"We the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, with so little, for so long, we are now qualified to do anything, with nothing" By Konstantin Josef Jireček, a Czech historian, diplomat and slavist.
Political activist, Gordon Buay Malek, with South Sudan President, Salva Kiir Mayaardit @2010
By Gordon Buay
November 12, 2013 (SSB) — We need to be honest to history if we want to shape the future. Riek Machar started his leadership as a Nuer leader in South Sudan, and he is believing in that. The grassroots support you talked about is based on Ngundengism, a belief promoted by Riek that his leadership was predicted by Ngundeng. Before South Sudan independence, the Nuer in the villages were made to believe that Salva Kiir would be slapped to death in Khartoum and Riek Machar would take over as the president. When that happened, Dinka would be slaves forever.
When Salva Kiir did not die before 2011, Riek Machar came up with a new propaganda that Salva Kiir would die like John Garang and his deputy (Riek Machar) would take over. Riek Machar is not the vice-president right now, and the new propaganda among the Nuer is that he would defeat Salva Kiir in the SPLM Convention and the Dinka would prevent him to lead the SPLM party creating a war between the Nuer and Dinka. Riek Machar’s supporters believe that in 2015 election, a war would take place between the Nuer and Dinka if Riek Machar does not become the President.
They said that “prophet Ngundeng predicted that the war”. They believe that after the war, the Nuer will win, and Riek Machar would be crowned as a leader for life. When you see Riek Machar talking about democracy within the SPLM, he is talking about it in the context of Ngundengism. He believes that once he fails to achieve the chairmanship of the SPLM party, then, his supporters will start a war. That is what Riek Machar believes in. Read The Nuer Prophet by Douglas H Johnson to know that what I am talking about is true. Also read THE NUER DILEMA by Sharon Hutchinson to know how Riek promoted his version of Ngundengism to use the Nuer in 1990s to kill the Dinka.
You are not a Nuer, and you don’t know the political debate within the Nuer community right now regarding the future of South Sudan. Are you aware that Riek Machar’s great grandfather is a Dinka of Hol from Duk who migrated to Gawaar Nuer? His great grandfather moved to Gawaar territory and married a Nuer woman and gave birth to his son Puot. Nyuon, his great grandfather, is a Dinka from Duk. It was Puot who moved to Dok Nuer territory. Puot had a witchcraft called Teny-dhurgon that made him rich because people with problems visited him with cattle. He acquired a lot of cattle among Dok Nuer and married Dok girl. Puot was killed by Dinka Malual after leading 600 Nuer youth to raid the Dinka. His witchcraft failed to protect him. Maybe Dinka Malual had a more superior witchcraft than Puot.
I am writing a biography of Riek Riek Machar that will be published next year. Riek Machar has a Dinka blood. He is just cheating the Nuer like when his grandfather took the Nuer to raid Dinka Malual. Riek’s father is not a Nubian. The allegation was created by his commanders who fell out with him in 1990s. But the great grandfather of Riek is a Dinka immigrant. You need to differentiate between his father Machar and his great grandfather Nyuon. His name is RIEK MACHAR PUOT NYUON. It is very important for the people of South Sudan to know how they are related so that we fight tribalism.
The following Nuer leaders have Dinka blood: 1. Riek Machar 2. William Nyuon 3. William Abdhalla Chuol 4. Gatluak Deng 5. Dr. Riek Gai Kok; Statistically, 30% of Nuer have Dinka blood I am a liberal thinker who doesn’t believe in twisted Ngundengism to kill the Dinka as Riek Machar wants the Nuer to believe. I am an independent thinker and a non-conformist. If I were to be a conformist, then, I would have supported what the foolish cattle-camp majority are saying. I am a fighter against all forms of tribalism, be it Nuer tribalism or Dinka tribalism.
I will never allow Riek Machar to use the Nuer as tools of destruction like he did in 1991. The priority of any government is to maintain law and order. If Riek Machar Puot wants to start a tribal war, I have a national duty to stop him. A country called South Sudan is more important than Riek Machar and I am required by the Constitution and the people of South Sudan to protect it from tribal bigots. I want to tell the people of South Sudan that the threat to our unity is Riek Machar. The man believes in destruction, war and Ngundengism which are contrary to democratic principles.
Do I have time debating with a cattle-camp Nuer who erroneously believes that “Riek Machar was the chairman of CPA”? I cannot waste my time debating with a Neanderthal who is mentally from a different political planet.
This cattle-camp Nuer said to me in his original posting that “all you have been saying about Riek are facts and undeniable”. OK, if everything I have saying about Riek Machar are “facts and undeniable” as he said, when did I become a “liar”? Logically, is there a “liar” who can say things which are “facts and undeniable”? Can this cattle-camp Nuer tell us the meaning of “undeniable”? The cattle-camp Nuers support Riek Machar because he is an anarchist who likes killing people.
The Nuer elder, John Chuol Ruei (aka John Kadhok), told the Nuer in Juba in August at the resident of Paulino Matip that “Riek Mahar’s grandfather once took 600 Nuers to loot Dinka Malual cattle but was killed in the process”. He told the Nuer that “killing is in the DNA of Riek Machar”. The cattle-camp supporters of Riek Machar want a tribal war because they missed the time of anarchy Riek Machar granted to them in 1990s. They think that the world would allow them to enjoy anarchy and loot the cattle of their neighbors with impunity.
Since Salva Kiir does not accept anarchy to reign supreme in the cattle camps, they need the man who has a DNA of killing to lead the SPLM to create anarchic system run by Neanderthals. In that world, reasoning is the first casualty and the cattle camp Nuers believe that Riek Machar would appoint them as ministers. There is something truth to that because if you look at the Nuers who surround him now, 98% are cattle camp people. Of course, it is true that Riek Machar is the leader of cattle-camp anarchists. In a country led by Riek Machar and his cattle-camp supporters, the Dinka would be fourth-class citizens, the Shilluks second-class and the rest would be treated as third-class citizens. This is what the Nuer tribalists like Kueth Yul are dreaming about.
To me, it is better for heaven and earth to end than to see Riek Machar in a presidenial palace to destroy my country. If I have chemical weapons, this is time I can use them against Riek Machar. Riek Machar is a true anarchist. In 1993, three Nuer gunmen shot at his boat at Maker in Greater Nasir area. His bodyguards captured the men after an hour and brought them to him. He ordered the soldiers to release them arguing that “they were hungry”. How could “hungry” men shoot at his boat?
Riek Machar is mentally blind that when you tell him that the sky is blue, he would argue that it is yellow. When the eastern Nuer villagers started fighting among themselves, William Nyuon told him that he would stop the fight by arresting the instigators on both sides. Riek Machar refused arguing that “the fight was predicted by prophet Ngundeng to happen”. When he ordered his forces and the White Army to attack Bor, he also argued that ” Ngundeng said that independence would be achieved after Dinka Bor are killed”. He is now dreaming that he would lead South Sudan to declare himself as Ayatollah Khomeni of Nuers who would be regarded as a vicar of Ngundeng on earth.
When you talk to cattle-camp Nuers, they think that Riek Machar will start a war against Dinka in 2015 to become the president. According to that myth, “so many Dinkas would be killed and Riek Machar will become the leader for life”. I have to honest to the world that I would advise President Kiir to use atomic bombs to prevent Riek Machar from destroying South Sudan. Uncle John Kadhok is right that “Riek Machar has a DNA of killing”. The people of South Sudan must unite to deal with this tribal bug called Riek Machar.
The supporters of Riek Machar are so primitive and uncivilized that if we give them power, they will destroy South Sudan in the air before they land in presidential palace.
Freedom of speech and expression is defined by Nuer bigots as freedom to criticise the Dinka. When you touch Riek Machar, they consider it as blasphemy. These days, the Nuer tribalists do not want you to say that Riek Machar has a lust for white women. Of course, it is true that Riek married late Emma McCune and current BeckyMachar. But they think it is a crime to mention that Riek Machar is a polygamist. Well, the man has three living wives. Is that a secret?
Riek’s supporters think that it is Ok to attack Salva Kiir but a crime to mention the number of people killed by Riek Machar. When a Nuer like me criticizes Riek Machar, they claim that “I am bought by Dinka”. When a Dinka supports Riek, the Nuer tribalists consider him as ” a good person”. But a Nuer on the side of Salva Kiir is considered as “a traitor”. Do you think that South Sudan would be a country under Riek Machar and his tribalists? I will use atomic bombs to prevent tribalists from destroying South Sudan. Riek Machar is a moderate Adolf Hitler who is promoting a very dangerous form of tribalism in our country. I have to stop him. I promise the people of South Sudan that I would protect the country from tribalists, criminals, bigots and genocidaires.
Tell Riek Machar to form his party to face us in the next general election. We will see if Nuer’s vote alone will bring him as a president of South Sudan.
Since he is now the candidate of Nuer supremacists, let him form his tribal party and face us in 2015. I have never heard that a single tribal party can be elected to power in Africa. In 1989, the TPLF of Meles Zenawi joined forces with other tribes to form a coalition rebel movement called EPRDF. They won the war in 1991 because they united with other tribes. Let me tell you that it is illegal in South Sudan to form a tribal party. South Sudan Political Party Act requires any party to have members in seven states before being registered legally.
Nuer are found only in three states. That means, Riek Machar will look for a state where there are Dinka. Even if he gets members in three states of Equatoria, still he needs one in Greater Bhar-el-Ghazal. Only Nuer tribalists who have no political consciousness cannot acknowledge that Riek Machar has NO political future in South Sudan. If he takes up arms to return South Sudan to 1991, we will arrest him. If he runs to any country, the ICC will find him. If Riek Machar does not want to spend the rest of his life in jail, let him form his own party which is not a tribal based. If he does that, then, he can compete with President Kiir in the next election.
Riek Machar needs to abandon the concept of using tribal war to achieve his political objective. If he wants to become a president, he will get it through peaceful means, NOT the use of Nuer supremacists to bring him to power by annihilating Dinka. The people of South Sudan need to know whether Riek Machar is a Nuer prophet or a South Sudan politician. He is now the custodian of Ngundeng’s dang and he refused Dang to be handed over to the family of Ngundeng.
That shows that Riek still believes in the concept of war against Dinka to come to power as he believed in 1991 that the killing of Bor was prophecised by Ngundeng. If Riek is a South Sudan politician, let him forget Ngundeng’s dang. But if he chooses to be a Nuer prophet, then, let him move to Bieh of Ngundeng to start practicing as a Nuer prophet.
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Cde Salva Kiir will defeat Riek Machar in the SPLM Convention in a broad daylight. If Barack Obama wants to observe the SPLM Convention to witness the defeat of Riek Machar, we will send him an invitation. What we want from you the supporters of the vicar of Ngundeng is to counsel him psychologically to accept the defeat peacefully.
What concerned me much is his mobilization to introduce anarchy when he loses in the Convention. If he will retire peacefully after the defeat, we will give him retirement money. But if he is going to ignite a tribal war, that is what we don’t want. We all must advise him to honor the refutation of his own kids in South Sudan because another war in South Sudan in the name of Riek Machar will completely destroy the future of his children.
You people must tell him to accept the imminent defeat. Should he have emotional difficulty to cope, we may ask Americans to provide counselors. The most important thing is for Dr. Riek to prepare himself for retirement should he lose in the SPLM Convention. If he doesn’t want to repeat his past, then, he will peacefully retire when he is defeated.
Chairman Salva Kiir Mayardit exercised powers conferred upon him by the SPLM Constitution of 2008. It is true that the mandate of Political Bureau and National Liberation Council expired in May, 2013. The Chairman of the SPLM has to exercise his constitutional powers to reconstitute the structures of the SPLM as per the vision and the program of the party.
If anybody is resigning because the Chairman of the party exercised his duties, that person has the right to self-determination. But the majority of the people of South Sudan would still remain as the backbone of the SPLM party. Dr. John Garang said in 1992, after Riek Machar’s coup, that “people can leave the SPLM/A but the Movement would still move on with strength and it will never collapse because individuals left”.
The words of late Dr. John Garang in 1992 are true today because if there are individuals who want to leave the SPLM because chairman Kiir Mayardit is exercising his constitutional duties, they are free to go. However, those individuals will return to the SPLM party like when Riek Machar returned to the SPLM/A in 2001. To paraphrase Dr. Garang, SPLM under Cde Salva Kiir Mayardit will still move on with strength and will never collapse.
If Riek Machar wants to form his party, he is welcome and should leave the party quietly without making too much noise. The SPLM party will never fail or collapse because Riek Machar left. The same Riek Machar left in 1991 and the SPLM never collapsed. So, what is new about him in 2013?
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* It was Riek Machar in 1991 who spearheaded the split of the SPLM/A along tribal lines that resulted in the loss of innocent lives in Bor.
* It was the same Riek Machar who expelled Lam Akol in 1994 over dispute of policy and direction of Nasir faction.
*It was Riek Machar who signed the so called Khartoum Peace Agreement on 21 April, 1997 which never materialized. Afterwards, he was converted to Islam secretly by Dr. Hassan Turabi.
*It was Riek Machar who nominated Bashir as the Chairman of the NCP in the party convention in February, 1998. In the NCP hierarchy, he was number 4.
*It was Riek Machar who killed William Nyuon Bany in January, 1995 because he joined the SPLM/A of Dr. John Garang.
*It was Riek Machar who said that he would never return to SPLM/A except over his dead body.
*It was the same Riek Machar who surrendered to Dr. John Garang in 2001 despite his sworn testimony in 1995 that he would never return to the SPLM Movement led by John Garang.
*It was Riek Machar who claimed in 2012 while addressing public rally in Rumbek that the SPLM led Government and officials never stole any public monies and now he is accusing the same people of stealing $4.5 billion dollars because he is out of power.
*In my humble opinion, Riek Machar can be described as a political prostitute who can never and should never be trusted with the leadership and future of our country and that of our children.
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I want to advise the people of South Sudan in general and the Nuer and Dinka in particular to know that there is no country in the world that can have two presidents. For any system to function, there must be only one president.
Since 2005, South Sudan has been in a cold war because Riek Machar consistently worked to undermine the leadership of an elected President, Salva Kiir Mayardit. While the people of South Sudan elected Salva Kiir in the 2010 election as their president, Riek Machar’s message to the Nuer was that he is the “real” president predicted by Ngundeng to take over from Salva Kiir. For all the years that he was the Vice-president, the only message he gave to the Nuer is that he would take over from Salva Kiir anytime as “Ngundeng predicted”.
Riek Machar made the Nuer to believe that he is the Messiah who would take over the presidency from Kiir via divine intervention. For that reason, Riek was not actually a Vice-president of Salva Kiir, but a president-in-waiting. That was the reason why he wrote a letter to President Kiir this year asking him to rescind the presidential decree that removed Taban Deng Gai from governorship.
Riek made an impression that if removed from the position of the Vice-president, a war would breakout between the Nuer and Dinka. In his letter that he wrote to President Kiir requesting him to reinstate Taban Deng Gai, he mentioned that “failure to reverse the decision would lead to instability”. Who were the people that he was referring to that could ignite instability if not the Nuer tribe? On the contrary, the Nuer didn’t fight for him when he was removed on July, 23rd. I told everybody in this form in March that the Nuer of 2013 are not the Nuer of 1991 and they would never, never fight for Riek Machar’s political ambitions. Everything I said has become true today.
I was in Nasir in 1991 when Riek Machar used to persuade the Nuer to fight for him on the basis of Ngundengism. But the current Nuer generation does not pay much attention to Ngundengism more than scientific thinking. Riek Machar didn’t realize that the Nuer have changed because he is a slow learner by nature. The generation of 1991 that revered Ngundeng is now the minority in Nuer community. The present Nuer generation cannot fight because of a religious myth. The feelings of Nuer in 2013 are the same like the feelings of every South Sudanese and they cannot fight for Riek Machar on the basis of Ngundengism.
I remembered what Riek Machar told me and Prof. David Dechand in his resident in Khartoum in January, 2008, few months before the SPLM Convention. He told us that “the Nuer should join the SPLM party because a Nuer man will one day take the leadership of the party when the Dinka are exposed to all tribes of South Sudan as bad people”. Riek told us that “all the tribes of South Sudan have begun to learn that the Dinka are bad people who love only themselves”. He continued saying that “the Nuer will take the SPLM leadership in the long run because all the tribes will unite against the Dinka based on the way they mistreat other tribes under Salva Kiir”.
Riek Machar believes that he can take the SPLM leadership from Salva Kiir on assumption that the Equatorians and other minorities in the South would support him because of “hatred against the Dinka”. He might be shocked by now to discover that in fact Salva Kiir is more popular than him in Greater Equatoria. According to the poll conducted by the NDI in August this year, Salva Kiir is still commanding 70% support from all the people of South Sudan Nuer included.
The South Sudan veteran politician, D.K. Mathews, said in 1995 that “all unmarked Nuer boys in the world will learn except Riek Machar”. The prophetic words of D.K. Mathews are true today because Riek Machar has not learned from the past and he will never learn anything. He doesn’t know that the people of South Sudan still remember his coup of 1991 and his apology of 2011 for massacring Dinka Bor. Unless he is insulting the intelligence of the members of the SPLM, there is no way members of the SPLM can vote for him in the Convention to become the chairman of the SPLM that he attempted to destroy in 1991. He himself said in 1994 that he “he would return to the SPLM/A over his dead body” (read the book of Dr. Peter Adwok Nyaba, The Politics of Liberation in South Sudan: An Insider View).
I want the people of South Sudan to tell me how somebody who preferred to die rather than returning to the SPLM could really work for the welfare of the SPLM party if he becomes its chairman. I want to know whether Lucifer would really work for the Kingdom of God if he becomes the CEO in heaven. These questions are pertinent because Riek Mahar, who tried everything to destroy the SPLM in 1990s, could not feel ashamed to think that he would be elected as its chairman. I want to know the position of Rebecca Nyandeng Garang on this because when Riek Machar was fighting John Garang in 1990s, the one who stood firmly defending Chairman Garang was nobody other than Salva Kiir Mayardit. If historical records are important to inform us, we need intellectual inquiry into the claims made by Riek Machar that he is even fit to become the chairman of the party.
I laughed for five hours when I read the statement of Riek Machar requesting Cde Salva Kiir to “resign from the SPLM”. How could a returnee to the SPLM ask the defender of the Movement to resign? In 1995, Riek Machar changed the name of the SPLM/A-United to SSIM and told everybody that “the name SPLM/A is an insult to the people of South Sudan”.
We need to be honest to ourselves we the people of South Sudan. The SPLM/A brought the independence of South Sudan unlike SSIM of Riek Machar. It is a fact that Riek Machar’s Khartoum Peace Agreement did not lead to our independence. But the Machakos Protocol signed by Salva Kiir in 2003 brought our independence. It would be a complete intellectual dishonesty to deny this fundamental truth. The people of South Sudan must advise Riek Machar to form his SSIM again to run in 2015 election because he disowned the name “SPLM” in 1995 when he changed the name of his Movement to SSIM.
It is really funny that he could request Salva Kiir to leave the SPLM that he defended when Riek Machar joined forces with Omer Bashir to destroy the SPLM Movement. Is it not a joke, comrades, that a man who attempted to kill the SPLM/A is now claiming to hijack it? Jesus Christ warned his followers in the Bible to be aware of false prophets who would come claiming to be representatives of Christ. Members of the SPLM too must be careful when Riek Machar claims to be a member of the SPLM.
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It is 100% true that Riek Machar is working very hard to return the South to 1991 as he is now demonstrating. One does not need to be a rocket scientist to realize that Riek Machar wants to create a political crisis to ignite a war between Nuer and Dinka.
But the Nuer refuse to listen to him particlularly the Nuer in the army. When he was removed on July, 23rd, Riek Machar secretly met with some Nuer army officers in Juba and discussed the possibility of war with Dinka. All the Nuer officers who attended the meeting refused his call for war. After few days, he went to the media pretending that he didn’t want war. The truth is that the Nuer rejeceted his call for war.
My advice to Equatorians is that you should distant yourselves from warmongering politics of Riek Machar. We the Nuer know how to handle him. I can swear before the people of South Sudan that we the Nuer will arrest Riek Machar if he attempts to start another war like in 1991 because of power.
The Nuer are tired of Riek Machar causing wars every ten years in South Sudan. He wants to call a press conference next week to “dismiss Salva Kiir from the SPLM” hoping that the Nuer will support him to start a war. But I will arrest him myself if he attempts to ignite a tribal war in our country.
Riek Machar is not a nationalist but a Nuer prophet who thinks that Ngundeng’s rod will take him to power. We all know him very well as a tribal warlord who apologized in 2011 for massacring people. What change will he bring to South Sudan?
There is no change Riek Machar will introduce except the slogan he is now preaching that “it is a Nuer’s turn to eat”. The Equatorians, Shilluks, Dinkas and other minorities will be treated as second class citizens if Riek Machar happens to take power by force as he is looking for. The man thinks that he is a tribal messiah who is promised by Nuer prophet to lead the South for life. He has no agenda for the people of South Sudan.
Riek Machar does not believe that an Equatorian can become the president of South Sudan. If he is really for change, let him follow another Equatorian politician instead to declare himself as Nuer Imam whose followers are Ansars. When he talks about change, he is saying that he should be the president, not another person. If an Equatorian wants to become the president of South Sudan, the first person who will oppose that is Riek Machar because he only believes in himself to bring change to fulfill Ngundeng’s prophecies.
Riek Machar is not a democrat but a vicar of Ngundeng who thinks that he is ordained by the Nuer prophet to rule the South for life. He is not somebody who can support an Equatorian to become the president. He thinks that he is a Nuer messiah for the rest of the people.
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Let me advise those calling for the illegal removal of our elected president to stop doing that because it is a crime calling for the overthrow of a democratic president. The definition of the crime of treason includes mobilizing people to overthrow an elected president. Such a call in the discussion forum is not protected by the freedom of speech doctrine enshrined in the Transitional Constitution of South Sudan. No one has a freedom to mobilize people to overthrow Salva Kiir. That is not a freedom of speech and expression but a crime of treason punishable by death.
You can criticize President Kiir within the parameters of freedom of speech and expression. But when you call for his removal via illegal means, then, you are committing a crime of treason. Unless one is saying that President Kiir should be removed via election, a call to take up arms against a democratically elected President is not a freedom of speech— it is a treason punishable by death.
David Yau Yau can call for President Kiir to be toppled because he is a rebel. But when he signs peace with the government, he will be granted amnesty to protect him from criminal prosecution. The amnesty granted by President Kiir in April does not protect supporters of Riek Machar from criminal prosecution if they commit a crime of treason by mobilizing people for war.
The supporters of Riek Machar need to know that their Imam has not declared himself as a rebel. Any call to overthrow the government of South Sudan via illegal means is punishable in the court of law. My advice to Ansars of Riek Machar is that they need to know the line that separates legitimate criticism and treason. Amnesty of April, 2013 was granted to South Sudan rebels like SSLA, Gordon Koang’s group, Ayuok Ogot’s group and David Yau Yau’s group.
Riek Machar’s Ansars calling for war are not immune from criminal prosecution because what they are actually doing is a crime, NOT a freedom of speech. The Ansars of Riek Machar should stop calling for war to overthrow the government in this forum because it is a crime of treason punishable by death as stated in South Sudan Penal Code.
You need to differentiate SPLM internal politics from a crime of treason. Riek Machar’s Ansars who mobilized people to overthrow the government of President Kiir violently are committing a crime of treason punishable by death via either lethal injection or firing-squad.
There are people in the Diaspora who engage themselves in mobilizing and calling for the Ansars of Riek Machar to overthrow the government. Those individuals must be advised that what they are doing is a criminal act punishable by death. People need to understand the limits of free speech. If you call for the removal of President Kiir via a revolution or a tribal uprising, that is a crime of treason publishable by death.
There will be a time when South Sudan police and the Ministry of Justice will prosecute in the criminal court Riek Machar’s Ansars who are now calling for the government to be toppled. Internal politics of the SPLM or political differences between Riek and Salva Kiir, don’t give Riek’s Ansars a right to commit a crime of treason to mobilize people for war.
Riek Machar’s Ansars need to respect the laws of South Sudan and acquaint themselves with South Sudan Penal Code which clearly states that calling for the overthrow of the government is a treason punishable by death. Riek Machar himself must advise his supporters to respect laws of South Sudan if he doesn’t want to go to jail.
If Riek Machar thinks that his supporters should mobilize for war to topple the government, he himself will face criminal charges for aiding and abetting a rebellion in South Sudan. I discovered that Riek Machar is engaged in mobilizing his supporters in USA to talk to their relatives in the army to start a tribal war in South Sudan. If that evidence is produced before a criminal court, Riek Machar will be in legal trouble.
PaanLuel Wël is the founder and editor-in-chief of PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd, a news website that covers news, opinions, analysis, history, culture and literature of South Sudan and the world. Founded in July 2011 by PaanLuel Wël to create a platform for free expression and constructive dialogue, the website features articles from various contributors, including columnists, commentators, poets, authors, activists and academics. PaanLuel Wël believes that media can play a vital role in informing, educating and empowering the people to participate in nation-building and social transformation. He also believes that media can foster a culture of dialogue, tolerance and diversity among different communities and groups, and hopes to inspire and mentor the next generation of South Sudanese writers and journalists.
