I know President Kiir, most of the time, says the RIGHT thing but does the WRONG thing. While he can incite tribalism sometimes, he tends to sound like a leader once in a while. Check his Independence Day speech. At times he says the right thing to the people of South Sudan.
His actions, however, are most of the time
contrary to what could be called leadership.
But credit where due. His call for calm is the right thing at the moment. I have been saying this over the last two decades: that President Kiir should always come out and address the country anytime there is a national tragedy and speak to the people of South Sudan.
There is something calming about words from
the head of state. Leadership is a psycho-social reality.
Honorable Michael Makuei, the Minister of Information and the government spokesperson, calms no one down. Well, maybe a few South Sudanese find his condescending press statements calming. South Sudan is a country bereft of leadership.
He talks with a princely
I-will-say-what-I-want-so-what-the-hell-will-you-do-about-it attitude.
On the other hand, folks from Sudan People Liberation Movement In Opposition (SPLM-IO), that is,
their spokespeople, talk like there is a gun to their heads. But they have this
impotent, annoying, self-righteous attitude like they own THE truth. Like
Truth=IO! They make me want to...forget it!
What South Sudanese do not have are leaders who speak on their behalf, leaders who care about South Sudan and her peoples.
But note that Uncle Makuei is neither Jieeng (Dinka) nor is he South Sudanese. He is from a tribe called the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). This tribe has different clans. The largest two clans are "In-Government" and "In-Opposition." Bɛny (1) Kiir are Kuär (2) Riek are their tribal chiefs, respectively.
SPLA is a tribe that lives in the past. The
future scares it. It is a tribe that does not apologize. It considers humility
a defeat. It does not entertain criticism. Criticism is disrespectful to this
tribe. It considers itself infallible. These people do not take responsibility
for their actions.
They only like to point their crooked
fingers.
But it is a tribe that is internally
divided. SPLA as tribal people have used division to recruit two clueless
colonies: Jieeng and Nuer. SPLA has so mentally colonized these two nations
that they believe that members of SPLA are their fellow tribesfolk.
But President Kiir, once in a while, acts
like a true South Sudanese, not a colonialist. He abandons the egregious,
insidious values of his SPLA tribefolk every now and then.
Today, he acted like members of his colony:
South Sudanese. But you can see in the same speech that his SPLA tribal
attitude jumps out of him once in a while: He points fingers at "enemy of
peace", who are, strangely, his SPLA folks and the folks SPLA has mentally
colonized.
____
Kuir ë Garang (PhD) is the editor of The Philosophical Refugee.
______
Notes
1. Bɛny is a Jieeng word for a leader
2. Kuär is a Nuer word for a leaders.
