UNSC SHOULD IMPOSE TARGETED SANCTIONS ON SOUTH SUDANESE LEADERS…NOW!

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) knows by now that South Sudanese warring parties are not going to sign any peace agreement soon unless severe sanctions are imposed on prominent figures on both sides.

On January 23, the two parties signed Cessation of Hostilities agreement. This was violated within hours of its signing and soon after the parties started to trade accusations as to who violated it. Bizarrely, it’s always the other side that violates the agreement.

Then on May 9, the two leaders signed a Ceasefire Agreement and expressed commitment to end this war, calling it ‘senseless’. This agreement too was violated. And then in June the two leaders committed themselves to form a transitional government within 60 days. The deadline, which was August 10, passed without any hope of peace agreement in sight.

This is a clear indication that the warring parties neither care about the people of South Sudan nor do they have any respect for all the Nations and organizations mediating in Addis Ababa. Dr. Riek Machar and President Kiir are clearly taking IGAD and the whole world for fools!

As long as these leaders continue to break their promises as the people of South Sudan suffer without any consequences, they’ll never sign any peace agreement.

Besides, the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, sent to South Sudan United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay and Special Advisor on Genocide Prevention, Mr. Adama Dieng, in May of this year.

After coming back from South Sudan, Mr. Dieng presented before the United Nations Security Council the gruesomeness of the situation, the suffering of the people and how the world can’t afford to wait. Ms. Pillay expressed how little compassion and care both leaders showed towards the suffering of South Sudanese citizens.

And on August 12, 2014, the UNSC sent Mr. Mark Grant, the current president of the 15-member UNSC. Mr. Grant’s entourage included US ambassador to the UN, Ms. Samantha Power and Rwandan Ambassador to the UN, Mr. Eugene-Richard Gasana.

After talking to the two leaders, the delegation said that they were ‘disappointed’ by the two leaders as they showed little interest in signing the peace agreement and ending the suffering of South Sudanese people. It was very clear to the UN delegation that these two leaders are not interested in peace and their own people! It’s all about power and top jobs!

So the two leaders are not to be trusted as they’ve broken their promises time and again; they've shown to the world and the UNSC that they don’t care about the people; and they have no interest in ending the war.

It just makes me wonder what other proofs UNSC needs to impose real, affecting sanctions on the two parties.

Should half the population of South Sudan die for UNSC to impose sanctions on the leaders? Is there something of a trust left between South Sudanese leaders and UNSC?

Unless UNSC imposes severe, effective sanctions now, the people of South Sudan will continue to suffer and die. The May sanctions USA imposed on Peter Gatdet Yak and Marial Chanuoong were a mere joke. They were a clear mockery of South Sudanese people. In addition, EU Sanctions, in July, on Peter Gatdet and Santino Deng were the same: pure mockery. I believe they are pure mockery of the suffering South Sudanese civilians because they can never, ever change the dynamic of the war.

I hope the UNSC imposes effective sanctions unlike USA and EU. This is the time for UNSC to show practical care for the people of South Sudan. SANCTIONS NOW! SANCTIONS THAT ACTUALLY WORK!

RIEK MACHAR AND THE ISSUE OF SELF-DETERMINATION FOR SOUTH SUDAN

There’s a big difference between proposing something and making it actually happen. Someone who proposes a given phenomenon and another one who actually makes it happen can both be credited; however, it would be wrong to confuse the correct contribution of each one of them.

Self-determination was first proposed by South Sudanese participants of Juba conference in 1947. Anyone who pretends to be the one, who initiated it, if he or she wasn’t present during that conference, is just abusing history.

Besides, Federal System for South Sudan was first proposed by leaders ofthe Liberal Party in 1953/54 and emphasized by leaders of Southern Federal Party in 1957, a year before the first general election in 1958. In that case, anyone claiming credit now is abusing History!

Dr. Riek Machar has to be very careful or else he’d be seen as taking South Sudanese for fools. We are informed and we know who did what and when!

We have to know that neither Dr. John Garang nor Dr. Riek Machar initiated the idea of Self-determination. It was first initiated when they were either little boys or not born.

Since SPLA doctrinal core was for the total liberation of South Sudan, any talk of Self-determination between 1983 and 1991 landed one in hot water. Those who wanted independence of South Sudan, such as Akuot Atem de Mayen, Abdalla Chuol and Gai Tut, were vilified by Garang and his core supporters. These three men were seen as anti-revolutionary and were vilified in ‘revolutionary songs’ even if they took up arms before John Garang: twice! Independence of the South was their core objective; something John Garang didn’t see as the primary goal of the Southern cause.

Remember, Garang wasn’t actually against South’s independence. He just didn’t think it was the right way to go about things. So self-determination wasn’t first among Garang’s ideological fronts. However, it would become one of the alternative solutions to the Sudanese problem in his famous Vend-Diagrams.

However, it has to be remembered too that Riek’s and Lam’s rebellion brought Self-Determination back into the spotlight and the mainstream political discussion all over Sudan. The duo first proposed it to Khartoumers in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1992 and later forced it through the throats of SPLA-Torit (Mainstream) in Abuja I in 1992.

Dr. John had to instruct his delegation in Abuja to accept Self-Determination to the surprise of not only the Nasir Duo but also, Garang’s allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

While Riek can be credited as having participated in bringing back Self-Determination into the Southern mainstream politics, it wasn’t Riek Machar who made it possible. Riek’s attempts failed with the failure of Nasir programs and his subsequent return to Khartoum where his only success was shameful exit and eventual return to SPLM/A under Dr. John.

Riek and Kiir are two sides of the same coin: failure, incompetence and tribonationalism

Let’s not kid ourselves! South Sudan is a completely tribalized country. We can pretend that only a given section of the society is the problem but history will soon show that the sooner we acknowledge it and find a way to get rid of it or reduce it the better things will be for all of us.

President Kiir Mayardit has ushered in a culture of dirty nepotism and Jieeng-centeredness in his administration, an unfortunate tribonationalism. Regrettably, the leadership will pretend that the administration is not Jieeng-dominated. Even when this kind of behavior and attitude is leading the country nowhere, senior officials still believe nothing is wrong with both the administration and the country as a whole.

If one section of the country isn’t safe in the same city the president lives in then you got to ask yourself: What’s wrong with these leaders?

Instead of devising ways aimed at bridging the tribal divide and possibly use it to bring long-term inter-tribal understanding, the senior officials either further inflame tribal tensions through their careless rhetorics or through lies that easily flash on their faces.

Not only have the officials succeeded in making South Sudan gain number one as the most fragile state, they’ve also brought the country to a new low.

The only head of state who was able to attend South Sudan’s third anniversary ‘celebrations’ was President Museveni of Uganda for obvious reasons. The president of Kenya, Prime Minister of Ethiopia and the president of Sudan didn’t show up.  This is a clear indication of how bad the leadership has failed. But they still think everything is okay. Beats me!

And even worse, they still think there was a coup attempt when the world (even our neighbors) sees no evidence.

Non-Jieeng officials in Kiir’s government are either puppets or self-interest driven folks. If the likes of Dr. Riek Gai and Dr. Lomoro have any true sense of self and care for South Sudan, how come they allow South Sudan Television to be used for divisive politics by the President and people like Malaak Ayuen of SPLA? Such educated people should advise the president regarding the value of different opinions. Instead of using his TV show to instill discipline in SPLA soldiers and to show Nuer people that SPLA has a national face adn intent, Malaak has politicized the show and uses a language that discourages Nuer from the government. How good is that to the president and the country?

Rebellion as I've always maintained, is bad for South Sudan and I’ll never endorse it come what may! However, Dr. Gai and Dr. Lomoro, being the bootlickers they have become without any personal integrity left, should nonetheless let the president know that being criticized or being told that such and such a thing is wrong is not only good for the president, but also, for the nation; because it gives the president an avenue to evaluate his performance.

Riek Machar on the other hand is not doing any better. How can a leader rely exclusively on a unitribal fighting force? Riek’s failures, leadership fantasies and dictatorial tendencies in 1991 are well-documented by Deborah Scroggins, Dr. Lam Akol, Dr. Adwok Nyaba…among others. This means that Riek needs to do more to be seen as a national leader. His administration is overwhelmingly Nuer and his fighting army is made up of the same. Yet Riek is accusing President Kiir of being a tribal leader. Duh!

While Riek Machar didn’t start the current crisis, he’s not done any better than President Kiir. Like President Kiir, he relies on his tribesmen and civilians have been killed in thousands under his leadership. I’ve not seen the national character of Riek Machar! He needs to translate his ‘democratic’ ideas into actions.

While Riek boasts of having supporters from other tribes in South Sudan, one has to realize that all these non-Nuer men are categorically ‘jobbists’, to use Dr. John’s term.  You’ll agree with me that all the men with Riek Machar are men who either lost their jobs or didn’t find any avenue to land well-paying jobs in Kiir’s government. Not a single one can boast of having quit Kiir’s government while still a minister or a senior official. This still brings their national character to question.

President Kiir is both a failure and a tribonationlist but citing that as a reason for joining an armed resistance when one’s primary reason for leaving is the the loss of jobs, isn’t honorable!

Besides, Riek knows that South Sudan is tribally divided; however, he’s not put down any clear modalities that would help bring about inter-tribal understanding. We don’t even know the official policy or political position of Riek Machar and his group. There’s no document except constant and vacuous call for ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom.’  The same Riek now calling for democracy was the one who wanted to ban SPLM-DC of Lam Akol when he (Riek) was Vice President. You can also check the list of his employees when Riek Machar was VP and you’ll be convinced that Riek is as tribonatonalist as Kiir

Both Riek and Kiir are killers, incompetent leaders, care only about remaining or ascending to power at the expense of South Sudanese civilians and they surround themselves with mostly their tribesmen.

These two leaders are a disgrace to South Sudan. I wish their consciences get awakened to give South Sudanese a chance for peace.

While Riek has a better case diplomatically speaking, he risks, again, becoming a greater failure if he doesn't put tribal issues between Jieeng and Nuer into serious consideration. Imagining military victory is mere delusion.  

‘Greater Twic East’: An Unnecessary and Needless Belligerence

You don’t have to respond to every nonsense written about you. And whether or not people respect you will depend on the services you offer to your people not that you respond to every filth written about Twi. Stop responding to every divine ignorance of a few.  

So stop it!

This is in reference to your ‘Press Release’ (SSNA) dated July 5, 2014: “Greater Twic East Youth in USA response to recently released article by Jangdit Dengajok )

‘Greater Twic East’ and ‘Greater Bor Community’ are all nonsense. You can’t replace one nonsense with another! The future of your people is in working together, exchanging ideas and expertise to develop your counties: Bor, Duk and Twi. Twi County might benefit from experts from Bor and Duk Counties and vice versa.

What you are actually doing is an embarrassment to Twi people. It’s exactly the opposite of what your intentions are.

It’s obvious that to distinguish between things is very much different from separation of things. That means you can distinguish things but still keep them together.  You can say Bor starts from Jueet to Abiy and Twi is from Chir to Adhiook. That’s neither separation nor is it division. It’s purely distinction.

While the Jieeng of the present Twi County of Jonglei state has every right to reassert and correct the reality and identity that’s been distorted by politicians for their political gains, I don’t think it’s necessary to antagonize people of Bor Country. It’s an uncalled for and unnecessary creation of enmity.

They are not your problem! Blame Twi leaders and elders if you are to blame anyone!

The people of Bor County have not done anything bad to the people of Twi County. All the bad things uttered against Twi people were uttered by individuals not Bor County as a whole.

Besides, you have to note that it was the British colonial administration that placed the Twi people under an administrative district named after Bor people. So it wasn’t the Bor people’s fault that you were placed under a district that didn’t carry your name and it wasn’t Bor people’s fault that your ancestors didn’t raise that objection then. Twi is its own problem. No excuse!

I understand that you have the right to tell everyone that Twi and Bor are two distinct dialectal or ethno-linguistic groups, however, it’s unnecessary and pointless to try to create a conflict no one needs. I’ve always reiterated that I’m not Bor and have never been Bor; however, I’ve always maintained that Bor and Twi share a common history and good neighborliness that we should always foster. They’ve always done things together and they’ll continue to do things together.

Any attempt that assumes that each of them will go its separate way is being delusional. Being called collectively as ‘Dinka Bor’ is not the prerequisite for togetherness. That being called Dinka Bor or GBC is a prerequisite for coexistence is another delusion! However, coexistence is an absolute necessity in spite of any differences: accentual or dialectal. Saying that Twi is not Bor is not being divisive; it’s what truth-seeking requires; however, you shouldn’t use that to create needless conflicts.

You can emphasize to South Sudanese and the world that Twi is not Dinka Bor; however, it would be unfair to Bor people for you to pretend they are your problem when your problems are your leaders. Focus on your leaders on the national and local levels.

I write about these stuff because I have to write something that’s not only sensible but also supportably true. This is also about the truth of the people I belong to and no sane writer can ignore such a thing. I can’t correct national issues when I can’t start by correcting things at my locality!

And I say I’m not ‘Dinka Bor’ because that’s the truth I knew and I can now authenticate historically and convincingly, but I cannot, and will never say, that Bor and Twi go their separate ways. Every sane Bor and Twi person knows this.

They are brothers and sisters and will remain so in spite of their ethno-linguistic realities. There has to be respect between the two communities.

Calling Twi people Dinka Bor is disrespectful, I know, but it’s not a ground for antagonizing Bor people. Just let them know who you are. If they continue to call you what you are not then just know that falsity never endure.

President Kiir is a "Constitutional President" not a 'Democratically Elected President!"

Most of us in South Sudan are not independent thinkers even when we pretend we are! Some South Sudanese writers and thinkers in Southern States of the country support Federalism not because they’ve actually looked into the inherent benefits to the constituents of the region but because the majority of the citizens embrace it given their flimsy understanding of the system, or because vocal voices in their areas support it, or that, they believe, it’ll give them an opportunity to get rid of the ‘occupiers’ on their land.

None of the supporters of Federalism has ever advanced any convincing reason that’s not either reminiscent of the infamous 1980s ‘Kokora’ or the regionalized tribalism and regionalist sycophancy.  States have governors, parliaments, state MPs, State laws. We somehow have a system that’s structurally resembling other Federal Systems in the world. What is lacking is to actually give more powers to the states and limiting president’s interference in state affairs.

And those who oppose Federalism do so because they support the government and the government opposes it. And the government has absolutely no credible reason advanced in opposition to the system and why they think Federalism would be bad. The only reason they have is that Riek has rekindled the flame of Federalism. This is not the first time Riek has done something like this. Riek feeds on popular aspirations of the people and exploits them.

Self-determination wasn’t a darling of the SPLA/SPLM until Dr. Riek and Dr. Lam made it their focal point in Abuja I in 1992. It was only one of the alternatives in Dr. John’s famous multi-layered Vend Diagrams but not the preferred alternative. UNITY of Sudan was! The two doctors wanted to outsmart Dr. John Garang. However, the way Dr. John changed astonished not only the doctors, but Garang’s friends in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Garang embraced Self-Determination to the chagrin of the Nasir duo and even made it central to Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA); giving birth to Referendum!

Riek and Lam had met an ideological propagandists, ideological chameleon, and also, an ideological wizard who couldn’t be outsmarted.

So folks who oppose Federalism are doing so because people they support don’t like it. They’ve not presented any convincing reason why they oppose it.

This is our major problem. We ally based on irrational positions we hide in ideological, tribalized regionalism and intellectualized tribalism.

We don’t think for ourselves!

That’s why we hear time and again from South Sudanese officials and government supporters that President Salva Kiir Mayardit is a “democratically elected president” of South Sudan!

No! President Kiir was a democratically elected president of the government of ‘Southern Sudan.’ He’s a CONSTITUTIONAL President of the Republic of South Sudan. There was no election held after the independence of South Sudan! None!

Racism vs. racism: Racial pride vs. Radicalization of Racial pride

Racism is simply the idea that one’s race is better than any other race. This is a natural perception, assumption or feeling about one’s race. Taking it in itself by itself, it’s benign. We all believe that there’s something special about ourselves or our race. This is a natural feeling about one’s self no one should be denied. We all can express it all we want.

Europeans can pride in who they are and Africans can pride in who they are.

If pride in one’s race isn’t the problem then what’s the problem?

While a simple pride in one’s race is acceptable, the application of that pride in one’s race is what we need to keep our eyes on. Some people believe that their race is the best and stop from there…they don’t go any farther.  Others believe their race is the best but take it a little farther. They either flaunt the success of their race with flamboyant arrogance or they use that pride to make sure that others feel bad about their race. In a word, they use the pride in their race as an instrument to not only pride in their race, but to make sure that other races are not only put down, but that the conceptual distance between themselves and other Races is greatly increased.

One might feel bad or sad when put down through racial pride but that’s not the evil of racism. That’s more about one’s emotional strength then it’s about any truth about races.

But that still, by itself is not the problem!

So being proud of your race (even with excessive edge) is not the problem. And using that pride in one’s race to put others down, while bad, isn’t the major problem in what we consider the evil of ‘Racism.’

So what’s the problem with race and Racism?

A feeling about one’s self is innate. It’s not something you create! While it might be enhanced by some factors within one’s social environment, one’s general feeling about oneself is natural. So one’s feeling about one’s race is a bigger version of one’s feeling about one’s race.

Feeling about one’s self à pride in one’s family à pride in one’s collective group à pride in one’s race
This is simply a natural progression and there’s nothing wrong or unnatural about it.

Here’s where the problem lies when it comes to racism.

There are effectivizing factors that play into racism to make it either effective or affecting. These are the instrumentalizing issues I call Instigating Factors. And these are the factors that determine the evils that originate from racism.

Some of these factors are

-          Hatred
-          Power
-          Wealth
-          Bigotry (religious or otherwise)
-          Poverty

The Pros and Cons of President Museveni’s 'intervention' and the lessons we can learn from it

photo: http://www.personal.psu.edu/

Ugandan, or rather, Museveni’s ‘intervention’ in South Sudan’s conflict has caused various reactions in Africa and especially in South Sudan depending on one’s political allegiance. There are those who oppose or support the ‘intervention’ on principle and there are those who support or oppose it given their political colors.

Like always, I support or oppose any given political incident given the valuation I give it. For me, Museveni’s intervention has both negative and positive aspects to it. And both of these have something to teach not only the South Sudanese people but the Ugandans themselves; who seem to be in a deep political slumber; or a hypnotic semblance of democracy.

While there are positive sides to this ‘intervention’, the ‘intervention’ is largely negative because it’s self-interest motivated and unintelligibly pursued.

Pros of Museveni’s Intervention

The White Army and the Nuer soldiers who joined Dr. Riek Machar in his Rebellion didn’t do so because they wanted to per se. It’s very clear that they did so as a response to the reported massacres of unarmed Nuer civilians in Juba. This tells me that had the ‘White Army’ advanced to Juba or captured Juba, the city would have been a grotesque scene of massive tribal genocide. My reasoning rests on the fact that the White Army had and still has no clear political agenda. With no doubt, they only wanted to take revenge regarding what they heard coming out of Juba.

This is manifest in what they did in Bor, Malakal and Bentiu and other areas they mindlessly ravaged.

Museveni’s ‘intervention’ therefore helped prevent the capture of Juba and the avoidance of what would have been a massive genocide.

We also need to remember also that had Riek and the White Army captured Juba, President Kiir wouldn’t have just given up and leave Riek Machar to assume presidency. Having seen how the president relies so much on his Jieeng tribesmen, it’s conceivable that the president would have actually mobilized the Jieeng tribe to reclaim his presidency or wage a guerrilla-style war.

Whatever the case would have been, the capture of Juba would have been a disaster for South Sudan because the WA would have done what they did in Bor, Bentiu and Malakal by going on a killing rampage!

Another positive consequence of Museveni’s ‘intervention’ is the fact that it showed South Sudan’s leadership that a strong, cohesive, well-trained and always-paid-on-time army is crucial for national defense.

The Cons of Museveni’s Intervention

Museveni and Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF) made a mockery of not only the South Sudanese national army but also, South Sudanese generally. Had President Museveni been a conscientious leader who’s helping out a fellow president, Museveni would have put his UPDF forces under the solid command of the SPLA without any exception.