South Sudanese: To Survive We Must Unite
By Teresa Diing, Kenya
January 30, 2015 (SSB) — Uphold us united in peace and harmony, parts of our national anthem that we do not seem to mean in any of our actions. In the words of Duop Chak Wuol co-founder and editor-in-chief of Colorado based South Sudan News Agency (SSNA), “it is morally appalling for the so called liberators of South Sudan to keep liberating their own people from a war that has already been won”. When will south Sudan be known for anything rather than these endless wars?
No matter how many times people try to make these conflicts seem political, it is obvious that we have been poisoned by tribalism and ethnicity. Negative ethnicity cannot be where we start south Sudan from.
It seems we haven’t learnt a thing from the past decades of war. Does no one care that in the last two decades we have lost too many lives? We cannot run anymore, at least not from each other . If we do not come together then our nation is becoming irrelevant. There seems to be an undue emphasis on ethnicity among our people.
It is unfortunate that mediators both for the government and the opposition forget that they are playing with people’s lives. But success and peace is fragile and the governments, talks, peace deals and a million cessation of hostilities have failed to protect south Sudanese. Patience runs out at times when no result is being seen. Promises of peace and stability seem to be mere lip service.
We must all therefore resist undue pressure to turn against our fellow countrymen for no reason. We cannot keep depending on people who don’t seem care about the lives of the innocent. Those who claim to want peace and still fight each other in the name of protecting the country and its democracy.one year on and we have nothing to show for it.
The system must therefore serve the people and not turn them against one another and we as south Sudanese must learn from our mistakes. Let us learn from the pain in the hearts of those before, from the hurt in their in their eyes. Let this be the last time brother turns against brother.
You can reach the author through her email: teridiing145@gmail.com
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