One More Struggle for the Liberation of South Sudanese (Part 1)
By Thiik Mou Giir, Melbourne, Australia
February 19, 2016 (SSB) — This message is dedicated to Uncle Daniel Koat Mathews and those who struggled with him in the liberation movement. It is a second version of a speech I delivered at the launching event of his book, entitled, The Struggle for The Liberation of South Sudan, in Melbourne on February 06, 2016. The Federation of South Sudanese Association in Victoria hosted the event, under the chairmanship of Mr Kenyatta Joshua Dei Wal.
Uncle Daniel Koat Mathews has written one of South Sudanese treasured book entitled, The Struggle for the Liberation of South Sudan. This book enables a reader to reflect on our past as the veteran narrator touches on the events that led to the liberation of our people whereas my talk, which I have entitled, One More Struggle for the Liberation of Southern Sudanese is an attempt to provoke your own ideas, your own dreams and your own aspirations about the future. His book deals with our collective past; my speech is concerned with our collective future. If we do not study our past, we cannot walk well and wisely into our future. Books, like this one, contain the truth and the spirit of our time.
Without the sacrifices that he and those who fought with him had made, without the ultimate sacrifices some of them had offered, our people would not have tasted freedom. Sadly, this freedom has been marred by the current infighting. I was not surprised when South Sudan headed towards a precipice when fighting broke out in Juba in 2013. War broke out because, after that armed struggle, another struggle, one more struggle, a different kind of struggle for the liberation of us all, should have immediately followed. But that was not the case. Anyway, the only thing we intensely need now is to initiate one more struggle for the liberation of our people. This kind of struggle is what I am going to focus on in my talk. Before I do that, I want to thank the author of, The Struggle for The Liberation of South Sudan, Mr. Daniel Koat Mathews, for writing this important book. Let us obtain it, read it, and put it on the shelves of our bookcases for our children to read in the future.
The author Daniel Koat Mathews wrote, “…and the fate of our peoples of Southern Sudan was shackled to that of the Arabs for centuries to come.” Well, this shackle has already been broken. South Sudan is an independent country now. However, there are more shackles that our people also need to break. These shackles are slowing our people’s progress, in South Sudan as well as in any part of the world. These shackles are rooted in our South Sudanese character. We are the worst enemy of ourselves. In other words, these shackles are found in our cultures as well as in our tribal mentality. If we want to catch up with people who are more advanced, we have got to break these shackles. There is no other way, my friends. We must do this or else people from other countries will enslave our people on their own soil thus rendering what our people fought for, including Uncle D. K. Mathews, meaningless.
What all liberation struggles have done – more than once – for us, in the history of South Sudan, was that they made our people feel more united and more purpose driven. I must say that members of all tribes, the clans, and the families that make up the Greater Region of Bahr El Ghazal, Equatoria and Upper Nile had contributed heavily to the Liberation struggle. All our people prayed and God answered their prayers because it was a just war. After South Sudan became an independent country in 2013, this enemy, who has parted ways with us, is still meddling in our affairs. We have multiple enemies now, not just one. We are now in a situation that has created in our minds some misconceptions. We see the world upside-down and we have no idea when all this will end.
I would like to underline three common misconceptions with three comments of my own:
- Misconception one – The liberation of South Sudan will be completed when the South becomes an independent country;
Comments – Once the enemy of South Sudan was gone, South Sudanese fell back to what they were before Sudan civil war, or liberation war, started – Tribes. The factor that bound the people of South Sudanese together (the Arabs’ oppression) has somehow gone. Since the time fighting broke out in 2013 and even before that time, so many of our people became disillusioned and wondered whether they live as liberated people.
- Misconception two – It is a commonplace to describe, for example, the Dinka-led-government as tribal in nature and to presume that if we could get rid of it, we will be able to create a tribalism-free government;
Comments – It is near impossible that this happens. You cannot have a tribal mentality and at the same time be able to create a government that is nearly free of tribalism;
- Misconception three – A government that will be led by a leader who will come from other tribe other than a Dinka tribe will be able to form a government that will be more democratic and will not suppress people;
Comments – South Sudanese value their tribal leaders more than they value ideas, policies, and proposals that come from somewhere else and from any other tribe or tribes. On the other hand, so many leaders think that they are leaders of the tribes that they belong to rather than leaders of all Southern Sudanese. Another point – power sometimes corrupts and when it corrupts, people suffer and even die. Democracy does not work this way.
There is a saying, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way”. Let us get up, shake off the dirt, and walk with our heads up like any other proud people.
Part two will reveal what the author of this speech thinks is needed in order for us to honour the sacrifices of our freedom fighters. You can reach the author via: thiik_giir@yahoo.com.au
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