By Pastor Bagura Abraham,
![US President Donald Trump speaks about the agreement between Israel and Sudan in the Oval Office at the White House [Carlos Barria/Reuters]](https://i0.wp.com/www.nyamile.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/trumping.png?resize=1024%2C667&ssl=1)
Considering persistent injustices, inequality, marginalization, inhuman treatment and the isolation of Southern Sudanese in the Sudan, the Southerners were left with no option but to rebel against the Khartoum government, after all nonviolent political engagements proved futile.
The Southerners were mobilised to support the cause, intended to end marginalization, economic deprivation, corruption, racism, arbitrary arrests, kidnappings and assassinations, to mention but a few. In response; almost every household participated in contributing towards the expansion of the Liberation struggle.
THE DEATH OF THE VISION BEARER
Tragedy occurred on the 30th of July, 2005 when Dr. John Garang de Mabior died in a plane crash, as he headed to South Sudan from Uganda. Dr. Mabior’s demise came barely six months after signing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) with the Government of Sudan and implementation was just about to begin.
The second in command of the SPLA/M was Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit who had to carry on with the implementation of the CPA. As provided for in the CPA, the people of South Sudan voted for independence and declared the country an independent sovereign state on the 9th of July 2011.
As the norm, the International Community welcomed South Sudan to the community of nations and provided financial, political, diplomatic and technical support for the main purpose of building the world’s newest nation.
As if the SPLA/M veterans were fighting to enrich themselves; led by President Salva Kiir, they resorted to extensive looting and corruption. The money meant to rebuild the war torn South Sudan went into the pockets of the Liberation Veterans.
Accountability became impossible till date because the head of State was deeply involved in every scandal, making it hard for him to hold his subordinates accountable. As a result, the expected rebuilding and development of South Sudan disappeared in thin air, to date.
When South Sudanese started demanding for accountability, the would be Liberators and Genuine Leaders became aggressive, ready to crash any descenting voices. This is when all the vices the SPLA/M generation claimed to have been fighting resurfaced.
By this time, President Salva Kiir and his colleagues usurped people’s power and embezzled public resources meant for the service of the government and the people of the newest country.
On one occasion, President Kiir wrote privately to 75 government officials, asking them to secretly deposit over four billion dollars they were suspected to have embezzled. No wonder, South Sudan ranks the most corrupt country in the world, in the Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index.
By virtue of state power and public wealth for personal gains, the liberation veterans became untouchables and therefore, turned into intolerant elites. They would go on to co-opt the powers of the judiciary, and the legislator and privatize other public institutions especially the security sector.
THE REAL PROBLEM
Politically, President Salva Kiir sidelined all the members of the SPLM Political Bureau in making key national decisions.
He decided to cooperate with those who were nicknamed YES SIR! The members of this nickname were well known for supporting President Salva Kiir in anything he decided to do, without caring whether there could be a positive or negative impact(s).
Given the patience and prayerful nature of most South Sudanese, Dr. Riek Machar, in that privileged position of the Vice President and other high-ranking leaders in the SPLM decided to advise and guide the President back to order.
They requested their party Chairperson to avoid sidelining the SPLM Political Bureau whenever any decision(s) was to be made and recommit to and deliver on the vision of the struggle for independence.
They called for vital reforms within the organised forces and many sectors.
Unfortunately, their calls and internal advocacy fell on the President’s deaf ears.
This is when the second in command (Dr. Riek Machar) and colleagues decided to rescue the sinking boat of the Liberators, by making public; their intentions to contest for the office of the President, in the first elections of the Republic of South Sudan, that were scheduled to occur in 2015.
Since President Salva Kiir felt very powerful and untouchable, he defied the constitution and all the democratic principles and the practices of good governance, by FIRING his Deputy, Dr. Riek Machar and indeed the entire government in July 2013.
At a meeting of the SPLM National Liberation Council, voting on basic SPLM documents were expected within the ruling party. This included provisions for party elections by raising up hands instead of secret ballots. President Salva Kiir preferred voting by raising up hands while some of his colleagues, including Dr. Machar preferred voting by secret ballots, thus drawing a clear battle line between pro-Kiir and pro-Machar groups in the party.
Since President Salva Kiir was confident of winning any internal votes for his preferred elections by show of hands, he agreed. However, he changed his mind after realising the massive support Dr. Riek Machar had. His only mission was to create any instability so as to avert the unavoidable political changes at the SPLM convention.
THE 2013 GENOCIDE
On a sad note, the President and his followers thought of no other instability except CONCOCTION OF A COUP D’ÉTAT as a justification to wage war. This claim of a coup d’etat was dismissed by the African Union Commission of Inquiry report, (the OBASANJO REPORT) on the crisis in the Republic of South Sudan.
This staged coup was to be blamed on Dr. Riek Machar alongside those who attended a press conference he led at the SPLM premises on 6th December, 2013.
Given the nature of dictators, President Salva Kiir in his powerful and untouchable capacity as the Commander-in-Chief of all the organised forces, ordered the disarmament of the Presidential Guards, who came from Dr. Macher’s NUER ethnicity.
This was followed by the arrests of all the SPLM leaders who had attended the press conference that Dr. Machar earlier chaired in the SPLM House.
By this time, the nation experienced a condition commonly known as THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST.
Just as the meaning of the condition, Dr. Riek Machar managed to escape the arrest alongside a few of his comrades.
About a dozen of SPLM leaders who didn’t escape were arrested, detained prosecuted, acquitted by court and released. They later became a political group known as the Former Detainees (FDs).
THE DAY OF GENOCIDE
On the 15th December, 2013, the systematic, door-to-door Genocidal Operations were commanded in search of Dr. Riek Machar in houses of his tribe-mates, the Nuer in Juba.
Having failed to get hold of him, the tribal militia which carried out this operation resorted to killing and assassinating every NUER on sight in Juba, the Capital city of the Republic of South Sudan.
Reports indicated that an estimated 20,000 Nuer were executed in that operation within three days.
Tens of thousands of Nuer survivors took refuge in the premises of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan within Juba. Unfortunately, this gruesome undertaking did not spare even a child.
ERA OF PEACE AGREEMENTS
With years of the senseless war, the region and the international community urged President Salva Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar to cease hostilities and participate in peace talks. The peace talks, mediated by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), resulted in the signing of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (ARCSS) in August 2015.
The government of South Sudan led by President Salva Kiir and the armed Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition (SPLM/A-IO) led by Dr. Machar were the signatories to this ARCSS and they both committed to implement it in letter and spirit.
As provided for in the ARCSS, Dr. Riek Machar returned to Juba, to form a new unity government with President Salva Kiir and implement the signed peace deal.
Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the ARCSS collapsed in July 2016 when renewed violence broke out at the Presidential Palace in Juba, during a meeting involving both President Salva Kiir and his comrade in war, Dr. Riek Machar. The violence escalated, and ejected Dr. Riek Machar out of the country. He returned over two years later after negotiating and signing another peace agreement, the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS).
PERIOD OF DELIBERATE VIOLATIONS
At the IDLE WATCH of the guarantors to the signed agreement including the International Community, the following occurred:
- Restriction of Dr. Machar’s movements within the country. Much as his party was incharge of three states directly, Dr. Machar was not allowed to leave Juba even visit those states for nearly seven years of the R-ARCSS.
- President Salva Kiir demonstrated no political will to implement the very agreement he penned and pledged to honour. The R-ARCSS was deprived of political support and financial resources.
- Unification of the organised forces never occurred. On the contrary, the forces were subjected to harsh conditions including attacks, starvation, lack of medication, and lack of salaries causing many to desert, or die. The few that remained graduated with sticks.
- Constant attacks on the recognised cantonnement sites of parties to the signed agreement were deliberately executed and normalised by the Kiir’s government.
- Illegally, and contrary to the provisions of the Agreement, President Salva Kiir unilaterally fired ministers and state governors of the SPLM/A-IO, swapped ministries and took over states assigned to them by the R-ARCSS.
- Arresting and restricting the movements of stakeholders became the main target so as to dismantle the peace agreement.
- Liaising with some neighbouring countries in order to kidnap activists then deport them to Juba where most were extrajudicially executed in cold blood became the special project assigned to the NOTORIOUS NATIONAL SECURITY SERVICE. Just imagine, some member states of IGAD continue to cooperate in these kidnappings yet IGAD itself poses as a neutral body trying to resolve the crisis in the Republic of South Sudan.
- The use of some neighbouring countries to undermine the ARMS EMBARGO on South Sudan became a reality. Contrary to the provisions of the R-ARCSS, President Salva Kiir not only invited heavily armed mercenary forces from some neighboring IGAD countries but used them to engage in active combat including airstrikes.
- The use of the internationally prohibited cluster bombs started being witnessed in South Sudan; firstly in Jonglei State and the latest being in Nasir city of the Upper Nile state.
In one scenario, some foreign firms were hired using taxpayers’ money to convince the international community to abort the advocacy for the tribunal.
- The deliberate obstruction of the establishment of a hybrid judicial tribunal to try the perpetrators of the conflicts.
- Others.
With all the above highlighted events, the South Sudanese are still in shock to see how MUTE the International Community has become, just like the regional organizations and the African Union.
As for the regional entities, the South Sudanese have the feeling that like-minded leaders are under those umbrellas in order to support one another.
THE UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
- Are the leaders of this world afraid of putting dictator Kiir, his failed SPLM government and the allies to order when human beings are losing hope daily?
- Is the African Union and other concerned entities waiting for young people to forcefully take charge of their country, only to come up and start condemning solutions such as a coup d’état?
- Is the UN Security Council still capable of executing its core mandates with respect to saving nations and human life?
- What of ensuring strict adherence to the Arms Embargo while taking punitive measures on any violators?
- Is the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) still necessary when it is toothless? What UN chapter in terms of mandate is suitable for UNMISS to protect the suffering South Sudanese?
- HAS PRESIDENT SALVA KIIR MAYARDIT AND HIS FAILED, LOOTING, KIDNAPPING, LAND-GRABBING AND ASSASSINATING SPLM GOVERNMENT BECOME TOO FEARFUL AND UNTOUCHABLE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO REDIRECT?
Concerned citizen, with lots of regrets and disappointments,
Bagura Abraham is a Pastor and Advocate for Good Leadership and Governance. He can be reached through email at Bagura21@yahoo.com.
