Counting the Costs of the Current South Sudan War
7 min readBy Malith Alier, Juba
War is a damaging phenomenon. Even a little fight can cause both the aggressor and the aggressed in the long run. The past wars demonstrated this fact in material ways.
The Anya-nya, the SPLA and the current war South Sudan is dragged in to, do the same thing, property damage, lost of human life, displacement and therefore, retardation of a country in terms of development.
It seems that the people of South Sudan are not tired of the past wars and the war of today may satisfy them. It is the quest for the pecking order where a tribe is mobilised to fight the whole country.
The issue of a tribe and tribalism has dominated our debate from time immemorial. Tribalism is condemned on many occasions but most see it as the last resort in the face of hostility from other tribes. Some tribes have indoctrinated their children by highlighting what is perceived to be bad with other tribes while emphasising the sanctity of the norms of one’s own tribe. For instance, some tribes pay high bride price while others pay chickens or hoes. Some tribes are highly superstitious while others embraced Christianity. These are some of differences that set people apart from one another.
There is also the issue of names that this name is not for us we should be called this and that. This happens in some communities and is a cause of fractured relationships there.
These issues have followed us to the national level. The people of this country are fighting over names and symbols of the state. Even the name ‘’South Sudan’’ generates controversy. The same is true about the flag and National Anthem. Some groups would like this to be known as Sudanile, Azania, Cush etc.
Addressing South Sudan Parliament immediately after the failed Coup d’état, the President shown the Parliamentarians a flag designed to replace the current flag of South Sudan by those behind that coup. The current historical flag is not satisfactory to this group.
Perhaps it is too early to start estimating the costs of the current crisis the country has indulged on. However, as the war progresses certain costs will be felt early than others. The UN estimates that the conflict has cost ten thousand lives and about two hundred and fifty thousand displaced from areas affected by the conflict namely, Western Upper Nile, Upper Nile and Jonglei. The Cities of Malakal, Bentiu and Bor are particular conflict affected areas.
In the event of a war like this, people are not just dying of the bullets alone but many other ways. This is known as collateral damage. During the SPLA war it is rumoured that the Khartoum based regime used to gloat that if they die of a hunger or eaten by animals it is all for my advantage. This is true even today. Collateral damage gives undue advantage to the enemy.
The ones who escape to the banks of river Nile for example could catch malaria but without treatment they can perish. Children and pregnant mothers are the most affected. Some are victims of snake bite and others devour by crocodiles in the river.
Crossing the Nile is particularly dangerous especially when it is not an organised ferry. Normally the river farers use motor mounted boats to cross from Bor to Awerial County in Lakes State. Though there are a good number of those motor mounted boats, they are not enough during the mass escape. Stories abound of children thrown overboard into the river causing drowning. Some babies are put in to the boat but the would be river farers hulled bags of food, luggage or any other belonging on those babies resulting in bodily harm or death.
other boats are often overloaded increasing the possibility of capsizing in the river or in the Sudd. Nowhere is this illustrated than Upper Nile where a boat capsized causing death of about two hundred women and children.
While on the other side, the people of Bor began to count the costs of their plight. Though this is not the first, there happened in 1991 the same disaster. Many people ask why Bor again and why Riek this time again. If 1991 displacement is bad, the one of 2013 is worse.
In that year, 1991, Bor District is densely inhabited unlike now where many deserted their rural homes for town because of constant Murle raiders.
In 1991 people lost their cattle but Bor is not completely deserted. Half of the population remained behind. It will now take some time before some diehard of Bor think of returning to their ancestral homes.
I for one maintain ancestral homes in both urban and rural Bor. This association had cost me property destruction. My own one year child is also a victim of this madness. He is taken to Bor in November 2013 to be looked after by his grandmother. Less than a month later they are displaced 30 kilometres to the north of Bor town. They spent a week in the bush in a place known as Majok, only to return after the government forces recapture Bor town.
A few days later just before the enemy returns, he is crossed to Lakes State a day earlier before, the enemy recapture this disputed town. I thank God he is rescued. There are other children who did not manage to cross to safety.
The second recapture of Bor is the work of ‘’White army.’’ The White army is a tribal militia also used in 1991 adventure. The marauding army is numbering about 25,000. Neither the SPLA nor the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has enough forces to confront the White army but UNMISS is never mandated to confront or fight in war zones.
The SPLA left the town to the rebels and UNMISS after the civilians. Some civilians are however, left in the UMISS compound in Bor and Bentiu.
UNMISS has the mandate to protect civilians in time crisis like this but it fail completely. The ones on the compound are picked and taken out to be raped or killed depending on their gender. This is a true testimony by the ones hiding on the UNMISS compounds.
The current crisis has caused a big rift in the fabric of South Sudanese society. This is going to take many years to heal. Even if the rebels are successful, they may fail to unite the people of this country because of the way the country is divided.
Writing on Southsudannation.com, one Kenyan stated that south Sudan has no ingredients of a state. This is not true. South Sudan is not the only country that is made up of many tribes. Other African countries are composed of unrelated tribes but have managed to create a nation of those tribes.
There is no reason at all for south Sudanese tribes not to coexist, sharing the same plate, same suffering and same land. It happened during the SPLA war and is the only option available to all of us in this country.
There is a war of words going on over the internet right now among South Sudanese people. This is a simulation of actual war we see today. Many people of goodwill should stay away from it. These internet discussions are usually under pseudonyms and the perpetrators may not be identifies. They are not the real warriors but they fuel the war propaganda like the exaggerated killings claimed to have taken place in Juba. Some people switched sides on this propaganda whose result is revenge killings in Bor, Akobo, Malakal and Bentiu.
It is not too late for South Sudan to salvage its image with which it is borne with, its unity. The international community think so and that is why IGAD is mounting talks in Ethiopia. Let’s do away with already identified evils of tribalism, corruption, cattle raiding, people abduction land grabbing and many more. Let’s embrace unity, social cohesion, freedom, equality, brotherhood and fairness. South Sudan can be a better place for all of us. Revenge is not the solution but forgiveness is.
Forgiveness or reconciliation goes hand in hand with justice. This means that the call for reconciliation among south Sudanese civil population can be meaningless without addressing the fundamental causes of misunderstanding. It is usually simply put as misunderstanding but if so, it has awry gone wrong causing untold suffering to the masses of the entire nation.
Some are now calling for leaders on both sides to account for atrocities in an attempt to serve justice. This is the right way but easier said than done. There are some people in the current conflict who had outstanding crimes against humanity on. They have only added this round crime against humanity.
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