To Hurdle Off Tribal Associations in the Republic of South Sudan
By Philip Thon Aleu, Bor, Jonglei State
First of all, allow me to define what hurdle means in this context.
Hurdle has other meanings but in this piece I am referring to the problem that one has to deal with before one makes progress.
Having told you what I meant by hurdle, I will now go straight to my argument. I am currently in Bor, the capital of Jonglei state and there is no local community radio, newspaper or TV (If TV would ever make one in this generation…just saying). The absence of any local media mean that for the past one week and some days, I have been relying on radio and other news channels from Juba and facebook posts from my ‘friends’ for updates. I saw Twice East county association on Facebook holding a meeting in Australia. Bor county ‘something’ electing a new leader in Nairobi, Kenya and Warrap state youth ‘something’ electing a youth leader in Kampala, Uganda.
I thought my memory has betrayed me. But after checking my clock and other gadgets, I confirmed that this is 2014. ‘So why are these tribal unions and clan gatherings still making sense?’ I asked myself. Ultimately, I realized I and my other colleagues never won the war but only the battle. And so I decided to challenge these tribal, useless and irrelevant associations or unions or whatever they are called, in this piece.
In 2010, I was given a chance of a leader for Students’ Union at Dr. John Garang de Mabior Memorial University of Science and Technology (DR. JG MUST) in Bor, Jonglei state as a Speaker. Our students’ political party, the Students’ Democratic Union (SDU), campaigned on democracy and non-tribal Southern Sudanese (that was before independence from Sudan) associations at the campus and rewriting of students’ union constitution.
We won by a margin of two votes. As a speaker, my core task was to rewrite the constitution and our leader, Mabior Philip Mach, gave me unwavering support. The students’ representatives accepted my leadership and we came up with a historical constitution. “No state, regional or tribal associations will operate at DR. JG MUST. Only professional unions, entertainment clubs or any other body with at least three-quarters from all regions of Southern Sudan will legally operate in the campus.”
That constitution was passed by the general students’ assembly after a fierce debate and all the Equatoria, Upper Nile or Bar El Ghazal regions associations plus counties gatherings ceased by August 2010. After the students’ meeting where the constitution got a majority blessing, I was approached by a member of Bor county committee and he asked me why I supported the dismissal of counties association when Bor was one. I told him that is what I believe is good for Southern Sudan. He made a sharp turn and headed to an opposite direction and I think I lost him as a close friend!
In March 2011, students at University of Juba fought amongst themselves on tribal lines. One American journalist was covering that story. And he cleverly linked it to how volatile, and tribally divided, South Sudan is ahead of July 2011 independence declaration. I had then left DR. JG MUST and I was a student in Uganda at Ndejje University but remained intact with DR. JG MUST.
When I read that American reporter’s story, I sent him an email to explain that there is one University in Southern Sudan where tribal or regional gatherings are illegal and hence tribal feuds are out of date. He requested for my company and by May 2011, we met students at DR. JG MUST in Bor. One of my opponents for non-tribal association in 2010 was the students’ leader by then. He proudly explained to the American reporter that DR. JG MUST is free of non-professional unions. I thought I and my SDU members have won but today, I have just realized that there is a long road ahead.
I don’t support these tribal, regional or state associations because they are useless, aimless and lack objectives. For your information (FYI), these associations support stealing of national resources in the name of tribe(s), states or regions for the benefit of few elites and at the expenses of the majority South Sudanese.
These associations are where tribalism breeds and if you want to eliminate malaria, you better first destroy the breeding grounds of mosquitoes.
We need paved (tarmac) roads, schools, and health centers but not those associations if you want your education to have value yaa students and the South Sudanese in Diaspora!
© Philip Thon Aleu, Bor
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