda will have new bosses to foster different productive goals and expectations from that of Museveni and Kiir, Jaang think tanks and the councils of elders.