The Conspiracy of the Panakar Secondary School strike in Yirol, Eastern Lakes state
9 min readBy Ms. Anon Muoryuin Kuch, Yirol, South Sudan
April 9, 2017 (SSB) —- It is very clear there is a conspiracy in the strike of Panakar Secondary School; what is not very clear is who the perpetrators and the conspirators are. This I will debunk later but first let’s study the suspects and source of the problem. The colossal damage that was done to the office of the governor well known as State Secretariat, Ministry of Education, SPLM office, Yirol town commissioner’s office and many shops vandalized and looted by a gang of people believed to be students is a mind boggling unprecedented event that will go down hard in the history of Yirol.
The building that houses the state secretariat was built by UNDP as a community resource center for youth. How will such an organization agree to build such an amenity again for the community that demolishes? This can be thoughts of individuals who do not want progress of Yirol under a new leader. As seen the offices do not belong to Governor Maj. Gen Bor Wutchok Bor but the state of Eastern Lakes. They are public offices any other person including those kids and their instigators can use in the near future as their offices, not unless they do not have ambitions. It takes very unconscionable men to think of such destruction to public property.
It is understood that the strike started off as a result of sacking of the school head teacher known as Kot Gideon and his deputy Bech Majok Takpiny. Kot Gideon is a graduate from Rumbek University with an honors degree in English and Literature. A very deserving English teacher well known as the best all over Eastern Lakes State. He originates from Nyang County, for those of you who question his tribal affiliation he is from Aliep section of Kuacdit. To be more laconic he is a Jang not Atuot.
He was teaching before being appointed head teacher as a English teacher at Dhieu Alam Secondary School. This is where he showed his eye catching abilities as a teacher and an administrator. For government school that pays as little as 970 SSP to lure him into their school they had to appoint him as a head teacher a position where he will be paid 2000 SSP coupled with an experience in administration to shun his 3500 SSP payment in his previous school. This explanation is for those of you who are asking how Kot reached that level as young as he is. To doubt about his age you must also ask yourself, how many older people have his credentials?
The deputy head teacher/administrator another young man Bech Majok Takpiny is one of the best science teachers in Yirol in particular physics he was among the best students in his year. This is how we get our teachers, we use the best students since we don’t have enough graduate teachers. He is well qualified in imparting knowledge to the students. This is proved by the wrath of students on hearing his resignation. He is from Kok section of Atuot.
It is very clear the two young men are redoubtable and consummate teachers that can cause panic to the old guard who fears safety of his position. The old guard in this case is the Director of Education Mr. Matiok. What beats my logic is how he came up with the cryptic theory of demoting these two young men. Currently Mr. Matiok is in acting not given full duties. He is not an appointing personal at the moment. More to that currently the government is not yet formed. He is not even sure of keeping his position yet, that is what he should have worried more about than sacking other people. Mr. Matiok is the sole man who will tell Yirol the truth, or else this will be the greatest anathema of his life.
More to the above I understand the headboy a certain boy known as Tarir; which means liberation in Arabic, who is the main ringleader of the strike is the same boy who was the ringleader of the strike during Commissioner Hon. Majak Ruei era. No wonder he is called Tarir, the name itself is trouble. The boy is living up to his name. He is a revolutionary expert in strikes. It will shock me if he is not handpicked by some perpetrators. He must have not been well disciplined in the previous occurrence. A certain conspirator must have had a collusion with the young man. He is from Pan Pirpiu section of Luac.
The head girl I understand is a daughter of Chief H.H. Bahon Mabor Deng. A cousin to the former governor. I can’t be conclusive on how she was involved. She might be a victim of the position she holds and the circumstances. Hey! Who knows maybe, she was involved. She can be a weak link, the conspirator can easily get into her head. Understanding that her cousin was recently relieved, she can be used to cause chaos by the conspirator. He wants to make it look like a power wrangle of the former versus the present government. Which cannot be true, the former governor is a politician who cannot allow such destruction to take place in a state he so much worked for its establishment. This is how I view it, if the otherwise is true then devil is very powerful.
The politicians who were apprehended in relation to the strike are the suspected conspirators according to the rumored findings. The three Nelson Makoi former Minister of information, culture, youth and sports, Jacob Adut the former state secretary general who was relieved a day before the strike, and Bol Akonngeth office manager of Nelson Makoi are rumored to have had several clandestine meetings with the student leaders. The two politicians, i.e. Nelson and Adut are educated young men who were given an opportunity by the previous governor on the pretext of youth representation. The third is a frivolous man and his attention is unwanted.
Nelson has ever practiced politics as a student leader, I don’t think if he understands the difference between student’s politics and real politics. Nelson Makoi in his student leadership days is understood to be a scheming man who creates propaganda and chaos among the students. As early as 1997/8 he showed his anarchist skills by mobilizing Lieny primary school pupils against Atuot pupils from Makur Panalang. In Uganda as a politically ambitious man, he was brought into Union leadership by politics of grouping and camping up against the others.
This is the politics he wants to introduce in Yirol. He wants to put our leaders against each other and cause political chaos in the state. Our big men should be watchful of such characters and keep them far as possible. If you know Nelson Makoi from Kampala you will believe all these character traits pertinent to his conspiratorial abilities.
Jacob Adut has never practiced politics anywhere, and is very unqualified man to ever hold a state secretariat position. He has a master’s degree, well that alone does not qualify him to be a state secretary general. This position requires an experienced man in governance. That is why he was working out of his portfolio in the state. An educated man will ask for his job description prior to taking over his office. He did not do that otherwise he would have worked better. He only assumed his position and passed on his agenda of creating schism in his own Ngop River County.
He was appointed on the basis that his people are very powerful spear-masters and presence of their own child will be a blessing to the government. He was arrested because it is claimed that the students wrote a letter to the governor through him as a secretary general of the state and he failed to deliver the letter to the governor. This was done in order to build a ground for the strike to be possible. I have some respect for his academic abilities, that will be required at Catholic University where he was a lecturer, but his administrative skills are awful.
The failure of the previous governor was caused by these two men. Nelson was so weak he could not write a mere press release without grammatical errors. He was delaying explanations to the publicly misconstrued information. His first press release was a subject of ridicule on Facebook. I understand he was an appointment of the son of former governor. He gave us an earlier hint of his appointment on Facebook. The man who of at least 20 cows killed in Aluakluak to welcome the governor went and took a photo of the least nourished bull and posted it on Facebook.
He never thought critical of the effects of the post to the Apak community who were proud of their leader. When he wrote a press release about Ngop River County lootings and misrule, he lied about the number of cows looted by Diardit Bol and contradicted himself in the same release that more cows than the number collected were returned to the Mundari of Terekeka State. My governor Gen. Rin Tueny was a victim of poor choice of dubious and unqualified people like him.
I understand a group of activists is ganging up for the release of the culprits, if you don’t take care you will also be arrested as part of the conspiracy. Activism without a purpose and reason is uncalled for. One brother of a certain commissioner in Yirol a member of the camp of previous governor is threatening the leadership of the new governor that if his brother is not reappointed worse occurrence than the strike will take place.
Another bar (randaya) politician in Juba also warned that the strike is just the beginning and the worst is about to happen. All these gauche remarks are clue that the camp of Gen. Rin Tueny is planning the worse for Yirol. The former governor should restrain his mauling dogs since I believe all these are done out of his knowledge by the disgruntled members of his camp who have no political conscience.
I was giving the origins of the unlucky teachers and students caught in between because these two young men made it look so much like a Jang versus Atuot tribal antipathy. They are giving the last kicks of a dying horse. Acting like they have nothing to lose in a tribal war instigated by a political difference of which they are masterminds. They are the deserving culprits of Maburzet caliber. They should be denied by any political affiliation most specifically by the former governor because they are spoiling his names and his later political quests.
He only gave them the opportunity to prove themselves, now they have disapproved themselves in the eyes of Yirol. They have shown us their selfishness by crying over milk they themselves spilled. I urge both Atuot and Ciec of Yirol to refrain from hate tribal speeches and look at these men who are trying to take us back to the dark days. Leadership of Yirol is for all, be it Atuot, Ciec or Aliap. The people trying to collide these peaceful communities have lost a political game which they should play in a better way other than causing confusion and chaos.
In conclusion I urge Governor Maj. Gen. Bor Wutchok Bor to disapprove the rumor that he is a passive man and make an edict for the ringleaders and conspirators to pay for all the destruction caused. He should also restore the two teachers in their respective positions since they were only used as a decoy.
The school should be reopened as the failure of education system is the failure of Yirol. The culprits of the strike should be denied access to education within borders of Yirol, so that they know how hard it is to attain education without a full plate from their mothers’ pots.
The author, Ms. Anon Muoryuin Kuch, can be reached at anonmuoryuin@gmail.com
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