“Abel Alier Kwai, the Nelson Mandela of South Sudan” Governor Philip Aguer
5 min readBy Mach Samuel Peter, Bor, Jonglei State
January 13, 2017 (SSB) —- H.E. Abel Alier Kwai who served as Vice President of Sudan between 1971 and 1982 and as President of the High Executive Council of the Southern Sudan Autonomous Region between 1972 and 1978 has been described today as the Mohandas Gandhi and Nelson Mandela of South Sudan. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement in British-ruled India. Employing nonviolent civil disobedience, led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world
Meanwhile Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician, and philanthropist, who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country’s first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by tackling institutionalized racism and fostering racial reconciliation. Ideologically an African nationalist and socialist, he served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997.
He addresses the executive, legislative, judiciary wings and specialized commissions and the people of South Sudan in Bor town at the secretariat general today after he was received by thousands at Bor Airport. He emphasized on hard work and challenged youth disinclination towards growth and development.
On his address to the people of South Sudan he said, our nation can move forward through commitments to hard work, and peaceful co-existence. “When you live in peace and go on as brothers and sisters of Jonglei then Equatoria, Upper Nile and Bar El Ghazal will live by your side. And in a family where people live in peace then God will always look at the angles of rewarding them abundantly.
He said if East African communities presently spoon feeding South Sudan are given the obligation to live in South Sudan, the first question they would ask is, are people of South Sudan blind?
“There are some countries that are far away from South Sudan, they are not as blessed as God has blessed this nation with abundant resources. If you extract you find gold, iron and oil and if you get to the river fish is in abundance so please work hard with your families. He further said.
The governor of Jonglei state H.E. Philip Aguer Panyang Jot said Abel Alier leadership style can be compared to that of Ghandi of India and Nelson Madela of South Africa.
“I believe Abel Alier is a symbol of peace and reconciliation because he does not conspire; he is a man of everybody. Abel is a great man, a state man who cares about South Sudan because he sacrifice his life like Nelson Mandella and Ghandi given the events of Kapoeta and Akobo during the liberation for independence,” Aguer said. We thank God because he has given us Able Alier who promoted education in Southern Sudan and it is that education that has led to the independence. The government of South Sudan has recognized the reconciliation ability of Uncle Abel Alier and this is why he is and advisor for peace and dialogue,” Governor Philip further said.
The deputy governor of Jonglei State Dr. Agot Alier Leek said Molana Abel Alier lives by example and that the youth should adopt the leadership style of Abel Alier.
“H.E. Molana Abel Alier Kwai is a leader who lives by example. He is an Honest, simple, determine and committed leader,” Dr. Agot Alier the deputy governor of Jonglei state told the gathering at the council of ministers.
Meanwhile the Speaker of Jonglei Legislative Assembly Rt. Hon. Amb. Charles Manyang Awuol said Abel Alier Kwai created chose and named Jonglei state during the creation of 25 states of the Sudan before South Sudan independence.
Former Vice-President of Sudan Abel Alier’s 1990 book, Too Many Agreements Dishonored, chronicles the history of Sudan’s first major peace treaty, the 1972 Addis Ababa Agreement. Brokered by the World Council of Churches and Emperor Haile Selassie, the agreement was the first long-term deal to bring peace to a country that had been at war since 1955. Holding for 11 years, the treaty was consistently and continually undermined until a full scale return to hostilities was inevitable.
Alier was born in 1933 in Magaar Village of Baidit Payam, Bor District of the then Upper Nile State in the then Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.
In 1972 a peace agreement was signed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Abel Alier became instrumental in that agreement which permitted Southern Sudan to have its own autonomous government in Juba. Abel Alier became a Vice President of Sudan when Numeiri was the president. Abel Alier never joined the Southern rebellion, but he has often been instrumental in helping negotiate a peaceful settlement between The North and Southern Sudan.
In 2005 he headed the committee that was appointed to investigate the death of Dr. Garang when he left Uganda for Sudan. Dr. John Garang died in a plane crash.
In early 1990s, Abel Alier wrote a book under the title Southern Sudan: Too Many Agreements Dishonored. The agreement signed in Ethiopia in 1972 was dishonored by Numeiri in 1983 when he announced the introduction of the Islamic Law.
In early 1997 Dr. Riek Machar, signed an agreement with Khartoum. It is referred to as “The Khartoum Agreement”. It was never implemented. Alier’s book was about such agreements and the failure to implement them.
He is an internationally respected judge, human-rights lawyer and activist on behalf of Christians in the Sudan. Former Vice President of Sudan (1971–1982), he served as the first president of the High Executive Council of Southern Sudan. He sits on the Permanent Court of International Arbitration in The Hague.
This piece was authored by Mach Samuel reachable at machsamuelpeter@gmail.com
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