The political return of Dr. Riek Machar: Flogging a dead horse vs. a comeback kid?
5 min readBy Dr. Simon Wuor Gai, Colorado, USA
August 22, 2016 (SSB) — While many South Sudanese in the social media always argue that Dr. Riek Machar is a comeback kid, this writer always argues that Dr. Riek Machar is a dying horse politically and militarily. The man lacks intuitive leadership coupled with, self-pride, and blind ego. Such a leader never intuitively sees dangers ahead of time due to aspects above. Meaning, he always puts the society at a greater risk of butchering themselves while he enjoys being served with the scarce resources people have at their disposals as a leader.
For example, the incidence of Juba in July 2016 could have been mitigated and averted had it not been Dr. Riek’s way of doing things. There were many signs showing that the danger was looming before the outbreak of the fighting in Juba. He knows his few soldiers would be in danger because the government forces would outnumber them. He knows his military logistics is not in good shape. He knows that there could be collateral damage when two armies fight in the capital city.
As a leader, he could have taken a tough decision to avert the massive death of the people. Dr. Riek could have known that politics was not a one-way street. It is always like a roller-coaster where you go ups and downs. In his political philosophy, he knows only going forward, as opposed to stepping back when things are not in his favor.
The political result of such a politician like Dr. Riek Machar is always a failure with heavy losses inflicted on the private citizens’ lives, let alone, the destruction of their properties. Moreover, his supporters are always hurt because their leader seems to let them down over and over again.
The purpose of this short article is to, once again, convey a message to Dr. Riek’s supporters that the game being played by Riek is over. Dr. Riek is not a comeback kid, as opposed to being a dying horse. By definition, the so-called comeback kid phrase is defined as “A person who repeatedly demonstrates the propensity to overcome downturns or periods of bad publicity, and rebound to victory or popularity.” In this context, Dr. Riek in not one of those comeback kids due to many circumstances that we all know about him.
At this point in time, Dr. Riek is a dead horse and that he is not a comeback kid as many of you have claimed at this point. However, you seemed to continue flogging a dying horse. Although you may continue arguing about him being a comeback kid, your argument is not in line with the current events in South Sudan political dynamics. The game has already come to an end. Therefore, a continuation of advocating for Dr. Riek as a vice president of the Republic of South Sudan is like beating a dying horse for now.
I, therefore, appeal to Dr. Riek Machar’s sympathizers worldwide to have a paradigm shift regarding their political perspectives to support Gen. Taban Deng Gai as the first vice president of the Republic of South Sudan so that we all bring peace to the nation we all loved and fought for all together.
Thank you all,
The author is a resident of the U.S and a recent postgraduate with a doctoral degree at the Colorado Technical University, Colorado, USA. He is also an employee of the state government in the Good Life State of Nebraska. He can be reached at simongai22@gmail.com
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