SINCERE CONDOLENCES
I'd like to express my condolences to everyone who’s lost loved
ones.
INCITING TRIBALISM: NOT JIENG
vs NUER BUT GOVERNMENT FORCES vs NUER
Those comparing what is
happening in South Sudan to 1994 Rwanda don’t understand the nature of what is
happening in South Sudan. To call the issue Jieng vs. Nuer is to
mischaracterize the situation. It was not the average Jieng civilians who were
killing Nuer civilians in Juba. It was government security forces.
This problem was started by the
government by calling the Mutineers Riek’s loyalists because of their
ethnicity. It’s the government that tribalized the tension and no one else.
Besides, why was the security force going house to house and why were they mostly
Jieng? Where there Nuer forces among those who went house to house? If this
security force was made up of members from all tribes including Nuer, Nuer
civilians would not have been targeted.
Now, whose fault is it that the
security force was predominately Jieng people? Were there Nuers in the security
force that went from house to house but allowed their fellow Nuers to be
targeted? A presence of Nuer soldiers would have prevented this mess. However,
the government came out to talk to South Sudanese who have nothing to do with this
mess!
Civilians didn’t start this and
they are not the ones killing themselves. The government and its security
forces started this mess and they have to end it.
NO EVIDENCE OF A COUP
At the end of the day, we are
the people to tell our truth. Our government has failed its people. And
the politicians opposing the dictatorial and misguided leadership of president Kiir
failed to properly read the mind-set of the president. Irresponsibly and tactlessly opposing a man who has
no sense of genuine purpose is a disaster in itself.
However, the world has to know
and properly contextualize what is happening in South Sudan. It’s not a ‘coup.’
A number of things need to be understood as facts don’t add up!
-
The government has no documented
proof of a coup plot: meeting place and word by word proof that it was actually
a premeditated coup to oust the president. With a proof then we’d never forgive
these politicians and they would be tried for treason against South Sudan.
However, without any proof the government will be considered the problem itself
and the president and the cabinet would be tried for treason against South
Sudan should they be the ones who instigated the mess!
-
The fight started among
the presidential guard units, an elite force that’s supposed to be under the
command of the president and his trusted folks. Why the fight started in the army
headquarters is a puzzle as the government failed to provide a convincing
answer. Opposing groups provide contradicting accounts.
-
The ‘coup’ started in
the army barrack rather than a place in which coups are mostly effective: president’s office, presidential palace or
the state TV station.
-
The claim of mutineers’ loyalty
to Riek Machar is based purely on ethnicity as the soldiers who mutinied are
ethnically Nuer so the government is the one that tribalized this disaster.
What other criteria did the government use to establish that the mutineers are
Riek’s loyals? And why did Nuer officers, and not Jieng officers, mutiny while
the ‘coup’ plotters are not all Nuer?
-
If this was a
premeditated coup orchestrated by the arrested individuals, shouldn’t soldiers
loyal to them be part of the mutiny too? Why weren’t soldiers loyal to the
likes of Oyay Deng Ajak, Majak D’Agoot, Gier Chuang and the rest, part of the mutineers
if they plotted the ‘coup’?
-
The government’s only
support to the ‘coup’ claim is the reported Saturday shooting outside the venue
of the National Liberation Council meeting immediately the dissenting
politicians walked out in protest. And the fact that these group have publicly
criticized the president! Are these people really that stupid to meet publicly
to oppose the president and then plot a ‘coup’ when they don’t have a strong
grip on the military?
-
It’s not clear if the
mutineers clearly intended to oust the president and what they’d done in that
regard to show that this is what their primary aim was. A mere mutiny isn’t
proof of a ‘coup.’ For the government to retain some credibility it has to provide
undeniable proofs.
-
The implicated
individuals except Riek Machar (who ran away for reasons he’ll have to clearly
explain to South Sudanese) were arrested in their houses without any resistance
and there’s no proof of their coordination of a ‘coup.’
MUTINY
What’s
very clear and what no one can dispute is that a number of soldiers mutinied
for a reason we are yet to clearly understand. It’s not clear in the events
that followed and the ensuring fighting that the mutiny was geared toward
removing the president. Machar, for argument’s sake, like president Kiir, could
have taken advantage of the mutiny. However, as facts conscious people and
people who need information from the government, a concrete proof is needed.WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE NOW
The president and his administration need to stop inflammatory statements to the media and call for a national dialogue as soon as possible to follow up on the recent promise in the today's press conference. Innocent civilians, who have no idea what the politicians are talking about, are dying in great numbers. Civilians around Bor and surrounding areas are being subjected to what they have no part in. These people are still traumatized by the events of 1991 SPLA split. They shouldn’t suffer again under greed for power and leadership incompetence.
The president needs to:
- Release the detained politicians
- Call for national dialogue with a conscientious air of national unity. And stick honestly with what he said regarding his promised talks with Riek Machar today!
- Avoid abusive language and inflammatory language
- Stop the lies and stick with the truth by giving verifiable facts for people to analyse for themselves.
- Call for unequivocal protection of civilians regardless of ethnicity
- Remember that people who were killing Nuer civilians in Juba were not Jieng civilians but security forces who happen to be, intentionally or unintentionally, predominately Jieng.
- Make sure the security forces in Juba has a visible presence of soldiers from different tribes in order to ease the tension and anxiety
- Make it a priority to protect Nuer civilians in Juba and other areas of South Sudan that are predominately populated by Jieng
- Hold people who are responsible for the atrocities accountable as he said during his second press conference.
Riek
Machar needs to
-
Reach out to Gatdet and his forces and the entire Nuer community to prevent further ethnic bloodbath
- Reach out to Kiir, as Kiir promised to talk, through a mediator as soon as possible before things further deteriorate.
- Understand that history will not forgive him if another ethnic killing happen in something that implicates him whether he’s to blame or not. People will not remember that Riek Machar ran away because he was about to be arrested in the name of democracy. People will only remember that Riek rebelled in 1991 and innocent civilians were massacred and he rebelled again and in 2013 and innocent civilians are massacred …again. That’d be Riek’s history!
- Call for protection of civilians all over South Sudan, especially in Bor area. The Dinka of Jonglei suffered in 1991 and they are again suffering in 2013.
The sooner Riek and Kiir show a
sense of leadership, responsibility and humility, the better things would be
for the young nation. Otherwise, we are looking at the second failed state in Africa;
a nation of warlords. They owe it to the young generation and the country to straighten
things out. What do they think would happen in 30 years when they are gone or
too old to govern?
