Which Side Will Honour the December 15 Anniversary?
By Malith Alier, Bor
The clock is ticking. We are left with about twenty two days to the said date.
Something this generation will not forget occurred on December 2013 in Juba and quickly spread to three States of Upper Nile region, the mother of all rebellions.
At about 10:00 pm, a sound of opening firing shots were heard at a distance of three kilometres from my residence. Pa, pa, pa goes the Kalashnikov machine gun. Everyone was scared including young children. They knew that this was going to be different from previous shootings they were accustomed to. My two year old son always repeats what he heard that night like this; “tap, tap, tap they are afraid” meaning the tap, tap, tap shooting that made them afraid.
The debates about what happened are still causing controversy nationally and worldwide. Some called it coup d’état, others called it mutiny or just misunderstanding among the presidential guards in Juba. The explanation of this matter depends on whoever is narrating it. The rebels referred to it as Nuer soldiers’ disarmament while the government called it coup d’état. The international community led by USA thinks it was a mutiny or misunderstanding.
Coup d’état or not, the event has its authors who continue to pursue it to today. The SPLM IO claimed responsibility and victimhood at the same time for the December crisis.
The rebels were defeated in Juba within hours and the following morning was only mopping up operations in the city. Scores of ring leaders were arrested and categorised into groups of A, B and C depending on severity of their crime.
As Juba operations came to an end, other rebel leaders who echoed the fight captured Bor, Malakal and Bentiu within a short time possible. This was a war laden with zeal and hatred of one another. Some rebel generals who are fond of switching sides took it upon themselves to bring the regime to an end once and forever. How wrong they were! The government arm is long. The poorly equipped and perhaps polarised SPLA sought support from the region and got it in no time.
Nobody wanted Juba, the seat of the government to be overrun by the irate and ingrate white army. This would have been an embarrassment to the government and this country as a whole. A government overthrown by demonstrators would have been honourable.
A mixture of superstition and hunger for power should be tamed if South Sudan is to be on a firm democratic path. Don’t give power to power hungry lots.
Who will celebrate the 15 December anniversary? It is anyone’s guess.
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