Keeping the Legacy of the SPLM and Its Leaders: The Transfer of Power through the Channels of the People’s Movement
7 min readBy Deng Kur Deng (Raan-Mangar), Pittsburgh, PA, United States
August 15, 2015 (SSB) — Throughout my childhood, the SPLM/SPLA was everything, and to this day, it still is because it continues to bring about change while stabilizing what we fought for. However, during the formative stages after South Sudan declared its independence, the movement has incorporated highly qualified, hardworking individuals to run major offices. Conversely, some of those individuals who never fought during the war or tasted the experiences of life in the bushes are now in power alongside those deserving people. Unfortunately, those experienced employees are manipulating the system to suit their interests, a process which neglects the values of the SPLM at large.
Such behaviors have resulted in many of the SPLM’s unhelpful decisions. Within the SPLM, there are circumstances deemed destructive — decisions that insufficiently inspire hope and do not further the intentions of the people as a whole. There are a few leaders who are doing exceptionally well running the country’s highest positions among the non-liberators, such as the Minister of Health, Dr. Riek Gai. There are also, of course, those who have spent majority of their youth and adult life in the bushes who have demonstrated the ability to perform their jobs at a high level, and who continue to do very well running their assigned duties today. The backgrounds might be different, but as long as their commitment is equally strong, both groups can make a huge impact.
Their priority is to make the SPLM grow, and as such, the legacy will not be jeopardized under any circumstances. However, those who didn’t fight sometimes claim preeminence over the liberators, especially in running the country, which is an insult to those who did, in fact, free the country in the first place. Such maneuvering of the system has impeded and demotivated many of us who were raised within the struggles and confines of the SPLM/SPLA.
Unfortunately, the liberators have not adopted positive attitudes towards this discrepancy, but this does not mean they should make horrible decisions that would dislodge or forget the People’s Movement, the Holy SPLM. The thing is, we would like to see truthfulness and sincerity in the role of new SPLM members. There is nothing more heart-wrenching than the disappearance of the SPLM legacy and its foundation. Yes, there are a number of things that must be improved within the SPLM; however, we cannot just triumphantly achieve everything without concentrating on how the country came into existence, one painstaking step at a time.
This great shift in our country was sparked by the mighty SPLA, a military wing of the SPLM, but it did not occur overnight. So we must be patient, for change will certainly come again one day. As we speak, people are becoming increasingly negative and impatient, which is destroying the stepping-stones meant to effectively shape and amend the state of our new country. These anxious nay-sayers argue that changing the SPLM is the best way to rehabilitate the country, which is a complete mischaracterization of the actual problems facing South Sudan.
There are excuses out there as to why the country’s progress has seemingly stalled, including temptations prompted by wealth. A handful of liberators justify their actions to take from us — their compatriots — by presenting misconceptions. These particular methods and channels are not appropriate, no matter who resorted to these shameful practices in the past. Such practices are seen to backpedaling the country through chaos and have painful implications.
It is obvious that there are growth-oriented leaders within the context of the SPLM and who also have the chance of actually fulfilling the demands of the people. We gained our independence by conserving the legacy of the SPLM through significant decisions to transition the power to someone who is willing to uphold both the values of people and the movement. The country must continue learning; just as maintaining the positive input of the liberators will stimulate the betterment of the SPLM. The strength of the SPLM is in the office of the President, and so it is even better if the President reevaluates what his legacy will be after his term is complete. That way, he can make his decisions based on the legacy he wants to preserve.
At present, the new members of the SPLM are incompetent and have little understanding on how crucial SPLM is for many of us. Therefore, our safeguard resides within the long-standing members in the SPLM. Some of the new members are known to be very pessimistic individuals; therefore, we are looking to those who have perspicacious experience within the SPLM to represent us. If President Kiir hopes to remain in power for three whole years, he must acknowledge this reality, otherwise his opposition will discredit him and will likely create another episode of violence, which may occur if there is no proper intervention.
Let us be honest, South Sudan is not a Uganda, or any other country with a long-serving president. As such, we will not allow that sort of violent outbreak to happen. Therefore, power must be shifted to a different person to promote less hostile environments among the 64 tribes. It would be a mistake to institute those individuals who don’t understand what we stand for into the SPLM. Their purity of cause is strong, but their determination would be better served elsewhere.
Keeping President Kiir in power is potentially a source of discomfort for those who have already taken up arms or who are planning to take up arms. There is no true significance of having an administration recreate one rebellion after another. But unfortunately, if President Kiir insists on remaining in power, we will still go through the same sentiments we managed in 2013. We would be one heartbeat away from going back to war, but I am confident that the results will not be nearly as gratifying. Even though the formation of the recent cabinet could mean a lot of stealing again, we are hopeful that many of the men have abandoned their old ways of taking from others.
We can only hope that peace will be reached with the help of the G10, as we don’t want the war to gain any kind of momentum and place everyone at stake. Some of the G10 have been affirmed in their positions and now they are showing the self-confidence and boldness to try to lead it once more, but are we the public ready to be lead?
I can honestly say yes, we are more than ready amidst crisis, which has put halt to many developments in planning. A number of projects were abandoned, but it is now the right time to resume. As you all know, we are not glorified by the current war, and we are asking you to invest your time in finalizing it. We can no longer tolerate ambiguities among ourselves this time around; therefore, finding ways to better transform the country into a workable nation is the only choice for the SPLM.
Now that you have rethought our differences, you can see that this approach is very genuine, very SPLM, and it is honestly South Sudan’s chance to identify discrepancies that infuriate the population. Those among the SPLM who have shown supreme self-confidence in opposing conflict are the reason why the SPLM remains very instrumental in maintaining the legacy that holds it together. Intolerant and indecisive politicians are the ones we are trying to avoid as our leaders, but the SPLM deserves to maintain it legacy regardless. The process of reinstating the G10 has seemed to inject a little more energy into south Sudanese people and the leadership, although a few are still skeptical. As our country continues to develop, both groups of our leaders — the career politicians and the liberators — all have spoken logically and emotionally, and some of us don’t know which side we should consider pure.
Many outsiders describe South Sudan as an impoverished country or “poor” nation, but I believe this opinion to be a positive perspective. If there were not any bumps in the road on the way towards our final destination, many of our problems would never begin to surface — and we need to address those issues before the country can secure a stable future. To this date, one recurring problem is that certain leaders are looking out for their own personal interests instead of the interests of others.
Those in high positions are left to nurture attitudes of jealousy, yet we forgot to identify with people like our liberators who see our youth as the most dutiful and industrious members of our country. Our privileges have become the possession of a select few, and as an outcome, the public is overwhelmed. Now is the time to voice our frustration, while we can still change the course of our country.
This is article was written by Deng Kur Deng AKA Raanmangar. You can reach him at: pananyangajak@gmail.com.
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