The December 15th Coup and Pagan’s Confession
5 min readBy Malith Alier,
This country is awash with plenty to write about these days. The cholera menace, General Dau’s late term defection, negotiations in Addis, the rise of federalists, the creation of more States and Counties, endemic tribal feuds in Lakes State, Rizeigat and Miseriah entrance agreements into South Sudan, the Museveni’s unpalatable remarks about security in the country and the death sentence of a South Sudanese lady because of apostasy in Sudan.
These topics seemed to have pushed the most important matters to the periphery. The border, Abyei, fight against corruption, elections due in 2015, constitutional amendment and the issues of development are apparently shoved in to the silhouette. There is a slightest chance that they will resurface in their original form. Therefore, the blame lays on the December’s attempted coup and the subsequent insurgency masterminded by people who corrupted the system right before 2011 emancipation from Khartoum regime.
Pagan Amuom is not a simple politician by the standards of South Sudan politics. For somebody to hold a position of a Secretary General (SG) in a ruling party is not a simple feat. The party’s power strings for good or for worse lie with that particular person. He was only subordinate to the party’s Chairman. This made him a power broker not only in the party but also in the country.
Pagan is a populist politician in the context of the whole country saved for the Shilluk kingdom. His oratory skills are unmatched. Fluent in both English and Arabic, he sways masses like no other on important occasions such as SPLA Day. On the other hand, what is not known are his organisational skills since he was accused of failing to transform the SPLM as a party rooted in the liberation struggle. He was taken to court at one point because of allegation of corruption.
The December 15 coup exposed the dysfunction and malcontent masked in the SPLM party for so long. The implosion within the party has affected the whole country tremendously. The African political story has it that the party of liberation monopolise power for a long time as it becomes a force unto itself. It happened in many countries and this country is no exception.
However, the unravelling came so quickly because the party miserably failed to whip in to line those with different ambitions other than that of the party. Few people imagine that opposition was going to would take this twist for the worse. The logical path would have been that those within the SPLM with different ideology would form a party of their own and sell themselves to the electorate. However, they chose a shortcut to the chagrin of us all.
Pagan in his famous response to allegation that the group of 12 has not yet decided which way to go, join rebels or government argued that the group has decided neither to join the rebels nor the government for various reasons. He reckons that the rebellion is doomed and the country’s leadership has failed the nation. This is a welcome move by the suffering people of South Sudan despite the rebels’ belief to have secured their release by putting pressure to the government on the table in Ethiopia. This, they think implies automatic joint with the powerful former top government officials.
The other interesting part of the famous letter is the confession that it was Pieng Deng and James Mai, the Police IGP and the SPLA Chief of general staff respectively who saved their lives (Pagan and the group) during the crisis. Therefore, they owe their lives to these two gentlemen. However, this actually ignores the fact that the country’s highest office did not sanction such. People like the IGP and Chief of staff would have not succeeded in their defence. more confessions are likely to follow not only from Pagan but also from other detainees. Confessions about stashed away cash is perhaps to least to surface after the SPLM government has been branded as a kleptocratic government.
Let this author remind the former SPLM SG that many south Sudanese who are badly affected by the current conflict caused by misunderstanding in the SPLM party believed that it must be a crazy party which exports chaos but wholeheartedly takes care of the powerful culprits in its system. Despite lost of precious lives, destruction of property, displacement of millions; no single hair was lost on the real SPLM members in the government or outside it. This explains why they all want to cling to dear mother SPLM, the “all-caring.” Virtually, we have SPLM main, SPLM in Opposition, SPLM former detainees and SPLM DC, a total of four parties using the same name. a mutation indeed!
The SPLM in government under Salva Kiir, the SPLM in Opposition under Riek Machar and the SPLM former detainees under Pagan or Rebecca Chol have one thing in common, clinging to power if given a chance. For those who cling to the SPLM name most likely developed insatiable appetite to access and remain in power beyond imagination.
The reconciliation within the SPLM conceived in Juba and facilitated by the ANC and EPRDF in Addis Ababa is one of bizarre attempts to reconstitute the rats and mice of that party. It is a waste of precious resources that should be used somewhere else. Thank gods, the main Opposition members boycotted it. It was a white wash.
In conclusion, the country is now in a lawless state because of the makings of a group out of touch with reality. After being in the government for years harvesting unlimited produce, this same group brought about misery and the country is now a laughing stock in the region. Within a couple of Christmases after independence, killings, destruction of cities and defections in the army characterise our existence. The SPLM as a ruling party bears responsibility for all this chaos.
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