Brief Reflection of the Past

By Pal Chol Nyan

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"As you would recall, the red army consisted of teenagers recruited from Bahr El Ghazal, the Nuba Mountains, Equatoria, and Upper Nile. They had trekked all the way to Ethiopia, a journey of three to four months, arriving there only as skeletons." 

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Photo: UNHCR

I was a member of the red army, who after the fall of the Ethiopia's Derg Regime in 1990, came and settled in Nasir. We were a group of what UNICEF later called "Unaccompanied Minors." We built our tukuls in the swampy areas of Ketbek adjacent to the SPLM/A Nasir Faction Headquarters. On arrival from Ethiopia, we first settled at Torpuot but we later moved to Pananyang before coming to settle finally at Ketbek. We were known as K-Minors (Ketbek Minors). UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) started to open schools for the minors.

I was both a minor and a primary school teacher, the youngest teacher at the time. This spectacularly brought me closer to the UNICEF senior staff, prominent of whom was Prof essor Magne Raudalen, a Norwegian Professor of Psychology whose main task focused on trauma therapy and counselling.

Trauma is a mental condition that begets behavioral changes. It is also a physical harm inflicted with the use of blunt or sharp objects. Prof. Magne made me his interpreter when interviewing the minors about their experiences. It was not easy but it was a task I could not turn down because most of the minors were speaking Arabic and local languages.

As you would recall, the red army consisted of teenagers recruited from Bahr El Ghazal, the Nuba Mountains, Equatoria, and Upper Nile. They had trekked all the way to Ethiopia, a journey of three to four months, arriving there only as skeletons.

These minors were based in Itang, Pinyudo and Dimma. They were trained as soldiers while schooling, though improper because it used to be interrupted for reasons known to all of us. We had teachers. We also had caretakers, who were appointed and assigned by the SPLM/A Leadership. They catered for us. 

During the long trek to Ethiopia, many of these teenagers did not make it to their destinations. They felt prey to the wild beasts, succumbed to death as a result of snakes bites,  drowning while crossing rivers, some were eaten up by crocodiles, some starved to death, some died of thirst and felt into the ambushes of the Murahaleen (Arab nomads in Sudan) and some tribal armed groups. With time, the survivors got traumatized. They would scream in dreams about the worst experiences they had gone through. UNICEF introduced the program of psycho-social trauma therapy to help the minors cope with these experiences and disturbing nightmares. One day, I was hosted by the UNICEF Film Crew where I had to narrate my life experiences, which was also part of trauma therapy.

I hope the SPLM/A commanders wouldn't deny that they picked and dispatched some of us to war. Zal Zal (Earthquake) two consisted mainly of the red army. General Pieng Deng Majok is a living witness to this fact. They have fallen in many battles. Some of our colleagues, who managed to go to Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya and Pinyudo Refugee Camp in Ethiopia, immigrated to the USA through the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHCR) initiated program of resettlement.

They are the ones who called themselves the "Lost Boys" of Sudan. The term red army was an SPLM/A jargon and a euphemism for child soldiers. We were picked from our homes under the pretext of going to school in Ethiopia when, in actual fact, it was a conscription because the parents who opposed this forceful removal faced fines in form of cattle. I can state here clearly that most of the red army undertook specialized military training. They became signalists and Combat Intelligence officers( GIS: General Intelligence Services) as it used to be called. The first group of the red army was sent to Cuba for education and military training at Youth Island became professionals in many disciplines.The survivors of the red army  are  now in their late 40s. They can lead and do what others do.

South Sudan has great minds and skilled manpower. However, these are people who have no chance of utilizing these skills due to the SPLM's power war.

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The author is an independent opinion writer and stands where truth is deemed bitter. He's also a medical practitioner based in South Sudan. My email is  palcholnyan@yahoo.com

Hon. Atem Garang de Kuek is a man of the people

By Pal Chol Nyan

Former SPLM Chief Whip, Atem Garang de Kuek
Photo: SBS Dinka Radio

My senior colleague, Michael Koma, wrote an impressive and a touching article titled in the Dawn Newspaper: "Rebel MPs Except Honourable Atem Garang." De Kuek spoke his mind against the move by SPLM lawmakers to top up their salaries, a move rejected outright by Hon. Atem Garang, the former  Chair of the SPLM Caucus and the Chief Whip, prompting him to quit his position.

When he felt let down by his own caucus, he tendered in his resignation, which was accepted with the announcement of his successor. Hon. Atem 's argument makes a lot of sense, which to his self-seeking colleagues is a backstabbing move simply because he wants the salaries of the civil servants, the army and other organised forces increased to cope with the prevailing economic hardships. He thought he was going to win the support of his colleagues but he got disappointed.

Hon. Atem did not do anything wrong. He is a true patriot whose concern is the welfare of his people more than his belly. If that is his mistake, then he has our support as people who are subjected to abject poverty by their own leaders. Ustaz Atem Garang has glittering leadership qualities and that made him win the election by acclamation in 2010. It doesn't have to  defeat us that a member of parliament represents his people, the constituency who elected him.

Once in office, the electorates expect services but in our case, the parliamentary and the executive positions have become sources for self-enrichment and the impoverishment of the citizens by our leaders. 

Honourable MPs, you have betrayed your colleague, Hon. Atem Garang de Kuek. You wrongly believed that Hon. Atem was stirring up the situation or inciting the people, but in reality, he was defending the president because he doesn't want his people to feel bad about him and his rule. The parliament is not a place to make money; it is for legislating the laws that govern the country. If you don't raise motions to discuss bills and pass laws to empower the president, then there must be something to attract the attention of the owls or security in plain term. It is so embarrassing that the MPs failed to deliver on the promises they made during their election campaigns. 

The president needs to stay awake. There may be hidden forces at work. The father would not feel good once he has eaten and the kids are hungry. The same is applicable to the lawmakers; their job is to fight for the rights and interests of the citizens. If they don't do that, they deserve to have a vote of no confidence passed. It goes without saying that our country is let down by those who make themselves puppets and  don't speak in public but behind the scene to protect their positions. 

Get prepared. The president decided to meet his brother and an arch-rival, Dr. Riek Machar,  for a handshake. This means peace is in the offing. It should not be tampered with.

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The author is an independent opinion writer and stands where the truth is deemed bitter. He is also a medical practitioner in South Sudan.  

Email: palcholnyan2016 @gmail.com.

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Editor's Note: The views expressed in this article are solely of the author not The Philosophical Refugee Site.