South Sudan: What we should learn from Kenya election
7 min readBy Deng Duot D’Bior-bar, Seattle, USA
August 15, 2017 (SSB) — Politics is a game of numbers where the majority always takes a lead. This is according to Aristotle’s democracy theory. During the 2017 Kenyan election, the tribes teamed up together to affix the lead in the election process and decided who should be the next president of Kenya. And, in deed the son, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta was re-elected for his second term.
With that, South Sudanese leaders should learn much about what tribal affiliation has done in Kenya. South Sudan should also learn, that it doesn’t matter what military ranks and training, Ph.D., or soldier that you have can give you the leeway to the highest office but your tribal affiliation, and connection with other tribes can give you the upper hand during elections’ time.
The Kikuyu, Meru, Akamba and the Nandis men, came together denying the most experienced Kenyan Politician and opposition leader, who has championed and had the thread to promote multipartyism, and democracy in Kenya. The Retired Former Prime Minister Raila Amollo Odinga was not defeated because he did not have experiences, did have good economic ideas or lack of leadership abilities but simply because of well calculated tribal hegemony and alignment.
He was triumphed over by the bigger tribes and other smallest tribes who teamed up to promote their own interest fairly than the Odinga’s community development, job creations, and the eradicate corruption in Kenya.
As Dr. John Garang De Mabior once said “Democracy is beaten up now day, everyone can claim that he is democratic” He was right. Democracy does not work, sometimes in African countries and maybe the European who demarcated the African countries did not think that promoting of democracy, economics, corruption eradication cannot work in Africa’s tribal affiliation societies.
As Dr. Garang mentioned it and with Kenya’s election outcome, one would definitely say that African would indubitably overlook your political experiences of promoting multi-party and democracy. Democracy is a European leadership system and will never work well in African countries because the bigger will either win by the number of steals it. European didn’t obviously think about this that the smallest tribes would negatively be affected by the biggest tribal hegemony.
The European undoubtedly failed to understand that the tribal issues will cause terrible problems in African’ countries. This problem is currently being experienced in South Sudan between the Dinka and Nuer, in Rwanda, in 1994 between the Hutus and Tutsis. These tribal issue is hindering development in many African countries because of discrimination because of where they come from. And, in some cases, especially during an election, some big tribes always line up to win elections, from the government and to promotes their interest that only benefited themselves than the entire country.
A good example of this was in Sudan before the independence of South Sudan. There wasn’t any development in South because everything was decided Khartoum leaving the minority Southern with nothing. The Same thing is happening now in Kenya, in Turkana County with their oil being shipped to Nairobi leaving them with nothing.
South Sudanese leaders need to learn from this Kenyan election and stop fighting and to learn that their Military uniform leadership will never any development in that country. They should also learn if want our country to be in a peace, then we need us to have the good institution, strong and well-educated people to promote nationalists’ agenda. People like Ezra Chiloba, who can be appointed to the institution that guides elections and to promote democracy in South Sudan.
We need to promote diversity just like what the former Tanzanian President Mwalimu Julius Nyerere did in eliminating tribal predicament in Tanzania. Now, Tanzania is the most peaceful country in East Africa. Addition, we need learn the reward of diversity in countries like Zimbabwe, Ghana. These countries have benefited from their abundant diversity.
Diversity is the greatest strength because our people can go back to the history of how one man with many wives from diversity tribes and chief s will habitually have more people as a way to protect his leadership and power. This was a common way of maintaining their democracy.
Other countries are being affected diversity issues. On the other hands, Countries like Nigeria, Somalia, and the Central African Republic are having problems now because of tribal issues. These problems are routed because the majority tribes controlling everything. People should learn that tribal alliances and affiliation can end the war and promote development and federation democracy. In addition, African see their tribal alignment as a new way of winning election
The African democracy of affiliation would be better than the western democracy where individual who has ideas of how to improve the economy are often selected and their improvement is always end-up being destroyed by successors like Trump and Obamacare. Before in African society men with many wife and children have more say African democracy contrarily to the western democracy of peace and Tranquility.
African democracy is always tribes based and South Sudanese should learn from new Kenyan democracy of tribal leadership and government formation or from Mexican democracy; where one party is given a chance to rule another party wait for another time. Tribal Federation or African democracy of affiliation should fit and will benefit them than the Western democracy.
Western Democracy will always make Africans fight will always put African countries into the problem because few individuals with selfish individual interest who wants to be president will want to fight in name of western democracy that always end-up benefiting the white man.
Furthermore, Africans should try tribal affiliation politics (Kenyan democracy) this might stop the war and bring development into their country than the western democracy where one man drive people out of their country because he wants to the president in expenses of his tribal men. Riek Machar’s democracy.
Tribal Affiliation democracy will help African because African men are connected to their community’s leadership than the western Society democracy, where individual leave his house and go to live with his wife, set up a house and choose to decide to run for office. That does not it how it work in African society.
African communities are guided by their elders and communities issues than individual’s interest or ideas. With that, there is a need for African to rethink about this western democracy as the only way of bringing developments. Doing this will definitely bring the much-needed development because the community will be developed and will be benefited well.
This will help them to forget their hidden agenda, corruption, nepotism and hatred. This will also help in promoting development and will help them to win elections simply because of their numbers. Failure to do that, then South Sudan will not be developed and we always have this mentality where the Dinka tribes will also think they can rule that country for years and that thinking will never take our country forward.
In contrast, if people think that the development is necessary then we have to forget about tribal stereotypic and think much about African democracy of tribal can work, then family politics. We also need to forget about judging each other and acknowledging each other in necessary.
We never know if Raila Amollo Odinga could bring development to Kenya but because of his tribe. He has been judged and denied presidency three times simply because of his tribe. People should not be scared of each other all the time. However, they should give chance to see if what they are talking about will benefit every. There is no country of one tribe but we have countries that are made up of tribes.
Deng Duot D’Bior-bar is Graduate student at University of Dundee School of law, Scotland, holds Post Diploma in Legal Studies, Bachelors of Arts degree in Law, Political Science, and International Relations. Deng served as WWU’s Associated Student Vice President for Diversity from 2011-2013 He also served in WWU Juridical Committee, College Success Foundation alumni Board, and African Leadership Academy Board, Stone leadership Academic as the Public Relations and Planning, Recruitment and Retention Manager. He was also a WWU International Studies Scholar and is a recipient of Foster High School global citizen and Multicultural Honor Award. You can him via his email: John Deng dduotdit@gmail.com
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