Divided Loyalty: Why do the Nuer Unites in Wartime but Divides in Peacetime?
This continues Loyalty division among the Nuer Community is sickening.
By Elbow Chuol, USA
October 3rd, 2015 (SSB) — Just like many other Africans fascinated by the Western series movies so was I also days back when I visited a friend place.
Fringe is one of the most interesting supernatural series movies I lately watched. It talks about one thing but reveal through different versions. It covers some of the most widely feared episodes, genetically modified occurrences solved by certain persons consider lunatic but highly intelligent.
I learned a lot about the stuffs appear to be of creative imagination but actually can be real. There is the same version of each of us in cosmoses. A theme vastly anticipates in the movie.
Coming to the point,
A question was asked month ago. Why Nuer unites during war and divides during peace? The Nuer people known by the world for their bravery and hospitality divide during peace because of the change in the agenda and unite during conflict because they believed to be fighting for a common agenda.
To the disbelief of many philosophers,
A society pledge to trust their leaders based on theocracy is destined to failure. A leader should be loved entirely on his ability to leads. Out of this character, is the invisible enemy to the delusional thinkers? A leader is not born but made out of the hard work upon winning the trust of the society.
And so, south Sudanese politics is more of Fringe talking about the same thing over and over again trying to produce different solutions using the same version. The difficulty with the politicians is that they valued their interest more exceedingly than their personal integrities, the attitude of giving no heed to the truth, solving the same problem using the same level of consciousness that created it.
It really makes a lot of sense. Putting this caution forward is a mechanism of political survival in the future. Being a ware of political socialization prepares one to be well oriented politically. Our political perspective toward human nature, authority and polity should well be also defines. It should be the reflection of our political orientation, correctly very cognitive, affective and evaluative.
Political system in south Sudan is much predatory. It is based on a moral familism, clientelism and Neo-patriomonalism. It is all about survival values.
Salva Kiir’s recent creation of 28 states is not something so surprising. It is called a political thought of killing the opponents. The Jieng Council of Elders is now a known organization with a bag full of political bankruptcy. They keep telling the man the other side of the same coin. Salva’s latest ability to copy and paste Dr. Riek Machar’s personal ambition of 21 states seems to receive more fame than Machar’s New York reception.
Kiir created more states in order to keep away the Dinka living in Greater Upper Nile fall into Dr. Riek Machar’s fast political influence. This is how far he can go to politically hurt his competitors.
While the wind of change is catching up with the old man, his strategy to kills Dr. Riek Machar’s vision of viable federal country is realized through the additional creation of 7 states to the already proposed 21 states. If this be worthy of certain recognition, it is now being receives with mix reactions by the people of south Sudan.
Their loyalty is divided whether to Implement 21 states proposal or to accept and move on with the 28 states incorrectly created through decree. Something interesting about Salva Kiir’s political decree is that, it’s simply happens on Friday. There is more decree now than the articles in the Transitional Constitution.
In this article I want to take you through some of the proceedings appear to be ignore for some reasons not well known. If my perceptiveness of things is wrong then there must be a way out to correct the future.
There is something, which is going on, but not many seem to realize it. Here it is. I recently came to realize the infiltrators managed to push their way up to the mount top looking down at the victims with tools sharp enough to chop off their heads. When people try to question the already manipulated system we befitted the victim of our own probed.
Taking into the consideration how Juba awareness is, Juba is ready for anything. This means, the Opposition will go to Juba any time since it is anticipated in the name of accepting peace, being a slave to our own fear and perception of reality. And to make the matter worse Juba regime is putting all kind of obstacles to derail peace implementation.
Salva Kiir no longer fear international community and this too is worthy of mention, he careless about the body entrusted to bring peace to people of south Sudan.
Reflect on the issue of 25 miles away from the capital of south Sudan, Juba, and a territory already in full control of Salva Kiir regime. What do many make out of this? Nonentity, yes, the short sighted south Sudanese will see nothing wrong with Juba regime controlling 25 miles sphere outside the capital. This too is a great deal worthy simple ignorant.
Let me elaborate,
Juba will actually occupy the outside city leaving it empty to the yoke of her troops to besiege in the near future. 25 miles north east of Juba is Bor town. SPLA Juba must station a barrack there isolating the already exhausted forces of Opposition busy in Greater Upper Nile probably in Akobo.
I am talking about the distance of the freedom fighters from Juba. It is hundreds miles away from their brothers stationed in the capital while the Juba forces are all around.
Remember Jonglei is an already lead government state under the assumption of peace implementation spirit. Juba will stage her force outside Bor town of Gading. Talk again of the south east of the Juba, route to Torit; the SPLA Juba will of course station other symbolic combatants there.
In the name of removing her forces inside Juba. Nimule too is already in full control. Take for instance the route to western Equatoria; Yei, SPLA Juba will happily station their force there too. This is a well-known fact. But since he is blocking the possibilities, we are all stranded.
If my language is correct, Juba’s outside scope it is being equips by the government of south Sudan closing all routes with their forces leaving the no option Opposition forces to generate any equivalent capable men to that size. It means the Opposition should amass over a 100,000 soldiers to cover every single station the Juba regime equips.
This includes some of the garrisons in Unity State, Upper Nile and Jonglei leave alone the question of the other states. Generating this numbers from Nuer alone is a suicide.
This is the truth nothing else but the truth. It is perhaps the hardest part of the peace process implementation. This peace is being imposed on the head of Salva Kiir and therefore leaving him with no option but to prepare his forces to the extreme.
Among the so many strategies to see no peace implementation the man resort to creation of more states separating Bul of Mayom from the rest of Nuer in Unity, refusing to give Chollo Kingdom to its right owner. It is already a mess to the current existing division within the SPLM.
For your information,
The SPLM is partly divided into sections and each of the shards of the SPLMs claim the privileges of the certain share of loyalties among the south Sudanese.
For the purpose of clarification,
There is SPLM-Juba, SPLM-Political Party, SPLM-Democratic Changed and the only transforming wing of hope, SPLM in Opposition under the designated First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar’s. All these parts of the SPLM (Sudan People Liberation Movement) are officially divided. The loyalty of the SPLM is divided built on either tribal striving or interests. All the same, the loyalty is divided completely.
To be specific, come to the SPLM-DC under Dr. Lam Akol, the loyalists are either scattered or moved to the other SPLM spare parts. Lam seems to be left with no one. When he is detained it is IGAD or some other persons from the Fringe division outcries his released. Sad!!!
Talk of the so-called SPLM-in-Exile or detainee as generally accepted, hardly enough, only some few family members of Pagan Amum who made it to the hall three months ago in Arizona. He was there to gather the scattered sheep but they all fled away. This tells us a different version of the each lamb.
Let me not fails to mention this.
Something interesting recently happened within the SPLM of Juba. The former governor of Upper Nile Simon Kun Pouch denied the massacred of more than 30,000 innocents civilians in the Salva Service Television, SSTV, the only national TV station in the world were songs are translated into Dinka dialect ruling out the none existence of some ethnic groups in a diversified country like south Sudan.
Why Gen. Malek Ayuen boldly decided to be translating the Songs sung in Arabic or in other dialect by some south Sudanese tribe into Jieng?
Simon Kun Pouch that day was tempted to uttered words not acceptable to Jieng Council of Elders and he lost his job. He was saying, “If president happens to sign peace with the rebels we have the right to rejects him”, a week later he was out.
To say the least, Gen. Malong Awan divided the loyalty of the SPLM of Juba based on his popularity among the Jieng clans. Salva Kiir Mayardit may not be the best leader to unify the Dinka clans but Jieng are best known to be united when facing a common enemy whether in conflict or in peacetime.
Why? Because they are ruled during war to face their common enemy based entirely on the law of survival. Perhaps the best is not the one who is the intelligent or powerful but the ones adoptable to change, the struggle for the existence.
Opposition too is divided. Some people are moving a head with the visionary leader Dr. Riek Machar while other are fighting something unachievable, the guess for justice. They believed Salva Kiir massacred innocents Nuer in Juba, so no need to go back under him again. This group is the real enemy of Salva Kiir leadership and enemy too, to those being block.
The enemy to those who highly realized that, in this world there is nothing like justice and so a quick spot to achieve unattended dreams is enough for a day. These are the realists. While the neo-realists combine the later and yet they gain the glory from the both. No different at all.
And the problem with change is that,
First, it is widely rejected, second, it is unpopular but at last it has its own way of forcing itself into the public.
As we all know, China may be known of assembling the Western technologies, rebranding of Donald Trump’s towers but during their military parade on 3rd of September 2015, the world was shocked perhaps where the People’s Republic of China is heading. Chinese learning from the best, Russia, if my judgment is not wrong has been faking one of the greatest military strength in 21st century.
By the end of 20th century, China was just a topic of research but today is a topic of discussion. The sleeping giant awakens. Chinese towers are driving Africans crazy working hard to learn their building knowledge faked from the West. This too has been dividing the loyalty of the Africans.
For the purpose of illustration, before the election the name Nuer wew must be completely wipe off from the face of the politics. For Dr. Riek Machar to wins any future elections we the loyalists must be the very people who should go and cross the river between. Ask our victimizers to join us. Failure to do this, half of the Nuer population supporting Dr. Riek Machar cannot win the election alone. How sure we are all the people in the Greater Equatoria will votes for him?
To make the matter worse Salva took the salt and threw it into the river. If you haven’t heard well, his idea of creating more states is to win the loyalty of people of the Equatoria while isolating the Dinka in Greater Upper Nile from the influence of his enemy, Dr. Riek Machar. If you think this is nothing, I called it a political smartness. This is the magnitude in which Salva and his Jieng Council of Elders can in blocking Dr. Riek Machar to settle his political strong holds.
Remember, a lot of Nuer are also in the government of Salva Kiir plus those dissatisfied by the leadership of Dr. Riek Machar in the bush. It is a force enough to be put into the consideration. Any political strategist can see this future predicament. Consider the classified case of the Unity State. People are predicting it based on assumption.
If the group of Gen. Peter Gatdet continue to be isolate by the Opposition no one need a telescope to see a great effect emerging. Salva Kiir will finally be force to lure them to his side during peacetime to win the election in the near future. We should systemically differentiate the Nuer of 21st century and those of 20th century.
The society of Nuer is awakens catching up with political interests and that is why the Nuer generals left in the Kiir government will never accept isolation from their community. They will do any suicide mission to make sure they fight for survival. Ignoring this truth too amount to poor political calculation. I am talking on the perspective of being a political science student to preach the truth. Days are gone when things works out themselves. Nothing works out itself.
Human being is not permanently enemy and permanently friend. An observation borrowed by Plato to defined the political decisions of the politicians. No permanent enemy or friend in the politic. The defected generals should not be seen as door open for the opportunists to go in.
To avoid this, a mechanism to bring them back will entirely block any future miscalculation. The case of Jonglei not to be repeats in Unity State. This crisis divided the loyalty of the people of south Sudan to an extent of total confusion.
This continues Loyalty division is sickening.
You can reach the author at his email: Elbow.chuol@gmail.com
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