President Kiir Pardons Lam Akol and Jailed Militia Leaders
By PaanLuel Wel
President Kiir is said to have decreed the ‘forgiveness’ of Dr. Lam Akol, the leader of South Sudan official opposition party (SPLM-DC) and the man who ran against him during the last presidential election. What is newsworthy about the case is not that the President has pardoned Dr. Lam; rather, it is the fact that not many of us were aware about any pending case against him.
Dr. Lam has been residing in Khartoum prior to and after the independence of South Sudan. Though he had been accused of having link to the renegade militia leader, Johnson Olony, there was no proof of the case other than that they hail from the same community.
Among the beneficiaries of the ‘Lord’s Mercy’ are some renegade militia leaders–Gabriel Tanginye, Gatwech Dual, Mabor Dhol, Gatwech Gach and Peter Abdel Rahaman Sule–who were jailed over various times and for various reasons, ranging from an outright rebellion against Juba to mere suspicions and hearsays.
While most South Sudanese have welcomed the ‘pardonment’ as a great step towards peace, unity and reconciliation, and thus political stability and economic prosperity in South Sudan, some could not stomach the unsettling fact that the worst that can ever befall anyone who rebel against the government of President Kiir is to get ‘pardon’, ‘military promotion’ and ‘unspecified amount of money’ to get settle down after killing spree.
This article that I wrote about Dr. Riek Machar’s ‘repentance’–which I still believe was a genuine one since he didn’t do it for promotion or to curry favor with the power that be–would shed more light on the dilemma of seeking national reconciliation and promoting unity versus the danger of incentivizing rebellion and wanton killing of civilians by these militia leaders and their would-be counterparts.
President Kiir has to strike a right balance lest it might reach a point where leaders would be rebelling against the government just to secure a ministerial position. While National Unity is paramount in a fragile state like South Sudan, it is imperative that we should never be seen to be rewarding evil instead of punishing the wrongdoers.
Deterrence is divined; appeasement is kicking the can down the road!
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