Better Late than never: Congrats to our organized forces for a peaceful Christmas
6 min readBetter Late than never: Congratulations to the organized forces, Tiger Division and National Security for keeping Juba secure and peaceful during the Christmas and New Year season
By Pal Chol Nyan, Juba, South Sudan
January 10, 2017 (SSB) — This year, the Christmas Festival and the New Year eve were celebrated in peace. There was no chaos as it used to be. Not a single gunshot or fireworks heard. The unknown gunmen were nowhere to be seen. They must have gone into hiding. Whose work is this? Definitely, the credit goes to the security sector particularly the forces drawn from the Tiger division, the NS and organized forces. An informed source close to these commanders told me they had sleepless night to make sure the people celebrate in peace in three turbulent years.
By the way, there was no night prayers for fear of unknown gunmen. The Archbishop issued an apostolic order banning night prayers to preserve the lives of the people of God. As a matter of fact, there were no casualties reported; there was no anarchy which used to be engendered by excessive drinking and other vices. The people of South Sudan spent the last two years without celebrating Christmas because the SPLM was engaged in fighting itself under the pretext of the Nuer versus Dinka.
The truth of the matter is that the fighting, in the opinions of many analysts and writers, is about power and wealth on ethnic lines. Our faith has been interfered with by demonized spirits due to our actions. Yes, many people had their bad side of the history of what happened in 2013 all the way to 2016. Senior army commanders and politicians, who use their phones and powers to foment violence and instigate the prosecutors of the war, have issues with the international community for having committed war crimes and crimes against the humanity as you are well aware.
It is the right time for them, from all the belligerent factions, to do soul-searching and self -evaluation because nobody would deny that his hands/her are clean and not blood stained. They have conscientiously been partaking in the bloodshed and the ensuing conflict marred by vested interests. The untold atrocities committed are crystal- clear and recorded. When we know this and don’t say it, the ghosts (those consigned to graveyards too early by their rulers) will not be happy with us. They may even call us (God forbids)! I don’t see anything wrong for us to live in a peaceful and prosperous country with our diversities.
Those who wronged the people of South Sudan should, first and foremost, admit their mistakes publicly so that we, the victims of the SPLM factional war, have a change of heart to consider accepting their appeal for forgiveness and reconciliation .It was an amazing grace to see that our security managed to maintain law and order during the festivities. To the surprise of many, it wasn’t anticipated to be as serene as it became. It is miraculously the first of its kind by design. The masses live with pessimism and always expect the worst. The question that arises or begs itself now is, where have the unknown gunmen with their accomplices who kill and rob the people at night gone during the Christmas?
Were they scared by the order of shoot to kill? Have the security forces managed to break up and dismantle their nasty and bloody networks? These are all pertinent questions worth considering. We must be grateful to our security men for the job well done. Let us pray that Juba continues to be peaceful as they promised. When you promise something, you gotta be committed so that you accomplish the task. What we see and hear being said by the security sector is that it would continue unimpeded. While keeping my fingers crossed, at a Thanksgiving prayers organized at his residence, Mr. President reassured the audiences, who impatiently wait to take their water after his speech that the maintenance of law and order will continue.
Mind you, the men in uniforms executed their orders accordingly in a disciplined and orderly way in December up to now. I don’t play games and would always like to give the devil his dues. They have commendably done what has been expected of them. It is their sole duty, long overdue, to protect us as they swore during their oath taking that; they shall not allow us to be killed and harmed by armed gangsters who need only a laptop or a smartphone which is nothing other than an object? They, too, swore to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country now in mess. How can you take somebody’s life for an object? Needs, if not satisfied breed greediness and death follows.
To be honest, this New Year Eve was peaceful and it is the work of the entire leadership of this country. Why nations fail, is when there are economic and market failures, the country becomes poor and it fails. It is a common knowledge that, the facts I mentioned above are obtaining in our country as informed in our markets. Economic reform is a collective responsibility. Our economists are well informed. They have the expertise to rectify things if they are consulted. They should not be neglected.
It goes without saying that the liberators are still implementing the solemn promise of Late Dr. John Garang, RIP at Nyayo Stadium in 2005, in Nairobi/Kenya and I quote; “There will be a payback for all those who bore the brunt of the war for the last 21 years.” This means all those who fought will get their fair proportion despite their qualifications but if he were to live; he would know that his fighters have exceeded their share and encroached on ours.
He was misunderstood by those who now concentrate the resources of the country in their hands to consolidate their political powerbase and decisively deal with the opponents. We should not expect to find solace in impoverishing the people already known for being self-sufficient but with insecurity made lazy. The misconception they harbor, not questionable; though it is a fallacy, or else, is that they should first enrich themselves; amass as much capitals as possible. The civil population is denied the opportunity to taste the peace dividends and forced to scavenge over the left-overs.
The SPLM theory of taking towns to the rural areas is translated, mostly by the graduates of the SPLM School of ideologies, into redivision of States and installation of passively lean governments not delivering anything but empowered by the martial laws. Where are the services stipulated as terms of references in the EO#36? See the intensity of starvation now in the States.
This beautiful country is blessed with abundant resources and arable land; it is just security and stability lacking, we can prosper apace like our neighbours who are exploiting our weakness and internal differences. I hope the decision to fragment the ten States into mini 28 states was done in good faith, with no strings attached.
The author is an insider and partyless; reachable at palcholnyan@yahoo.com.
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