A Decomposition
Bacterium to South Sudan's Diplomacy
Any
human person who functions without structured code of professional and civil
conduct is not only a mad man, but also, a dangerous man! And it’s no secret
that a one Gordon Buay Malek, who— by the Republican Decree on November 18,
2014 became an ‘ambassador’ (without portfolio) — operates with no professional
code of conduct whatsoever. He says whatever he wants whenever he wants. He
proudly told a Jieeng Radio program (SBS Dinka) based in Australia on August
31, 2014 that “I have been issuing press statements since last year and no one
questions me!...Ateny was talking from a position of ignorance! …Now I’m the
government!” (Buay’s
SBS Interview).
It
makes one wonder as to where in the world a pathological sides-switcher could
get such powers and voice? How can a man belittle the president, who controls
power in South Sudan in such a manner? He belittles not only the Presidential
press secretary, calling him ignorant, but also the Minister of Foreign affairs,
who’s supposed to be his boss. And he [Buay] gets away with it!
What
any fair-minded, caring and patriotic South Sudanese would ask is: how did this
happen? How can a man, many times a rebel, now a mere ambassador, act as if
he’s the president of South Sudan, the information minister, the security
chief, the military spokesperson, and the presidential spokesperson… and gets
away with it? Has President Kiir been so much reduced to complete political
incompetence that the likes of Buay mock him in such a manner?
Mr.
Buay should, in a world of rules, code of conduct, and job description, only do
and say what the foreign ministry tell him! Well, he’s mocking not only the
foreign minister, Dr. Marial Benjamin, but also the president of the Republic
of South Sudan!
In
August 2014, he sent out a Press Release about an alleged arrest of Mabior Garang
as wanting to assassinate President Kiir in Ethiopia. Under what capacity does
Buay write on behalf of the government, the president, the national security of
Ethiopia and South Sudan? Buay has put the government and President Kiir in his
pocket. Complete mockery! He’d previously done the same thing by claiming that
Vice President Wani Igga (then the speaker) was attacked in November of 2012 in
Calgary, Alberta, by citizens of Northern Bahr El Ghazal because of Mile 14. Nothing
of the sort happened!
South
Sudan is a sovereign nation that should have a clear, well-articulated foreign
policy that should guide all diplomatic missions representing the national
interest in the best way possible. It appears Mr. Buay operates either out of
disdain for that foreign policy, or there’s no foreign policy to follow and
that each and every figure with ambassadorial position does whatever he or she
wants. What a country!
Ambassadors
are supposed to toe the line of what the national foreign ministry articulates.
Mr. Buay operates his own foreign policy in total disregard to the integrity,
professionalism and the national interest of South Sudan. His quotidian
mannerism, interest and articulations are a total disrespect to the integrity
with which ambassadors are supposed to operate.
If
figures like Mr. Buay represent South Sudan in the heart of World political
theatre like Washington DC, is any one surprised that the government ‘Coup
attempt narrative’ wasn’t respected by anyone in the world? How can a nation be
respected when ambassadors disrespect the president and are answerable to NO
ONE; When they shamelessly lie every day and aren’t aware of their job
descriptions. Are we this confused?
Unless
the likes of Mr. Buay are shown their rightful mandates as diplomats, we will
continue to be the JOKE of the world.
Ambassadors
aren’t politicians and their job description should be clearly spelled to them.
And neither are ambassadors army generals to meddle in military issues. Mr. Buay
shouldn’t be allowed to say anything at all in relation to the government and
the military. His role should be restricted to bilateral relations between
South Sudan and the nation in which he’s posted as a diplomat.
Does
Buay have a hidden agenda?
An
Unscrupulous Opportunist
The worst thing about President Kiir Mayardit is the fact
that he thinks anyone who publicly professes support is his true supporter.
Regrettably, the history of South Sudan has shown that impulsive decision-making,
without any proper study in order to make well-informed decisions, is very
dangerous. Buay Malek is an opportunist who can now wittingly hoodwink the
president by professing anti- Nuer and anti-Riek sentiment. When and how many
times has Buay become anti and pro-government supporter? How many people
supported the government only to change within a very short time?
On October 22, 2010, Buay—after 2008 merger of SPLA and
SSDF—in an article: “Kiir Will Not Listen to
Supporters of Disunity,” praised President Kiir for pardoning those of George Athor, Gordon Koang,
Gabriel Tang, David Yau Yau and Gatluak Gai.” Gordon Buay unashamedly wrote
that “President Kiir Mayardit is a smart politician who has understood that
negative doubters are individuals who want his administration to fail and do
not appreciate his efforts to galvanize the people of the South in order to
realize peace and development. Fortunately, the people of South Sudan have a
President who is determined to unite the South and nothing will prevent him
from realizing that.”
Buay
expected to be included in the government and get a post. When that deal didn’t
go through, and those warlords remained in their bushes, Buay again turned
against the same President Kiir he called ‘a smart politician.” On January 24,
2011, he accused the President of violation of “Washington Declaration” and
“South-South Dialogue: “Kiir's Decree
Violates South-South Dialogue Agreement.”
So
in 2011, Gordon Buay was calling President Kiir a dictator (previously ‘a smart
politician’). In a psychologically challenged manner, he bizarrely posted a
video on Youtube (Buay Video) in which he alleged that President
Kiir has been impeached by the national assembly and appointed him [Gordon
Buay] as an interim President due vote of No confidence on the President. Remember Buay hasn’t given up this dream!
He’s inside the power system!
Until
April of 2013, Gordon Buay was part of South Sudan Liberation Movement/ Army-South
Sudan Democratic Forum consortium of terror rebel groups. In a Press Release on January 8, 2013, “Nuer Community Worldwide calls for change in South Sudan”, Buay Malek and Peter Chuol Tut
wrote that “Lt.
Gen. Kiir’s regime perverted the meaning of freedom in order to impose
totalitarianism and ignorance in the country. Kiir and his henchmen say that
“freedom consists not in doing what one wants to do, but in doing what is
right.”
But in April of the same
year Buay as a spokesperson of those of Matthew Puljang and Bapiny Monytuil,
accepted an amnesty from President Kiir. What a difference three months make? Integrated
into SPLA as an untrained, out-of-blue ‘General’, Buay all of a sudden ceased
to say that “Kiir’s regime perverted the meaning of freedom in order to impose
totalitarianism and ignorance in the country.”
How can President Kiir and
the system miraculously change in three months? Once given his title as a ‘general’,
Buay started to hail the then ‘dictator’ Kiir Mayardit as an exemplary leader
in just three months!
In the same Press Release,
Buay and Chuol wrote that “Four days before his assassination, members of
President Kiir’s security guards warned Maj. Diing Chan Awuol to stop writing
and any criticism against the regime. They explained that freedom of thought was
only possible unless approved by President Salva Kiir and security organs.” So,
In 2005 - 2008 - Kiir is a
bad dictator
In 2008 - 2010 – Kiir is
good leader
In 2011 – April 2013 - Kiir
is a bad dictator
In 2013 – present - Kiir is a good leader!
This is hard to follow! Now,
it’s time for Buay, as part of the government, to tell us what he meant? If
President Kiir approved the assassination of Isaiah Diing Chan, then Buay needs
to give us the details. Was Buay telling the truth or was he lying to smear the
name of the president. If Buay was telling the truth then he needs to stand by
the same principles he hailed then! And if he was lying then I see no reason
why he’s allowed so close to the president; or why anyone should believe him!
He accused the president of ordering the murder of Isaiah Abraham!
On March 18, 2012, in “The
Color of Ethnic Domination in South Sudan’, Buay decried Dinka domination of
the government: “It is crucial for members of the international community to be educated
about the ideology of Dinka domination
being pursued by President Salva Kiir Mayardit.” He goes ahead and writes that
“Public realm tribalism being practised by Salva Kiir’s regime is responsible
for ministries to be filled by one tribe; it is also responsible for land
grabbing in Juba, Numeli, Yei and etc. It is also responsible for the massacre
of Shilluks in 2010 and the killing of ten Bari civilians in Juba this month.”
I was a rebel then, he’d say!
Mr. Buay, the government is
still dominated by Jieeng! Check the list of ambassadors! Check the list of
police state commissioners, and the Inspector General! Check the list of
ministers, SPLA spokesperson, SPLA information director, presidential
spokesperson, the government spokesperson and the head of government’s
delegation to IGAD-mediated Peace talks. Journalists are still being killed and
newspapers shut down! Opposition leaders can’t criticise or leave Juba! What
exactly do you think has changed, Mr. Buay? And by the way, you are the THIRD
in South Sudanese embassy in Washington DC after two Dinka men? Funny how life
works, Buay! Are you just a sniffer of Jieeng’s elites’ dirty laundry, Mr.
Buay? Is the creation of discord among Nuer worth your post and money?
Now, Buay wants to convince
us that he truly supports President Kiir! Kiir killed Isaiah, right? Kiir is a
dictator, right? Corruption thrived under Kiir, right? Dinka Domination thrived
under Kiir, right? It’s bizarre that the good ‘ambassador’ believes Kiir is all
of a sudden a good man because he allowed him into the government!
That’s ruthless opportunism
and Marial Benjamin should either tame Buay or fire him completely. It’d be a
good idea to fire Buay in order to see if he’d continue to support the
president or if he’d rebel. Let this professional opportunist be fired in order
for South Sudanese to see if Buay truly supports President Kiir! He’s a
dangerous man!
Buay needs to tell the
people of South Sudan and the President how different his past opportunism is
from his current purported loyalty to the president? “Although it is true that
violence in Jonglei State between Dinka and Nuer on the one hand and Murle
tribe on the other is fuelled by cattle,” Buay writes. “Political violence
which involved fighting between Salva Kiir’s regime and the rebel Movements in
Jonglei, Upper Nile and Unity State was caused by Dinka domination of power in
the South.”
The same way Buay was
writing about President Kiir is the same way he’s now writing against Dr. Riek
Machar. Does Buay Malek think the president and his officials are very naïve
and stupid? Does he think he will always get away with propaganda, lies and
opportunism? Buay will say anything to get what he wants! Believe him for your
own destruction! He’s going to destroy the government from within! How can he
write against what the president has signed?
Is Buay working for
internal destruction of President Kiir’s leadership? Is the way he undermines
the leadership and protocols something to be watched?
An Agent of
Discord
Any responsible South Sudanese should make the reduction
of inter-tribal feuds a life-long goal. Without doubt, any national leader who
makes creation of hatred based on propaganda, lies, blackmail and self-serving
antics should be kept out of important national issues. But for reasons no sane
South Sudanese understands, Gordon Buay has a clearance level that is almost
equal to that of President Kiir. And everything he writes, says and plans not
only embarrasses the president in the eyes of the world; his hateful machination
creates a level of hatred that’ll take time to do away with.
Buay’s known association with career war-lords like
Matthew Puljang and Bapiny Monytuil, Karlo Kual and Kolchara Nyang (killed by
Puljang) makes him a terrorist. These men terrorized civilians as they fought
the government of South Sudan in 2011 and 2012 in Unity State’s Mayom County.
Nuer-Nuer conflict and Nuer-Jieeng conflict!
In 2012, Buay wrote that “When the ministries were
set up in 2005, there were practices of tribal exclusions that made a lot of
people to question the underlying policies and vision of Dinka elite. For
instance, the Ministry of Legal Affairs and Constitutional Development which
was under the guidance of Michael Makuei Lueth employed mostly Dinka Bor.
Majority of employees of the Ministry were from Dinka tribe. The same thing to
the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development which was also dominated by
Dinka tribe.”
This was Buay beating the
drum of Anti-Jieeng sentiment in South Sudan. But since Buay is now in the
government and can’t talk against the very same system he previously accused of
‘dictatorship’ and ‘Dinka domination’, he has now started to create
intra-tribal hatred (Nuer-Nuer), killing of women and children, and recruitment
of Nuer Youth against other Nuer youth.
Small Arms Survey wrote in
July 2015 that “Current
Bul Nuer dominance of the state’s administration, however, makes a political
solution to the conflict in Unity difficult to envisage. The enmity felt by the
rest of the Nuer in Unity, and the degree of political and military control
currently possessed by Matthew Puljang and Joseph Nguen Monytuel (the current
governor, and also a Bul Nuer), makes it highly unlikely they would be willing
to give up power within the state.”
And Buay, the spokesperson of this murderous group, is
left to roam the streets of free, democratic states like United States and
Canada.
It’s always reported in the news that the government
killed women, children and elderly by burning some of them alive in Unity
State. Well, the terror is executed by Matthew Puljang with Buay as their advisory
voice. It’s sad that the government embraces murderous militia who are doing
nothing but to reflect the government as murdering its own citizens. The
burning down of Leer and the destruction of livelihood carried out by Puljang
under Buay’s guidance are human rights violations the government is
shouldering. Terrorist in Washington!
The division and hatred being created among the Nuer by
Buay and his group is going to cost South Sudan a great deal. In Leer, over
100, 000 civilians were displaced with civilians being subjected to sexual
violence, hunger and death and insecurity. This is terrorism of the highest
order. And this is on May 19, 2015. On January 3, 2015, Gordon Buay wrote on
his Facebook account that the government should not accept the demands of Riek
Machar, calling him a “terrorist” and “tribal bigot.” First, Buay should be in
no position to tell the government what to do. As an ambassador, he should only
do WHAT the government tells him. Besides, Puljang who is his military and
political ally, committed unspeakable atrocities in Unity states against fellow
Nuer. Washington should be informed of Buay’s terror links! And we’ll let
Ottawa know these recorded facts!
Small arms wrote that “On 19 June [2015] Bul Nuer youths,
some of whom were involved in the offensive, and others who came from Mayom,
marched south in high spirits; it was now their turn to augment their herds,
and take the resources and livestock that remain in southern Unity. The
government invited the youth of Koch county to join in this offensive. Such
divide and rule tactics further entrenches deep divisions among the Nuer.”
And Buay is not only dividing Nuer, he’s trying his
immorality among the Jieeng. Invited recently by citizens of Warrap state in
the US, Buay tried to create seeds of discord between the Jieeng of Jonglei and
Jieeng of Warrap. Buay tried to downplay Dr. John Garang’s place in the history
of South Sudan by praising late hero Kerubino Kuanyin Bol. Instead of speaking
as a responsible citizen and praise the contribution of Warrap citizens to our
liberation struggle, Buay couldn’t help but play his immoral game by trying to
create problems between the two Jieeng groups. What was even sickening was the
fact that Gordon Buay believed he knows the history of Warrap State better than
the citizens of Warrap state! What an ambassador!
When will Buay stop? When will the government see and
shut up this agent of discord? Pitting one Jieeng group against another, and
one Nuer group against another, shouldn’t be condoned by President Kiir! Buay
Must Go or Shut Up!
Protocol and
Clearance Level
Every government has structured and protocols system.
Buay defies them and becomes the government spokesperson, president spokesperson,
a security agent, the decider of who should say what and when as he told SBS
Radio. That’s shocking! This man undermines the government and embarrasses the
president whether he’s a rebel or a presumed government supporter.
There are security issues that should be known only to
the president and security heads. Buay seems to have a security clearance level
of the president. Unlike everyone in the country, not even the president
himself, Buay does what he wants when he wants. It’d be easy to ask our
neighboring countries to see if there’s an ambassador who reports sensitive
issues the government has not even reported.
Again,
In 2005 - 2008 - Kiir is a
bad dictator
In 2008 - 2010 – Kiir is
good leader
In 2011 – Kiir is a bad
dictator
In 2013 – present - Kiir is
a good leader!
Seriously!
It’s time for South Sudanese in the US to write to their congressmen and women
and alert them about this terrorist and agent of discord. If he’s changed as he
says, then let him shut up and be diplomatic! Ottawa will soon know Buay’s
support of terror on civilians unless he shuts up and be an agent of unity!
Kuir ë Garang is the author of ‘South
Sudan Ideologically’ and “Is ‘Black’ Really Beautiful?” For contact visit www.kuirthiy.info
