The exhausted war veterans over-rewarded themselves, then invoked a quagmire!
7 min readBy Sunday de John, New Delhi, India
May 31, 2017 (SSB) — Have you ever been part of a war as exhausting as a guerrilla warfare? Our veterans have been the central cogs of such exhausting warfare. Dr. John Garang de Mabior, Kerubino Kuanyin Bol, William Nyuon Bany, Arok Thon Arok and of course, Salva Kiir Mayardit, James Wani Igga, Kuol Manyang Juuk and Daniel Awet Akot among others were the central cogs. Too, their other senior colleagues, rank and file, have been integral.
The war raged on for over two decades, veterans dragged on persistently with a lot of hurdles to overcome. They fought willingly despite pervasive perseverance they had to go through.
As witnesses of dismal atrocities committed against their loved ones, kin and kiths by the ruthless successive Khartoum regimes, the then bewildered youngsters now turned veterans accepted to fight for the liberty of the oppressed despite lack of pay. They were volunteers who sacrificed to fight for the freedom of their maimed fellow countrymen and countrywomen. In short they were fighting for liberty. Liberty of South Sudanese and other marginalised Sudanese.
They fought unabatedly until a favourable peace deal was signed birthing the independence of South Sudan. The independence was a new starting point since the then oppressed South Sudanese had then been given the alternative of what they were going through. To live in liberty means a lot.
However, this part is the richest and the credible achievement the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement/Army have in her chest. It is the greatest achievement of all times that will always remain in our history as a people and as a nation. It is worth being memorised by all the living South Sudanese.
Having said that, it is worth mentioning that the liberty itself is useless when it doesn’t meet the aspirations of the liberated.
The SPLM was considered the heart of South Sudan. It was the integral party that was at the helm of everything. The party that brought liberty through unreserved commitment with unwavered cadres was considered the one and only party that will use oil to fuel agriculture so that South Sudanese can be food secured.
It is this party that could have connected Yambio with Yirol, Pochalla with Jebel Rahad, Boma with Wau and Kajokeji with Patonuoi through roads’ network. But alas! And to people’s dismay, the expectations seemed to have withered with the initial pronouncement of independence.
In fact and in the interest of reiteration, it must be acknowledged that the liberated have high expectations. They were expecting better life. They were expecting development. They were expecting not to die from curable diseases. They were expecting home-based education. The list of expectations by the liberated from The SPLM is inexhaustible.
Despite this, the SPLM has veered off the road to achieving the myriad expectations of the people. Instead, Dr. Riek Machar Teny the man who has concomitantly been overseeing the affairs of the country alongside President Salva Kiir Mayardit decided to shamelessly submerged the country into the dirt by inflicting a serious war that has never been fought in the South Sudanese territory even with the sworn enemies of South Sudan.
Suffering unforetold has become the order with which South Sudanese affairs are directed. It is anarchy everywhere. Women and children have experienced the pain and her stern bite. Now that our pace to solving the swirling problem is too slow? Is there a short term solution to halt the civil population from dying?
Is government aware that G10 remnants are serious inflictors of her harm more than Dr. Riek Machar? What lesson has President Salva Kiir Mayardit and Yoweri Kaguta Museveni learned from Pa’gan Amum refusal to sign the stillbirth Entebbe’s SPLM reunification attempt?
Since the new one is underway, understand that it has been countered and Dr. Majak Agot had this to tell his colleagues: “Comrades, there is an invitation from President Museveni to come to Kampala and to come face to face with Salva Kiir’s delegation. Salva Kiir on his part, has included his ally – Taban Deng’s IO to form a separate delegation.
We are skeptical about this and which we will raise right in the meeting as Salva Kiir and Taban are one and the same thing and should be represented by one delegation. Also, there is a pertinent concern of the exclusion of other opposition groups at this stage.
The agenda is not yet known to us. If on the basis of the previous meeting with President Museveni, the issue of SPLM reunification wasn’t on the cards. His concern was on how to rescue South Sudan based on election and security sector reforms. We introduced an alternative sequencing that it should be security and then elections.
He was to consult with other stakeholders and then come back to us. We have accepted to engage in the process and influence it as we go. As you are aware, the region and the international community are dormant and no opportunity for searching for peace should be squandered.
There are no easy options or solutions. We must take advantage of all available fora to steer the process to meet the cause of our people for a sustainable peace. Pa’gan, Kosti, and I are coming to Kampala tomorrow morning with this understanding. We shall not betray the cause of our masses for a genuine peace.”
Looking at this communication, the press release of Mabior Garang, the expression of Gen. Thomas Cirilo, Dr. Lam Akol’ s statement on his tweeter handle plus many others, one would deduce that the quest on the table is power restructuring.
It is in the interest of the former SPLM cadres in their respective new camps to continue with their haggle on power without considering the damage it has already inflicted on the innocent civil population.
It is upon this that I am openly saying that the exhausted veterans have over-rewarded themselves, then invoked a quagmire!
It boggles one’s mind as to which organisms of the same species would eat themselves away this much other than once robust SPLM?
The veterans if assumed to be lacking skills of creating the prosperity South Sudanese have been craving for, would in fact be very wrong. Veterans are well informed, they are war hardened heroes and heroines, others are highly educated but they lack resounding solutions to even their minor problems.
They have liberated the country then docked it at the least accessible harbor. They do not think beyond their interests, mainly beyond that of self-enrichment. They have over-rewarded themselves. Despite economic meltdown, they still don’t feel it.
They assume to know all the necessary priority projects that are important to the country but they hardly have effected one.
If you tell one veteran that the economy is faltering, his/her answer would always be, I know. However, despite his/her response of I know, he/she will never do a thing or two to alter the natural course of the faltering economy.
They murder those that have guts to correct them. They hate new ways of solving a problem.
The way with which the SPLM has governed South Sudanese from interim period of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to date is indeed wanting than the time prior to that. Is it that veterans are exhausted or is it that governance is harder than fighting a guerilla warfare?
However, we are at the crossroads, our country is evading us. We must rescue it from further gliding into abyss. Constant death from various causes is depriving the country of man power, it can eventually result to contempt from the envious neighbours. It is not a wild wish to say that khartoum will dare to annex back the country since the mighty SPLA is being misused.
It is inevitable that every section of the SPLM shares a blame. Quest for power should not be this expensive. Innocent people have died and are dying. Stop squabbles, direct your efforts towards salvaging your subjects from hunger.
The FDs should stop influencing the international community towards political games, they should be influenced towards the rescue of hungry people.
I hope this serves the day, yours truly, Mr. Teetotaler!
You can reach the author via his email: emmajoson@yahoo.com
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