A New Year Letter to Dr. Riek Machar Teny
12 min readDr. Riek Machar and a Year of Hope for South Sudanese People
By Deng Kur Deng
Dear Dr. Riek Machar,
January 10, 2015 (SSB) — As we take our first steps into the new year, let us hope for a better future for the South Sudanese people. But let us also do more than hope. We must work to preserve our progress and change our country for the better, or risk slipping back into the darkness of war.
Before the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), millions of South Sudanese were suffering, and many lost their lives in the process, but our people never gave up the hope of achieving our desire for an independent country. After many South Sudanese made considerable sacrifices during the struggle, our nationality cannot be put to question. As we speak, it remains strong and well-defined; we are a nation secured through our blood. We paid for our country with the blood of our people. It was a just cause, but we must never forget the cost of what we gained.
Our primary cause — to build a new country — was noteworthy because it reflected the nature of our togetherness as South Sudanese people. Not only was our objective of an independent South Sudan achieved, but it was also maintained through the efforts and participation of many people participation who handled some of the outstanding issues with the real enemy, Sudan.
I will not be reflecting on your credentials, Dr. Riek, but I will pinpoint things that deserve to be mentioned about you in terms of your people’s perception. First and foremost, it is clear that you did your part after the signing of the CPA. At that time, many people did not hold grudges against you for taking arms against the people’s movement, as there was nothing more paramount than peace. Because of our acceptance and forgiveness, you became the Vice President of the country. As Vice President, you took peace seriously, which allowed many of us who had been hurt by your actions to forgive you. Within your duties, you were thinking toward the future by stitching together open wounds, and people were healing slowly. You gained the momentum from a lot of people because we all thought it was a reasonable appointment behind now President general Salva Kiir Mayardit. Your aim of upholding peace was commendable, and it is why we can continue to hope for peace and solidarity throughout South Sudan, as they are two important pillars of our coexistence.
Personally, I thought you represented our people very well throughout and also in the promotion of peace among many South Sudanese. Generally I am not easily impressed, but I was fascinated and moved by the number of things you have done for our people. Your direct involvement in many of the problems we were facing as people were an indication of a better direction for the country. I forgave you for your previous discretions against certain South Sudanese groups, and so do many people. You helped me to start kindling hope for a better South Sudan and like a lot of the South Sudanese people.
Over a year ago, tragically, all that you have fostered was smeared with the blood of our people once again. We are back at full-scale war — wearing badges, burying our loved ones, leaving others unburied, and immigrating to other countries for safety. A lot of the South Sudanese people have a hard time understanding and accepting these bitter realities. One of the most sickening habits from the Civil War has returned, as our people retreat from their homes to live in the refugee camps in other countries. During the last war, it became our habit to depend on foreign help year after year. There is no point to having a place you call your country if you rarely live there because of the violence that threatens your life and the lives of your family members and friends. Asking for a peace does not mean we are demanding a conviction of who is wrong and who is right. We are asking for peace, regardless of politics and prejudice, so that hopefully everything else that caused the resurgence of war could be fully investigated at President Salva Kiir Mayardit’s insistence, because human lives were lost. He is doing that now, true, but his efforts have been hindered by a lack of seriousness in securing and maintaining peace, mainly due to the fact that there is a powerful parallel energy among the generals in South Sudan who have shifted their focus toward retaliation among our people. Their unrestrained authority and influence, in addition to the consistent violations of the Cessation of Hostilities (CoH), amounts to the suffering of our people. We people feel that policing these generals is the only option left to protect ourselves and our loved ones. It has become evident that you may have exchanged bitter words with President Salva Kiir Mayardit and that the two of you don’t see eye-to-eye on certain issues, but this problem is not about two of you. It is about our people, and that is why this ruthless war must be brought to an end. God knows we the people are not interested in this war; we have been dragged into it.
There was a hostility package signed at one point, but the generals in your stronghold areas seemed to barely notice. If these generals you supported on the ground are very inconsistent and ineffective leaders (as indicated during the Pagak Conference), then peace is less likely to be achieved. Our people cannot be championed through terror. Instead you and your fellow leaders in the government and the military must allow us time and resources to recover from the violence of the previous civil wars we fought with Khartoum. Our people are dying in vain, day after day, and for what? We have already achieved independence and, allegedly, peace. But those two claims of success are only as legitimate as the health, safety, and prosperity of our people. And right now, claims of peace are being dragged through the mud. This is the reason why you must devote yourself to peace once more. It is your duty as our leader to rescue people from abandoning their homes. It is in your power to prevent them from starving and save their lives. Give them peace so they can go back to cultivating their livelihoods that they had to abandon during violence.
The relationship you built to help repair wounds is no longer holding. The most pressing, significant facet of leadership is to set an example by promoting a good relationship with your followers, but I am afraid to say you are not doing very well maintaining your once commendable relationship with your people, and it is not by any means solely your fault. Dr. Riek, you alone cannot uphold a relationship with the South Sudanese when your generals are not well organized and, in some cases, corrupt. In the minds of the people, this problem is another serious concern and makes us doubt that a declaration of peace — even a signed peace agreement — is not very certain. We are aware that there is no way to leap over difficulties and immediately establish peace; we cannot accelerate through those troubles, because peace is a process that needs time and space to iron out uncomfortable elements. However, the South Sudanese government must accept that there will not be 100% satisfaction among all people for every position and decision proposed by your movement and the government. Therefore, you must focus your energies on the most pressing concerns.
In the middle of this chaos in the country, I have noticed a number of my friends joining the rebel movement that you are leading. All of them are from two tribes — the Dinka and Nuer. We have talked about their choice, upset each other, and even insulted each other, but we always come to conclusion that we are still supporting a war that is killing our people, whether we are in the rebel movement or not. We all agree through these discussions that we do not have the power to sign a lasting peace for our people — and neither, it would seem, do you. In these little social gathering, we remember living, suffering through the last war. The memories are excruciating, and we know this war already is and will be no different, which is why it must be brought to an end. If this new peace agreement was up to us, we the people would have signed it long ago, because we are in pain economically, physically, emotionally, and socially. Unfortunately, the war may never end if you do not collaborate with the people who are getting hurt in the process. Our individual frustration is what leads someone like myself to take the idea of peace so personally. I no longer live in South Sudan, but as I watch from a distance at the horrors still being perpetrated against my people, against our people, it tortures me. As a child of the first Civil War, I was affected but am also affected now, as I am sure you are also affected, and that is why securing peace means mutual benefits for South Sudanese in general. We envision peace, but achieving it is entirely the focus we would like you to take seriously.
The vulnerable people of South Sudan continue to wait for peace between the warring parties — one of which you lead and the other one led by President general Salva Kiir Mayardit — but the peace negotiations continue to drag on. All the while, killings continue to shatter many lives, and still we the people remain patient, hoping some solution will eventually emerged. We kept hearing from the government and from the opposition about how close we are to achieving peace, but hearing about how close we are is the same as not hearing about it at all. We are well aware that we can find the path to peace once more, as soon as you and President stop talking about yourselves and your own personal agendas and reflect on the people who are suffering. We the people must be the reason for peace, so a commitment to us will help accomplish that goal, and it must be prioritized.
I remembered being repeatedly brainwashed as a little boy during my days in the SPLM/SPLA; we were told that Arabs in the north were our enemies. In the years since, indeed I have come to accept that we, too, are enemies to ourselves. If you ask many boys who I grew up with together, they will place a great deal of importance on our unity as people. Today, that still holds true. We are concerned that we have not seen respect toward the Cessation of Hostilities (CoH), and that oversight occurs mostly frequently on your side of the leadership as each general spearheads their own desires. Recently, while you hosted a historical conference in Pagak, women were tortured which led to the death of one of them. This prompts me to ask you, Dr. Riek, what are the South Sudanese fighting for at such a disgusting level of indignity? What are we fighting for that is worth the life of a woman? What are we fighting for that makes us feel like a child should not be spared, let alone protected? Women and children are the foundation of the freedom we took up arms to defend against the real enemy decades ago, but now we are seeing the same atrocities committed against them by our own government. We the people have been heavily burdened and almost defeated by the war imposed on us, and we are asking you to put an end to it once and for all.
In the statement that was released recently, you addressed the South Sudanese people about the “reconciliation and healing; and the creation of conditions for sustainable peace, restoration of social capital and stimulation of socio-economic development in South Sudan.” This sounds all well and good, but we must reach peace before working toward the aforementioned sequences. I hope the generals were listening attentively. Let us be honest, you have demonstrated good will by accepting to be a part to the peace negotiation, but what remains absent in your leadership is a lack of coordination with many of the generals on the ground. You are carrying the pen to sign the peace, but they are carrying guns to kill our people. This makes me wonder, when are you going to intervene in the areas occupied by your forces? Until then, we cannot achieve peace.
Based on Mabior Garang’s statement, you tried to intervene early on while the White Army was carrying out attacks, but it was impossible to control them, which is slightly understandable. Now, however, the movement has expanded to include many tribes, and well-decorated generals are deployed to impose restrictions and place value on one human’s life over another, so it does not seem like the White Army is making decisions anymore. In your position, our people are the most important motivation for why you are fighting, but Dr. Riek, we the people have had enough, so it is time to follow through on your claims. If the people of South Sudan are your top priority, then please listen to us: We are asking you to make this year a peaceful one for the South Sudanese people. Right now, both Taban Deng and Nhial Deng are currently engaged in the peace negotiations, but the outcome has been discouraging for the people. Yet we the people still have hope that you can help guide the outcome of those negotiations, with the knowledge that this war is destroying our future, namely our children. Remember that the South Sudanese people have accomplished a lot through our collective struggle against our real enemy, the government in Khartoum. So in that regard, these tribal disagreements have been demoralizing our once influential unity. For instance, using primarily Nuer to fight the government has huge consequences on families who are losing people to unjust war. In addition to that, it is condescending to our collective effort that we have come to lower the standards in our country by using tribal connections as a way of boosting barriers among those tribes. Beside what has happened in Juba, many Nuer children under the White Army umbrella have perished, and it is heartbreaking to see the future of the country disappear.
Dr. Riek, we the people are asking you to bring us courage, confidence, and the hope to begin again as people of a united South Sudan. Nothing has been left untouched, but the unspoken presumption of continued war is what continues to dismantle our beloved country. This peace process needs full-hearted participation from you, but also from the military leaders, especially some of the more dangerous and wayward generals. When you gained popularity in the country, I became your follower as I also searched for better solutions to many of the undervalued issues, such as education problems, health care, and economic issues, but you lost my support after you took up arms against me and my South Sudanese people. Our people put their hopes and faith in peace, and we are calling upon you in our time of need to accept our burdens and end the bloodshed in the country. Let this year be a peaceful year for our people. It is time to resurrect the importance of peace. And that peace must happen now, before it is too late.
This letter was written by Deng Kur Deng, you can reached him at:pananyangajak@gmail.com
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