What is in the Name of Bor?
By Apioth Mayom Apioth
What is in the name? In the history of humanity, many people have always pondered and paused for a moment to ask themselves that question. Apparently, there are some of us who think Twic East and Dukens are using the name of Bor to get political recognition. It has been known across the many communities of Dinka and even to Equatorians that Bor South, Twic East, and the two Duks, are all called Bor.
Even though, we have been called Bor by the majority of people in South Sudan, people from Twic East & the two Duks have always some few distinct differences that set them apart from their Bor South counterparts. Once the South Sudanese went to the bush to fight the war of liberation, those distinct differences became deeply ingrained in the minds of Twic East, Dukens, and Bor South communities, a politicized discourse that is continuing up to this day. Those few insignificant differences were exploited and carefully carved out from their small role and brought up to become the contemporary voracious machine that is continuing to break apart the wholeness of both communities.
How come that our ancestors didn’t fight over the name of Bor? Well, there was something called turuk or economic empowerment that many people aspired to achieve. Now, many people in both communities are highly educated and while some hold PhDs and Master’s degrees from Ivy League universities, they are still lacking the wisdom that is highly craved by the conflicted communities. It is true that education can volley someone to new unprecedented heights of prestige in the societal standing, but that is about it. Using books only without proper societal conditioning can lead you nowhere and that is because there are some educational theories and acquired knowledge that can become obsolete or are non-practical in our materialistic world.
As knowledge become easily accessible to mass of people around the world, it has become apparent to some degree that something that is considered unique as the name of Bor can be used as for a profit organization by the people such as Gok and Athoc who consider themselves as the flag bearers of Bor. When NGOs, IMF, WTO, and many other well-recognized bodies of international organizations come to Jonglei state and ask to invest in the Agricultural markets, provide humanitarian assistance or educational assistance, the name Bor can easily pop up and from there, resources can start pouring to the Gok and Athoc sections of Bor from all the corners of the world.
And so, that is why, the name Bor has become like a mad bull that is stirring up problems wherever it turns its horns to. Members of both communities seemed to have shared a great history of economic development equally until recently when the Government of South Sudan (GOSS) allocated 12 national ambassadorial positions to be divided among the three counties of Bor South, Twic East and Duk. Instead of giving equal share of positions to their respective counties, members of Bor South in Bortown took the lion’s share of positions by giving themselves eight positions, leaving 4 positions to be shared between the Twic East and Duk counties.
Both Twic East and Dukens should have been given 6 ambassadorial positions to begin with, if we are to be honest with each other on business terms. Since the Twic East and Dukens positions went into the gluttonous stomaches of our cousins in Bortown, we will just leave it as that and try to see how we can approach this terrible treatment we have just experienced in our beloved communities. The discourse that is visible between the Twic East and Bor South is recognizable even here in the U.S. and across the seas in Australia.
Whenever members of both communities attend fundraising events, community gatherings or Sunday worships, some of us secretly refuse to acknowledge to be included under the unison umbrella of Bor. Yes, some members from Twic East refuse to be called Bor and some members from many Bor South refuse to acknowledge their brethren from Twic East as members of Bor. So, the name of Bor continues to baffle us in that, it can easily be manipulated and used as an organizational weapon by those who claim as the real owners of the name.
The name Twic East didn’t just sprung up from nowhere, it was always there, it was just that some individuals failed to see it. Not too long ago, if someone from Bor South wanted visit his or her relative in Twic East, he or she would say, ” I am going to visit my relative in Tuic.” See? Ta-da! It is not a recent phenomena that was created out of thin air.
If Twic East and the two Duks communities continue to refuse the name of Bor and Bor South members continue to be exclusive, why are we then wasting our precious times beating around the bush and not create two different communities with two different names?
Apioth Mayom Apioth is a concerned South Sudanese citizen from Jonglei state, currently living in Tacoma, WA, USA.
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