By: Daniel Wuor Joak
March 27, 2014(Nyamilepedia) — It is so sad that a nascent country of nearly three years old could venture into unplanned and destructive war, unfortunately orchestrated by none other than the incumbent President Salva Kiir Mayardit. He hastily did it out of greed and jealousy to outstripped his competing colleagues over the SPLM leadership. President Kiir believes in “authoritarian attitude” in case of any eventuality to quell down discontented members within the ranks and files as he sadly did on 15th December 2013, when he personally ordered his loyalists within the SPLA to abrade his potential opponents from SPLM political leadership and their tribal affiliated sympathizers.
The death of over ten thousands Nuer deliberately massacred in Juba as from 16 – 19 December 2013, and subsequent detentions of eleven SPLM political leaders after President failed to either arrest or kill their ringleader Dr. Riek Machar Teny was an overdue plan by him and his henchmen to get rid of Nuer and their leadership once and for all. That was the reason why he kept all oil revenues in billions of US dollar in foreign banks and at the same time deceitful to South Sudanese masses that he had borrowed 4.5 billions US dollar following the shot down of oil in 2011, which pretentiously gave him a leeway to introduce “Austerity Measures” in the country for over one year or more to cube down the government expenditures.
Presently, all government-running institutions are badly affected and yet the President and his cronies revealed later that they had indeed borrowed huge amount of money from China, which was a pure fallacy. If there was money borrowed as recently alleged by him, this money might have been used to pay the mercenaries from UPDF, JEM, and SPLA – N who are currently fighting alongside the government forces against the SPLM/A – In Opposition in Greater Upper Nile region. Most of the government employees including the SPLA war veterans and various departments have not been paid their due salaries since December 2013, while the oil still flowing in Upper Nile State. The government cannot continuously hiring foreign mercenaries while neglecting its own citizens from enjoying their “God Heavenly” given resources for the sake of protecting “one-man” interest.
President Salva Kiir has been busy all this time dispatching his errand boys to different countries in the region and abroad to enlighten those leaders about his make-up coup d’etat, which becomes a huge headache for him to swallow on his daily life. The war has become too costly in which his hired mercenaries are not enough and he still looking for more allies to fight his tribally motivated war by unconditionally calling IGAD countries, Egypt and now Zimbabwe to come and protect the oil fields in Unity and Upper Nile State and not his vulnerable citizens who are caught up in cross-fires. The one million internally displaced persons currently displaced throughout the country should first and foremost be given all the necessary protections before the oil fields. IGAD countries should be serious in their mediating efforts to be frank to Uganda President Yoweri Museveni who still sends more troops and military airplanes to South Sudan to fight the war of aggression against the grieved people of South Sudan against their tyrant leader Salva Kiir Mayardit. They cannot negotiate peace while condoning Uganda troops to kill our innocent’s people by using helicopter gunships and jets with cluster bombs. How do IGAD countries expect peace to be realized in South Sudan when UPDF and other mercenaries from Republic of Sudan constantly killing our citizens and destroying their properties without condemning them? And why IGAD wants to send troops to protect only oil installations and government infrastructures instead of civilians caught in crossfires?
The double-dealings of IGAD in their guess for peace are unacceptable to large section of South Sudanese communities and doomed to fail this time. They want to maintain President Kiir leadership while they are fully aware of his incompetencies. He is a gross human rights violator and a tribalist of highest degree in comparison to Idi Amin Dada. He lacks wisdom and quality to lead the people of South Sudan to prosperity. President Kiir has more importantly promoted corruption, tribalism, nepotism and favourism among his subjects, which will take a number of years for the next leader to rid it. It has become a culture to some extent where an appointed member from certain ethnicity is replaced only with the person from the same community. Competency and dedication are not relevant in his reign except sycophancy and blindfolded loyalty.
Power sharing which is being proposed by IGAD mediators and Troika would make more sense if President Kiir is excluded from it because he is already anticipated a fending case to answer with ICC. He cannot be part of a reconciliatory government while he intentionally murdered thousands of civilians in cold blood. His mercenaries ally will soon vanish as long as the oil fields are soon to be shot down in Upper Nile State by SPLM/A Freedom Fighters who are actively engaged them militarily in the three states of Greater Upper Nile of Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile respectively. There will be no more hard currency to hire mercenaries to fight his senseless war.
With the latest moves from Equatorian intellectuals both at home and in diaspora and that of Chollo community where massive defections have been reported on different news media to SPLM/A – In Opposition is very encouraging news indeed. Southerners should not allow themselves to be misled by somebody who has already failed his leadership on tribal ground. South Sudan is a country that can be led by any capable person among its sons and daughters without any exception. All its sixty-four nationalities are equal before God. No one is above another. All tribes need to be treated fairly and accord the same opportunity without any discrimination.
There is nothing called “Nuer Movement” as it happened in the past where SPLM/A was headed by Dr. John de Garang or the current government by Salva Kiir Mayardit. Nobody ever labelled them as Dinka leaders but rather South Sudanese leaders. Dr. Riek Machar is not a Nuer leader, as some mischevious characters like to portray him as Nuer leader, which is not the case in his vision. He is a South Sudanese leader like the rest before him and the SPLM/A – In Opposition is for all of us. Southerners must liberate themselves from this unfortunate situation where their affairs become everybody concerns being dictated on them by known criminals from East Africa nations. President Salva Kiir must go and let the people of South Sudan chooses their leader of choice without fear and intimidation.
The author is a South Sudanese human rights activist and can be reached through this email: dwjoak21@hotmail.com
