What If Salva Kiir—Riek Machar Were to Die Today?
8 min readBy Peter Mach Atong, Kampala, Uganda
August 6, 2015 (SSB) — Death, according to some sources, is defined as an inescapable fate of nature. It is bound to happen at any time; it is not just the fools, the clever, weak, strong, lucky, unlucky, young or old that dies, every one born of a woman will surely die one day. It is a common thing in human life. I know how important these two people—Salva Kiir and Riek Machar—are to their families, tribe mates and friends.
To them, they are sons, fathers, grandfathers, brothers, husbands and statesmen who must not be wished to die like mere mortals. Indeed, their ways of lives have impacted mine too. However, I hope you will bear with me as this is only a “what if” scenario and not real one. There would be no “bikka” for the big men, mind you.
About 11 years ago when I was in a nursing school in Yei (South Sudan), I thought I would never coped with patients dying and me doing little or nothing to help. I used to feel upset whenever a patient died under my care; sometimes, food become meaningless for me. But as time went by, I was so used to it that I would carry out the last respect (death rite) on the dead person and then behaved as if nothing has happened.
Some people especially non-medics view this act as being heartless, but no, medics have come to term with death that they will do what they can and leave the rest to God. It is not being heartless; rather it is accepting it that it is an inescapable fate of nature. In the hospital, a nurse will immediately prepare a bed from where s/he has just remove the dead person in readiness for new patient.
This practice is common in poor countries like South Sudan where there are so many patients for a fewer hospital beds. At time you will see a patient hinting to another (newly admitted patient) that someone has just died on that bed, don’t accept to be there; in their minds, it is a bad omen for their fellow incoming patient in pain.
In the same period when John Garang died on his way home from Uganda, it was tragic news to the people of African in the south, west, east and even central Sudan and around the globe. It happened at the time when no one was prepared for such eventualities. I was not happy, although I knew John Garang as a man born of a woman and must surely die one day.
Still, I was not prepared at all; he was the better devil we knew than the angel we do not know. Even his sworn enemies were stunned on hearing his death: what will happen was the question on their lips, on everyone lip.
We stayed awake throughout the cold night closer to our few radios clinging to one hope that he was not dead. But each time a BBC broadcaster would talk about John Garang, it was that he was dead. I hate that BBC broadcaster for that even today; he should have used other softer words like “passed way” instead of DEAD.
But inside us was a strong disbelief that he was dead. We were in a state of denial not wanting to hear the unwanted truth: death. It is only time that healed us from that unthinkable fate of nature.
Today, in the total absence of basics services to the people of South Sudan on one hand and the senseless war as said by all the parties involved on another hand, people tend to invoke the thinking that if John Garang was alive, this and that would not have happened. How true this is, is simply a matter of life and death. No one is so sure about this except God.
Today as we are aware of the current conflict in the country dubbed as SPLM/A in GOVERNMENT and the other as SPLM/A in OPPOSITION, we are also aware that much as few people take it to be a war of ideologist, it is precisely a tribal war pitting Dinka against Nuer for no reason other than their representatives’ quest to stay in power or as a way of applying for government jobs for those who have failed to secure positions in the government.
One South Sudanese comedian writer, Tearz Ayuen, once referred to it as an “SPLM/A WAR OF SEATS” in one of his writings.
True as it is, how will South Sudan look like if one of our “big men” dies with no prior warning? If President Salva drop dead today, how will Dinka receive the news? Will it be as national and tragic as that of John Garang? For those who love Salva Kiir (with myself centrally include although I hate him some time), you need to know that they no longer call him by name.
They refer to him as Beny, kiiirdit, Mayaardiiiit or TIGER among many other soul uplifting names in order to exert his importance as our only president in our minds.
How will Nuers Receive the news? Will they mourned him or will they bring out their drums, kill some fat bulls and call it a day of celebration? How about the Greater Equatorian people? What will they do? Will they mourn or just prepare to take the presidency immediately Kiir is pronounced dead just like Western Dinka took over the leadership after Garang’s demise, as once said by Shoe-shiner of the Sudan Mirror?
On the other hand, if Riek Machar, GATMACHAR, Kuormediiiit loong, drops dead today, I am going to bring out the biggest drum, rob the nearest bank, buy the fattest bull and celebrate greatly. But will Nuer mourned him like what we (South Sudanese) did to John Garang or not?
What about Dinka especially of Bor and Padang who have been massacred by Riek Machar—what will they do? There are a lot of questions to be asked—and answered—here.
Will the death of either man bring peace or more wars to the beloved Republic of South Sudan? Some people think that in the event of untimely death of one of them, more chaos will be heard around the country while others think it will be a period of reconciliation and forgiveness. But didn’t they claim exactly the same things about the fate of John Garang?
But what will make people behave either way is not yet understood. For John Garang, people were made more united in his death because there was a new horizon of hope brought about by the comprehensive peace agreement with Khartoum. During that time too, southerners had forged several reconciliations more notably between Dinka and Nuer; those who were in Khartoum were united by the Arab hostilities etc.
This was evidently seen when so many of them upon hearing the demise of Garang poured to the streets of Khartoum in the manner unseen before in Sudan’s history confronting the brutal Arab regime in Khartoum with mere stones and sticks. It is true that most of them were arrested, tortured and killed by the national security service in Khartoum.
In the rebel/SPLM in Opposition as preferably called, there are people like Gadet, Taban, Tanginya, Olony and so many others who have tested the fruits of rebellion and will want to take charge of the rebellion if Gatmachar is pronounced dead. In that scenario, more fight will ensue and more blood will be shed once again.
As for the Dinka and in the event of the death of Salva kiir with Wani as the second man, Dinka will be put to a tough test of allowing Wani to carry people to another level or choose to replace kiir with another Dinka.
Although Equatorians disapprove of Wani currently as a Dinka person, they will want to take the leadership through him and feel like a first class citizen again. Currently Equatorians have a strong belief that they have been discriminated against even though Wani has been part of the top echelon of the ruling elite.
You wonder sometimes what they wish to have to feel part of the ruling elite: making their Nyagat—who collaborated with the Arabs—the president?
Even among the Dinka community, there will be that belief that Dinka of the west must continue to rule while Dinka of the east (Greater Bor) and the north (Dinka Padang) will want to see to it that only the best must rule.
If there is no understanding, fighting among the Dinka will break out, may be to some extent. Moreover, Equatorians will take it as an opportunity to rebel in large numbers if Wani is not allowed to rule.
I personally don’t know what will happen if any of the two leaders is dead but because death is something that has been there right from the beginning, we can still carry on in any form.
We may come out successfully, more ever united, hopeful, and strong. We could also emerged more disunited, warring and destined to death and destruction and disillusionment.
The author, Peter Mach, is a finalist environmental health science student, Cavendish University; he can be reach at pemachatong@gmail.com.
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