Polataka Face Foundation: Dr. John Garang’s Predictable Seeds for New Sudan (Part 8)
8 min readBy David Matiop Gai, Juba, South Sudan
June 12, 2016 (SSB) — In the late Dec 1992, the Red army came back from Parajok and Pogei to Polataka, after SPLA defeated William Nyuon and other rebellion officers, we got everything was in messed, and we resettled in the camp and in January 1993, the Red army in Moli and Borongole were ordered by the SPLA/M top management to move eastward along Paluer, Kacienga, branch to Lemerti, and Upper Talanga or Omeri, Agatta to Loboni roads. They came to Polataka first, and preceded to Paluer and back after two days because they did not found way to Ikotos and a way through Uganda could not allow them, they took again the route to Yieri and Imarok near Torit straight away to Ikotos training camp.
Within the same January in 1993, the SPLA commands, ordered Alternate commander late Dhieu Warabek Ayuel who was killed in Torit in 2002, to recruited the number of children to Ikotos military training centre. Thousands of red army of Polataka followed groups of Moli and Borongole to Ikotos. The Polataka Red army administration was trying disputed the orders but there was no way to defend their claim. The SPLA top leadership ordered late Dhieu Warabek to distinguish the matured red army among marekrek.
Although majority of children were taken for military training centre in Ikotos, still thousands of thousands of red army remained in Polataka, the Polataka was overcrowded and groups were reorganized again according to our ordinary camp structures. We remained in group five (5), and I was called in front of the whole Red army parade and promoted from Private First Class (wukel al rip) to staff Sergeant (rekep ala weel).
Before the entire Red army camp, they were told and instructed to respect my orders as young officer including sergeants of Koryom and Murmur battalions, and I was the youngest staff sergeant among the Polataka groups’ staff sergeants. I was ordered to organize group five and give report to Captain Bol Deng Kuol (Bol thiep) immediately. It was a terrible time for me because that was the beginning of my military and personal leadership beginning.
Even if it is very difficult to organize the whole group within few minutes, I have to organize quickly and give report of group five to group Captain Bol Deng Kuol. For that matters I choose four sergeants and ordered them to counted their platoons and bring for me the number of the group. And this is how I organized group five at that time in Polataka.
Group five:
- Group Captain: Captain Bol Deng Kuol or Bol Deng-Majok; he is the half-brother to former South Sudan Inspector general of Police, General Pieng Deng Kuol.
- Group Staff sergeant: David Matiop Gai, the current writer of this article, co-founder of National Mental Health Care Organization, certified Pastor of SPC and Director of Pan African International Research centre for Social Policy Analysis and Community Organization (PAIRCSPACO) in collaboration with Christian Teaching community college.
- Group five first platoons: Sergeant Maluk Jok.
- Group five second Platoon: Sergeant Ayor Agup Ayom Dor, he is currently in America.
- Group five third Platoon: Sergeant Makuei Kur, he is in America.
- The group five fourth Platoon: Sergeant Peter Mawut Alier Atem, he is also in USA.
The group five four sergeants hurried up and gave me report according to military parade and discipline. And briefly I organized the group and gave special report to my boss Captain Bol Deng Kuol. People around our group and other sergeants/staff sergeants of different groups wondered how we organized our group and some groups’ leadership were even gossip on us that our report may not be recognized in general daily report of Polataka face foundation, but at the end of the whole camp, group five reports was the most appreciated report. The real help on how we organized group five before other groups report was the short experiences we gained in group three and group five under the leadership of Daniel Manyok Bior, and Phazal Mula incorporative.
In my group five, I made group attention, and reported the number of three thousands, seven hundreds and seventy five (3775) children to group Captain Bol Deng Kuol, and matched the right hand side front of my group. The Polataka leadership was very pleased and feel proud of young officer. Our leadership together with Captain Bol Deng, and four sergeants was the best system of military leadership and a blessing to the group itself although military life is always rough, we were regarded the best military officers with high honours and respects. In group five, many children desires to be in group five simply because we don’t mistreated people for military punishment when they went wrong, We used to advised them in a brotherly and lovely manner, and our group was made for the whole camp as centre for evening prayers. The current SPC Pastor Abraham Mabior Nhial and brother Jacob Mawei Deng who is now in USA, were our preachers of Gospel songs in Dinka, English and simple Juba Arabic or Arabic Juba.
As we remained in Polataka, we did the same activities of collecting fire woods, cutting grass, cutting long and short poles, cultivated in leaders’ homes, and the work was too hard. Building hats whereas made by woods, mud, grass thatching roofing, and other means of local buildings styles. In March 1993, we resumed and cleared the gardens. We prepared all fondants squares of tomatoes, fondants of maize, Onions, and so on. The groups still produced the agriculture productions of the Polataka seed seasons of the year 1993, while the area becomes worse and military insurgencies against SPLA who were sponsored by Khartoum were around Polataka because that huge number of Red army was the stronghold and source of SPLA/M future but insurgencies want scattered it.
The agricultural products of 1993, especially squares fondants of onion were in various hectors and stages with periods of cultivation. If you stand in the middle of Polataka garden or at the end, you cannot be seen and if the tractors is plunging, its will disappeared for a while when it took minutes away from the centre. The productions of 1993 of Polataka garden assisted the camp for sure. Apart from the camp garden or government garden, we cultivated our own gardens alone, and we ate productions too.
Since the camp went through severe hinted by hunger in three years, the results of this famine caused bad intentions of some children in Polataka to forgotten their family integrity and identity. The number of thieves increased in the camp, and everyday some children stolen products of John Gary’s gardens, such as maize, groundnuts, okra, tomatoes, and onion, but to catch these children was not easy thing because gardens of John Gary were too big than our garden. Those who were living in Gary’s house used reported the cases of stealing Rev. Gary properties daily, and as leaders, we were disturbed and much thinking on how to stop this tarnishing image of the camp inhabitants as the whole camp seen as thieves. If Red army is seen by passing, they assumed as a thief, and this doubt we opted to remove it at all.
In our staff sergeants meeting, Polataka Red army agricultural director Bol Dau decided to selected Red army members to guarded the gardens: two gardens of Father Rev. John Gary and one garden of government, I called SPLA/M government of the day because government is group of people who organize themselves and who have one vision and common direction for specific goal. So Malual Alier Biar Malual was tasked to head the camp military police, and he caught good number of thieves in few days consecutively.
The Polataka camp decided to punish these children by lashes and others to appear before the entire camp parade, which the leadership did to reduce the high crimes of those thieves. One day, a parade was done and all the criminals were brought to parade and they were asked to tell what they have done and some used to say, “they said, I have stolen, others say I steal John Gary maize, still other say, Yawuru thet, or here is oil”, and that time when the children saw bad image of how others are humiliated, they stopped this perpetrated behaviour immediately.
And finally, the spirit of discipline and control came slowly and people stopped taking things that they had never owned. I realized that time leadership is not something easy. People admire it but it is a hardship, it is about people and how to manage human being who has own conscience and will to choose is very complicated direction. As I mentioned in the above parts, tuktuk occupied the camp and it’s killed some children due to hygiene problem and we were told to take the children group by group to nearby stream, and washed their feet and clean feet from smelly rotten affected areas by tuktuk. And we did it probably.
I hope those whom we sacrificed our efforts, our time, our energy, and our love for them as leaders if they do remember that time for the tireless care on their own lives is not demanded to be pay for by us but it is encouraging. Indeed one of my comrade reminded me last year here in Juba, he thanks me so much before his extended family, and his testimony made me great in the community, and I thanks him too as we were in the same environment.
The next reading will be teachers who inspired us while in Polataka and enemy who attacked us in part nine.
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