"We the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, with so little, for so long, we are now qualified to do anything, with nothing" By Konstantin Josef Jireček, a Czech historian, diplomat and slavist.
Gen Salva Kiir Mayardit, President of the Republic Speech on the Occasion of Martyrs Day
July 30th, 2011
Juba, Republic of South Sudan
Compatriots and Fellow Citizens,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
· Today is the First Anniversary of Martyrs Day in the new independent Republic of South Sudan – a dream that has come true!
· Before proceeding to commemorate this heroic day, let us rise up and pay tribute (by observing a moment of silence) to all those who perished in order for us to become independent and join the family of nations on top of whom is our leader and hero, Dr John Garang De Mabior.
Thank you!
Distinguished citizens,
· I would like us to reflect and ask ourselves as to what would be the best way to honour our fallen valiant heroes and heroines? What can we do as a reward to all those who have lost parts of their bodies? What about for those who have been orphaned or widowed because of the long struggle for Justice, Liberty and Prosperity?
· To me personally, there is nothing material worth the sacrifices of our fallen martyrs other than working to build this nation for posterity. Nation building requires cohesion, hard work, honesty, and self-sacrifice. It is even more than that – it is building a national conscience!
· We are all now South Sudanese and being Fertit or Luo of Western Bahr El Ghazal, Pojulu or Mundari of Central Equatoria, Didinga or Acholi of Eastern Equatoria, Burun of Upper Nile or Murle of Jonglei, Dinka or Nuer, name them, what will only differentiate us is our cultural heritage. Unless we cultivate the spirit of nationalism, cemented by the blood of our martyrs, we cannot prosper. Therefore, I appeal to all, especially the younger generation, to cease from tribal tendencies. Remember always that we will not be the only people to live in a diverse society.
· As people who have endured suffering for so long, it is now time for us to become the exemplary nation of peace. This way, we can testify to the World that we have learned with distinction that war is bad and peace is good! As a free people, there will be no reason for war!
· We have got a daunting task in front of us – development, development and development. How do we achieve development? Through hard work and discipline. I said it during the formal Declaration of our Independence on July 9th that: ‘let us celebrate but we must get to work right away’. We must till the land to produce food. As an independent nation, we must not depend solely on food imports. This is a moral responsibility for citizens – work, work, work and work! A prosperous nation is not made up of indolent citizens because laziness is useless. Let us fight to overcome all kinds of trauma and rebuild our human dignity.
· Therefore, from now henceforth we should every year have something – say an achievement – dedicated to our martyrs. From today onward, we are in for very serious business. Nothing will be as usual – there is need to redouble our efforts to develop. Moreover, to be modern or to become developed it is not easy to earn. We will combine government efforts with private sector investment to optimize productivity.
· As for transparency and accountability, we always spoken about these and they will remain critical in every conduct of business in our nation. We will strengthen the Anti-Corruption Commission and the Audit Chamber to ensure that there are no loopholes for people who are addicted to mishandling public resources.
· As soon as the new Independence Government is formed, we will outline our priorities and embark on them with more rigour and commitment.
To our gallant army and other organized forces,
· I call upon them all to honour their fallen colleagues by emulating the discipline that enabled us to succeed throughout the struggle. The values of our struggle for justice, liberty and prosperity must be shown in the behavior of our forces and security agencies. In order to reward our martyrs for the hard won independence and to earn a place at the helm of the world, there must be respect for the rights of citizens. The role of our army is to defend our sovereignty and that of the organized forces is to ensure law and order.
· Now that we have the Ministry of Defence, its main role is to ensure the physical security of our sovereign nation. The Ministry of Interior and the Ministry for National Security should take charge of the safety of our citizens. Criminals should now become attentive and those who are naughty terrorizing the public must now stop. Criminality should cease or else those who perpetrate suffering to others will be subjected to the strong arms of the law. In fact I have declared war on criminals! I would like to announce that as I talk to you now, senior officers who misbehaved in discharging their duties are now locked up in jail. I also call upon the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court to expeditiously process prosecution cases because ‘justice delayed is justice denied’.
· As for our foreign policy, we now have the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Thus, in our relations with others in the family of nations, we must safeguard our image by behaving civilly. We will build a robust human resource to match the demands of modern diplomacy and statecraft.
· Last but not the least, I urge all our citizens to take advantage of the difficult experiences we have undergone over the past 60 years and turn them into treasures for nation-building. It is not time to blame the past but rather it is time to focus on what to do today, tomorrow and the future. It is time to consciously ignore things that would destruct or detract us from building our new nation. While we may continue to encounter difficulties on routine basis, we will take the advantage of beginning from scratch. The Republic of South Sudan is like a white paper – tabula rasa!We will think, plan and implement! It will not be easy and it will take time before we start reaping the fruits of peace. As it is said: ‘Rome was not built in one day’. We will develop gradually just like we have done from 1983 to 2005 when the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed. There are people who would like to agitate but for how long have we been independent? What can a child do in twenty one days? Cannot even hold the breast of the mother live alone trying to walk. So we should give ourselves time to do things in order to develop.
· We must become an exemplary of patience and tolerance. We have surmounted every difficulty, particularly with regards to the implementation process of CPA. The Six and half years were full of turbulence but our jet never succumbed to bad weather. I would like to reassure you that we will continue to navigate through every difficulty with optimism to build this new nation.
· Finally, the formula for us to succeed is unity and harmony of our people. We will never be a nation if we retreat to our clans, tribes or regions. I appeal to grandparents, mothers, fathers and children. Let us stand up as a nation and begin to work. Let us believe in ourselves – yes, we can make it because we have made it.
· Let us salute our martyrs for their sacrifices have earned us pride and humility.
Long live the memory of our martyrs,
Long live our wounded heroes and heroines,
Long live the disabled, orphans and widows,
Long live citizens of South Sudan,
Long live Republic of South Sudan,
God bless South Sudan.
Thank you!
Dr. Majak D’Agoot’s speech at Red Army (Jesh Ahmar) Thanksgivings in Juba
Your Excellency Vice President of the Republic
Honourable Ministers, Governors, and Advisors
Generals of the SPLA and other Organized Forces
Our Gallant Red Army/ Jesh Al-Ahmar
Distinguished Guest
Ladies and Gentlemen
It gives me immense pride and honour to be accorded this opportunity to speak at this magnificent occasion recognising the tremendous sacrifices made during the protracted years of liberation struggle by this unique group/segment of our combatants – The Red Army. The purity, innocence and sublimity of their hearts, planted in us as “freedom fighters” a peculiar subculture. This attribute caused an enduring spirit of nationalism and patriotism among us that did not only transcend our ethnic and age barriers but even the limitations of young age and feebleness of physical bodies.
Your Excellency The Vice President
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Although “The Red Army” as a nomenclature attributes its origin to Eurocentric Military Tradition of the early twentieth century associated with the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, its usage in our context was, however, more generic: it connoted young or fresh-blood, tender, greenhorn, etc. Its antonym – although used restrictively, perhaps for risks of racial connotation that it implied – was Jesh Al-Asoud; referring to The Black Army or the rest of the SPLA forces who are grown-up and strong to fight. Often, when I ponder over what had bonded us together throughout the years, a range of memorable experiences about you come to mind:
Ribs protruding out of your emaciated concertina chests; and small swollen bellies from malnutrition; soar feet from long distances walk; unattended leg ulcers under constant invasion from swarm of flies; constant fights over trivy; merciless massacres and wholesale displacement of innocent children from Pochalla in March 1992; all of it represent scenes of misery and despair.
We also remember:
Mutilated dead bodies of young combatants from bombings in Mongalla and Liria in December 1991; exceptional gallantry and martyrdom of young officers like 1st Lt Bol William Garang and 1st Lt. Michael Elijah Hon Tap; and determination of many of you who have climbed the repelling social ladder of prestige through difficulties to obtain advanced degrees from World class institutions in various disciplines of human knowledge. Simply stated, you have turned adversity into advantage, despair into hope, misery into happiness, and slavery into liberty. How else you could have done us proud than this!
Even though most of these nerve-wrecking and exciting tales about our experiences have already dwindled to a peck and disappeared among scudding clouds of luxury that many of us enjoy following the end of the war; we will soon write our own history glorifying our fallen heroes and shaming those inaccurate pens (sometimes from genuine amateur historians or just political mavericks) who have already rushed to publishing misrepresented and distorted versions of our tale. As a matter of fact, we will tell it more excitingly and authentically!
Your Excellency The Vice President
& the Gallant Jesh Al-Ahmar,
Tomorrow, July 30th, we celebrate the seventh anniversary of passing of Father of the Nation and liberation icon – the Late Dr. John Garang de Mabior. In August 2005 when we came to this town to lay him to rest, South Sudan was a devastated and tormented nation; despairingly crying out “Who shall save my people?” But because we stayed focused and goal-oriented throughout the CPA years under the able leadership of Comrade Salva Kiir Mayardit, South Sudan has gained its independence and is free at last. Briefly stated, we have restored that hope and dream of a free people; just and prosperous country.
The CPA was achieved because the SPLM had correctly identified its objectives and set a well articulated strategy to achieve them. Because the SPLM vision was strategically stable and self-enforcing than any other weak and dominated strategies devised in the course of southern struggle since Torit mutiny of August 1955, we were able to build a national liberation movement with wider appeal and membership transcending tribal, religious and regional boundaries.
Your Excellency The Vice President,
Ladies and Gentlemen
For us to deliver prosperity, this vision must stage a comeback and must assume primacy in our politics. It must triumph over ethnoregional sectarianism which has now come to dominate political clubs of Juba. It is only that vision that embodies critical elements for a game change and departure from risks of dysfunctionality. Although our long struggle was to some people unacceptably costly, the course that we took was strategically false-safe. It is by adherence to it that we may generate compact dynamic for effective governance and avoid “death and decrepitude of body politic” to quote words of Maximilien Robespierre.
As meandering through the struggle and the difficult process of CPA implementation can clearly attest, that critical mass is always in our collective action and unified effort; not in our disaggregated ventures. That promise is not farfetched; it is with you Jesh Al-Ahmar. It is you who can help us avert the risk of a failed or dysfunctional democracy where the powerful promulgate laws but are not subject to them. Counting on you, we can easily mobilise a huge stock of critical skills that will ensure creation of key institutional capabilities necessary for the formation of a strong state/nation. We must take serious note of the fact that fixing a failed state is not an option for us; for there is no substitute to a functioning state. It is you – The Red Army – who will straighten our paths from plunging into state where the powerful maintain a watch on the weak while there is no one to guard the guardians!
Finally, may God uphold us united in peace and harmony, Amen!
PaanLuel Wël is the founder and editor-in-chief of PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd, a news website that covers news, opinions, analysis, history, culture and literature of South Sudan and the world. Founded in July 2011 by PaanLuel Wël to create a platform for free expression and constructive dialogue, the website features articles from various contributors, including columnists, commentators, poets, authors, activists and academics. PaanLuel Wël believes that media can play a vital role in informing, educating and empowering the people to participate in nation-building and social transformation. He also believes that media can foster a culture of dialogue, tolerance and diversity among different communities and groups, and hopes to inspire and mentor the next generation of South Sudanese writers and journalists.
