The Robbed Nation: Who is Responsible for the Mess in South Sudan?
12 min readBy Madit Them Arop, Juba, South Sudan
August 15, 2016 (SSB) —- Once upon time, there was a well-respected, admired, loved, and fairly seen with a provision of revelation wisdom as a wise man. Grew up in place called the Robbed Nation, located in the center of east and north along the equator line in Africa. The place has a snake-like river, divided the Robbed Nation into two, almost in halves. Such river was internally believed to have originated from West side of the nation leading toward east, closely bound to the north. The nation was reported as a landlocked baby, sources from the mentioned river are resources it considerably depended on. The other resources comes from vast minerals, vast arable lands, diamonds, gold and oil. The river also provides the nation with water, fish, river transportation, navy security protection, and dock for ships, electricity dams, irritation schemes and more to that direction. The same river offers other attributes to neighboring places it touched or crossed through.
One day, this wise man had a visitor. The guest was welcomed, accommodated, had shower, took hot tea and was escorted to the shade to take a nap because the humidity at the time stood at flammable level. During lunch time, however, his lunch was brought to him. While enjoying the lunch, a by-passer dog suddenly emerged, and had great fortune, the guest tossed portions of food on the floor for the dog. Under the same shade and around the compound, there were chickens at random, seriously aiming at their stomach’ concerns for the day. The restless chicken jumped to collect unsecured pieces of food some inches away from the dog. The hungry dog impatiently leaped to reach for the chicken. The chicken hurriedly gathered its mightier muscles and flown off, to avoid the wild dog before turning it into “free lunch.” Conversely, the chicken had uncalculated landing, it stridden out on tethered nearby calf. The calf’s situation got hijacked and bounded high letting halt rope loosen. The fearful calf ran toward the compound ended up stepping on laid child under the verandah. And for the heavenly sadness, the child innocently passed!
The Arrests, Investigations, Justifications
Now, killing of a child led to an arrest of actors involved, and investigation followed in accordance with the law of the land. Calf, the primary actor, during investigation bluntly stated that dying of an innocent child in the feet of my action has a probable cause. It was never an intention but a threat that caught me by surprise, purely unprepared for, so I had to run for safety. Would I knew that it was chicken, whom I am moderately confident it won’t do harm to me, I would have resisted the situation.
So I could be held responsible for taking away the life of the child but from legal perspective, my actions are connected with hasty fear which chicken caused to me. I had no intention to would have caused any harm to the child.
The chicken, on the other hand, sealed calf’s responses with almost the same argument. That of course nothing intentional to had flown and landed on the calf, I was running for safety as well from the aggressive dog, with no mercy on me, in my view. On that day, I remembered heading out for day comfort. My needs could vary with that of others though in this situation, the dog had about the same concerns, the opportunities granted involved both dog and myself with mission of filling our stomachs. Truly speaking, I won’t be held accountable for this, my action didn’t murder the child.
My action end with calf which I caused no harm to it. The calf run as far as it could due to its own interest or negligent, perhaps. Should it paid attention, nothing harmful would have happened. The consequences in running are not the same to element of killings. The actions which took life have an owner. This owner is answerable to its actions.
The dog; however, had a different but with similar view. The dog intended to take food on the floor near to the chicken, it intention never been to harm chicken. Chicken’s situation prompted with fear not knowing that the dog was friendly yet serious to secure the food. So fearing from attack and fearing while being attacked are total separate in this case, the dog emphasized.
The jealous and aggressive dog was about to harm me, the chicken would insist. Complicated has it gets, the dog may say it was an obligation to take care of anything that belong to me from uninvited intruders, chicken on the other hand, may say, based on dog argument prove that the dog was prepared to do harm to any closer-by because it has an obligation to provide protection to it possessions and therefore, fearing from the dog was a wise choice, it was going to harm me, it’s not a mere lie.
Nevertheless, both activities, the dog and chicken involved in didn’t kill the child but had contributed to the killing. In addition from the third party views, the guest would have not provided service to the dog alone while leaving chicken desperately in need. Should chicken was given its own share, it couldn’t have approached closer to the dog.
But still, what if the chicken wasn’t present at the time when the dog showed up? That’s valid but if it did show up, it would have been given. Who knows, it might have arrived while the food was used up? But then again, most of the dog don’t waste time around their food especially the bypass ones, there is a wide evident to prove that the food was in plenty, continuingly being eaten. However, can chicken be served with a share like a dog? With rarity, it is unusual. Then, the chicken is rightfully obligated to seek for something to eat. The dog is correctly beholden to secure that belongs to it. But the degree of security varies or is uneasy to categorize.
With dilemma, their bad hearts with bad brains (if there is one), with scarce food with too much interests or demands, had turned the unripen fruits into a rotten ones. Truthfully, the dog played a very great role in terrorizing the chicken whose reactions carried far to hijack the restful calf which overacted unrealistically.
How about the merciful guest who assisted the hungry dog, wasn’t a mistake to do it? Well, his acted decision connects with duties of ethics. It’s necessary to assist but is not unethical when failed to assist. The guest is morally taken to have done the right thing to the dog. The outcome of his action betrayed the necessity. With dog impatient, with chicken death frightening, and equally the same to the calf, recklessly as possible and rightfully as it could be, and justifiably as the situation deteriorate, their chained actions led to a sadden result.
Finally, the host had a foundational role. This is seen as duty anyone could do. Providing services such as security, accommodation, feeding are basic responsibilities on human shoulder. Nothing a responsible person could do to a common man than these services mentioned. The end product make it otherwise asymmetrical from intended purpose. The host is as well contributed in providing food, which moral duty finds logical in nature.
Conclusion: all actors have countered claims that are either defensible in part and negligence with probable cause in whole. The child is innocent while the rests are either proven innocent until proven guilty with different degrees or consequences.
Based on this narrated situation and among the actors involved, in your view, who is responsible for the compensation of the child? The host, the guest, the dog, the chicken or the calf?
It’s your fate to determine what really the rightful legal justification is. But digging further, it is appeasing to help provide interpretation connected to the robbed of the nation, why the robbed nation? What is the connection and which nation is robbed? Taking this situation and apply it to our South Sudan problem, you will have booth of understanding in categorization of key actors as follow.
- Dead child: is the Republic of South Sudan, purely innocent but its daily attack by people that are either unknown or known to you put it in this category
- Wiseman: is South Sudan leadership which opened it arms to welcome everybody in to the country right from the inception of the nation, people with ambitions and apathies are in the country pursuing missions, mandates, goals, and objectives of their own freely
- Guest/Visitor: World leaders witnessed its Birth Day, the Independence of the Republic of South Sudan in 2011. Such leaders had two things: Felt with enthusiasms because their guided help gave birth to the new child in the world, history was made. Two, a gardener sows it seeds while hoping to yield successfully. With warranty, they left their interests behind in the nation to grow and prosper
- Dogs: The World Agents (Diplomats, Secret agents, etc. with parallel interests) in the country remained as an elephant in the room!
- Chickens: friends of S. Sudan, interest groups (outsiders, insiders), political parties (oppositions, non-oppositions), foreigners
- Calf: NGOs, UNMISS, friends actions after interests, interest groups within and outside, uninformed/informed folks who either turned their backs to the government for personal, political or tribal gains or neutralized with sharp swords
Authority is robbed, laws are robbed, system hijacked, political will is intimidated, sovereignty is on its knees, economy is on wheelchair, no planning, no development, only war after war an interest keeps most of NGOs active and on the job while giving them time to stay around to do more harm than good to the bled nation. Friends’ interests have outnumbered nation focus, the nation’s vision is soiled with illusion of kick-in and accept proposals.
The government wise decision in bringing citizens together under one union, both militias, opportunists, diehard greed, and vulnerable population in 2011 to witness fruit of the long journey through referendum exercise is erased. For a sovereign nation to remain for almost three years relying on humanitarian assistances, mediations, negotiations team shows nothing it’s capable of doing or planning for itself, only that instructions from outside sound louder bell than internal ones, this convince anyone with sound mind that the nation is with minus independent authority, it is robbed and coiled around mandates and missions of friends and interest groups along with political self-indulgence.
When nothing is created, implemented, decisions are either coerced, unanalytical, or simply slides, then the law, the system, the sovereignty is mugged, no concrete policies allow, only so many cooks with agenda of so many distortions which leads to so many chaos and deaths! It’s frustrating to perceive daily the government make decisions which functions in the morning, turn yellowish in the midday, and buried dead in the evening!
Changing decisions and making apologies are unaffordable status quo a legitimate republic can easily drag itself in. In our case, it’s like getting into your own room and get out at your expense. Wrong even worse decisions are reshape with better decisions. Former president of the US, Mr. Bill Clinton, once said that in politics it is good to be wrong and strong than being right and weak! It is better to make wrong decisions than changing them abruptly and make apologies. Simply go wrong to go right. The more wrongs you make the more improvement it get to never get back to that woeful spot.
The UNMISS mandate, for instance, is change every time it’s up without consent from the government, an evident of neglect of sovereignty in a nation with legitimate elected authority. A practice wish to change if this nation is responsibly considered as a member of the UN with independent regulation, law and order.
On the other hands, the government is inconsistent in its own affairs. A loophole opportunists and interest agents are capable of to frustrate the system, twist it, and use it as a success tool. It make sense when decisions are given life time to swell-up over recalling back for polishing after releasing declaration.
And it must be considered that all parasites of South Sudan must suck South Sudan. It is South Sudan to limit them. A parasite never sympathize with a low blood patient unless the patient stands up to resist or will get finish up. South Sudan housed the world citizens and must be in controlled in using law of the land. Already propaganda in political arena is wearing low pant while diplomacy is nil. Do enough to partake consideration and respect out there.
Lastly, resources are misused, zero roads, political connections lack strength, internal security must leave it engine on and running, stay in the media (send government positions through social media and social air, TV, Radios, Talk Shows), take your laws, policies as the only legitimate laws per now, and other outside of the land are secondary, observe them as uninvited.
Mandate from any non-governmental organizations must be known and revised, otherwise grant invalidated mandates with ticket of no-stay! In every country policy is policy, nobody question its rareness or harshness as long it’s fit with the law of the land. When in Rome do what Roman do, it is said. Whether you like Rome and dislike the law, comply with what they do and say, the same logic applies anywhere and must apply here.
Why robbed nation is an idea that the country have been relying on trust terminated the system. This left regulations limbless and naked. This had created highways for agents of interest to own the road, and now fighting vigorously to swallow the fragile system and eject the new one. That’s why economy is without monetary system to monitor and sustain it. Intimidations prove authority bogged down in its own affairs because it’s assume lack of credibility to handle it affairs.
With so many cooks in the country with unmeet parallel interests have spoiled the broth! The nation is robbed of its sovereignty, policies, regulations, and replaced with endless missions, objectives painted with do what I say principles, questioning what I do is consequential.
And likewise, what is mine is mine and that is yours is negotiable as JFK once argued. So our friends of South Sudan give us time to get better. Assist with knowledge but don’t bog us; your opinions are welcome but keep your actions; support us, don’t intimidate us. Provide the medicines but leave the swollen wound to the inhabitants to sanitize it.
This nation is never premature, your actions make it immature because time to nurture it is taken for fulfilment of variety of interests explosively poured into the country, parenting is a difficult task acquires with undivided attention.
With you around standing with swords stained with mixed political and diplomatic bloods in your hands, sown to divide us instead of embracing and raising us for the better, leave us thinking whether your mission in helping this nation have recognizable autonomy was just for a wasteful ride. Dance in the concert but allow our DJs to operate the sound systems.
Thank you for doing just that; this nation can make wise choices if given a chance. Let off the robbed nation back to the owner to clean the mess you indirectly involved in, go back to your friendship seat, your help is appreciated.
The author is reachable at aropmadit@gmail.com
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