Is Suzanne Jambo’s Political Party a Vehicle for Peace or War in South Sudan?
By Deng Kur Deng, Pennsylvania, USA
January 28, 2018 (SSB) — Have you witnessed the recent wave on social media projected by Susanne Jumbo? Hopefully, you have seen some of the uplifting messages she shares with many South Sudanese. Yet, there were negative counterattacks on her character and ideas that were purposely meant for the benefit of South Sudanese people. Those who had mixed reactions were motivated by a combination of both sexism and tribalism, but these harsh realities created a bitterness that almost sidetracked Suzanne. This is not an assumption, because of the intensity of language presented on social media and other websites.
Unfortunately, I differ with her on one thing—rushing to the conclusion to form her political party, which I feel has mysterious components that are negative to the expansion of the party. Oddly, many are saying that her party is a political wing for NAS, but that doesn’t translate into the popularity she just gained by acknowledging the South Sudanese desperation for peace.
What we don’t know is whether there is the connection between NAS and Suzanne’s party. Concluding that the two are connected would be premature, however, any clandestine link, without findings in place wouldn’t help us understand her intention; therefore, her party may need to be fully investigated because our people must know the truth if two are connected.
However, what got my attention is not her interest in owning or running a political party, but her messages of peace. I feel we, the South Sudanese, would want to see more of it done. We, the people, badly need peace and Suzanne’s message is one of peace. Who, among us, is refusing or repudiating peace? Nobody. Suzanne might not be a person of the year in her quest for peace, but she certainly tried her best to appeal to South Sudanese to accept peace over hatred. Her aspiration for peace gave me something to reflect on and I thought about her quest for peace.
It reverberates with me. She can be instrumental in our desire for peace. She is a great asset and I feel she deserves to be recognized and encouraged to sit at the table to help sort our differences.
On a personal level, I was annoyed and upset when Suzanne criticized former Secretary General Pagan Amum, calling him names like lazy and visionless. That didn’t sit well with me, so I went in defence of Pagan Amum. He is one of our liberators and a strong member of the SPLM. Currently, though, I don’t appreciate what Pagan Amum is doing to enhance handing over our country to UN, so I disagreed with him 100% on that and on other things associated with South Sudan.
Knowingly he did his part during our struggle, so I added the following words in the article published by Paanluelwel.com. “Recently, one of the unknown members of the SPLM—by name Suzanne Jumbo—called you lazy, visionless, and all sorts of names. I doubt the credibility of her words. We all know that you, comrade Pagan Amum, started the SPLM/SPLA, so you spent 21 years in the bush like many of us.”
I was embittered because I felt Miss Suzanne Jumbo didn’t suffer like many of us. I have come to realize her seriousness about peace in South Sudan, which is my very reason for writing this article.
Her messages make sense and I felt connected to her call for peace. With these kinds of messages, she has the voice of the people—not her party—solely for peace. I am not committed to any party nor her party South Sudan Steps Towards Peace and Democracy (SS-STPD beside mighty SPLM until we solve our problems in the country. SPLM have many concerns to address. It is extraneous to have many parties at this stage.
Until then, we will find out whether it is a manna or not but, as of right now, you can call her what you would like to, but she appears to be PEACEMAKER in her own right and, clearly, she is, except for her political party’s unclear affiliation with NAS. Personally, I would like to see her invest in the peace process and maybe we will have something to reflect on in terms of credentials in her candidacy for President. She must use her approach to help guide the country toward peace.
This article was written by Deng Kur Deng AKA Raanmangar. You can reach him at his email: pananyangajak@gmail.com
The opinion expressed here is solely the view of the writer. The veracity of any claim made is the responsibility of the author, not PaanLuel Wël: South Sudanese Bloggers (SSB) website. If you want to submit an opinion article, commentary or news analysis, please email it to paanluel2011@gmail.com. PaanLuel Wël website (SSB) do reserve the right to edit or reject material before publication. Please include your full name, a short biography, email address, city and the country you are writing from.
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