Tearz Ayuen: JOHN GARANG DIED IN VAIN
6 min readJOHN GARANG DIED IN VAIN
I seldom think about the late John Garang de Mabior, but whenever I do, words like dishonor, contempt, disrespect, degradation, belittlement, disloyalty, betrayal and even treason cross my mind. They come in great numbers and at once, such that they cause a heavy word-traffic jam in my head, as my grammatical brain tries to choose one word that can clearly describe how individuals have defecated and continue to defecate on the freedom fighter’s achievements and dreams. Needless to mention de Mabior’s end result of his rebellion, struggle and leadership, no single person amongst his stewards seems to be interested in fulfilling his dream. Don’t worry. I will explain. Just stay with me.
First of all, no one is perfect and never ever shall anyone be. De Mabior was both a Satan and Angel. The seven-headed serpentine satanic de Mabior castrated and slaughtered many many many prominent people in our societies. On my side, one was my uncle and the other, a neighbor from my neighboring village, Palee. These personalities arrived at their cruel deaths, perhaps because they disagreed with de Mabior on some issues pertaining to liberation of the common man. It is history anyway. On the other hand, you yourself know, hear, see, feel and taste the work of the angelic De Mabior. I don’t have enough time to spend, counting his good deeds. His work is just priceless.
In my book, de Mabior died in vain. Look, having his image printed on the country’s currency alone does not say that you really feel and remember him. Hanging his portrait in every office does not show that he is honored. Bowing or kneeling in front of his mausoleum doesn’t indicate that you respect him. Giving Nyandeng and the sons a trillion dollars would not make him pleased. Shedding tears or even crying a river before his grave would not make him receive homage from you. Mentioning his name during national functions does not help. Naming South Sudan after him would not make him smile down there either. Relax; I am getting to the point.
I repeat, Garang Mabior died in vain. If you think I am wrong, you take a trip to his birthplace, Panyagor. Check it out and tell me what it looks like. Panyagor remains the same. Nothing has changed since de Mabior left it for studies in Tonj in the late1950s, or is it early 1960s? I saw Panyagor months ago when a WFP plane picked me up from Bor and dropped off some passengers in Panyagor first before flying straight to Juba. Even though my unplanned visit lasted five minutes, I captured a lot with my mental digital camera. There were three concrete buildings with iron sheet-roofing. The rest were traditional grass-thatched mud houses. Old useless electric poles exhaustedly stood along an open passage that looked like a road. I can’t conclude that what I saw was a road because nothing showed that a car passed. No tracks though the ground was damp. If it is a dirt road, it must be the least used road on earth. All I saw was a herd of cattle and goats taking rest on it, lying and chewing cud uninterrupted. If they were niggers, I would say they were chilling out. Another thing that caught my eye was the presence of few people in the area. I think great depopulation took place here. All I saw were really very few people, mostly the elderly.
My argument is, if the political, economic, social, educational, and religious situations in the then region of southern Sudan forced de Mabior and the rest to take up arms against Khartoum regime, why then can’t he be honored by at least changing the lives of Tuei? Tuei are amongst south Sudanese who suffered the most during the struggle. They were victimized by de Mabior’s enemies within, who politically blindedly decided to demoralize, hurt him by going for a killing spree in Bor North, no, Twic East. Forgive me. That was a slip of the tongue. If de Mabior was alive today, that would be a different story. We would all be tight-lipped and watch as we now are, wondering when or whether our president will embark on developing his village. So, why are Tuei being raped socially, economically? Why disrespect the hero? Why belittle his legacy? Why do we pretend to worship him? Yes he fought for all of us but the fact that he died, leaving many things unaccomplished should place Panyagor on top of the list of places to develop in South Sudan.
On his way to the grave, de Mabior told his juniors to take towns to the people; a great message that, I think, got soaked in a bottle of whisky, drank up and flushed down the toilet that evening. It ran down the sewer straight to the Nile River which in turn carried it to the Mediterranean Sea. I call it the misplaced message. Leaders now try to remember where they kept it. Others have a really very bad memory; they are doing the exact opposite of the message by taking villagers to the towns as they fail to protect them from a number of things, including rustling, revenge attacks and tribal wars that consequently make them not grow their own crops. Acute poverty, indicated by starvation and diseases set in, sending them packing, to towns. Tuei are not any exception here. About ninety percent of them live outside their county.
Politicians should have made de Mabior’s dream come true by starting off rural developmental projects in Panyagor. This would be a token of appreciation for the great role he played. Tuei themselves would understand why their son joined the struggle.
I know construction of South Sudan is in place but with the current speed of development, with the way rural affairs are being handled by Members of Parliament, I think modern living standards will reach Panyagor around the year 2100, about 88 years away from now.
Irrespective of all the things politicians try to please de Mabior with, wherever he is; hell or heaven, he is not a happy living dead. He feels betrayed, dishonored, belittled. He never smiles. He frowns at the leaders seven days a week.
In conclusion, if de Mabior did not die in vain, if politicians have not forgotten him, if our leaders do not really sing the “everyone for himself and God for us all” song, if politicians really want him to Rest In Peace, then the only way they can prove and show the whole world that they still hold him close to their chest is by prioritizing development in Panyagor. In fact, I suggest the National Assembly should draft and pass a bill into law, let’s call it Panyagor Bill. The bill should be a real thing that defines a number of developmental projects, namely; paved roads and streets and avenues, power plant, water project, five state-of-art hospitals, ten 20-storey glass buildings, schools, agricultural machineries and recreational facilities. Immortalize him by renovating the hut he was born in, in Buk village, Nyuak payam. Researchers, historians and tourists would travel from all corners of the universe to come and see the birthplace of one of the world’s greatest men.
Contrarily on the education agenda, leave Tuei alone. They are ahead of the game. You shouldn’t be surprised if anyone told you that Twic East is the only county in South Sudan with the lowest illiteracy rate.
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