Amon Wantok: South Sudan must undertake detribalization as a national process
By Dr. Amon Wantok, Juba, South Sudan
Monday, July 2, 2018 (PW) — Comrade Salva Kiir Mayardit, Comrade Dr Riek Machar Teny, the entire leadership of South Sudan including our ladies; I got up at 5:00 a.m and opened the TV in my sitting room. Suddenly, I saw the leaders of South Sudan at the table with Sudan’s leader Omar el Bashir signing the peace deal; Salva on the right, Omar in the middle and Riek Machar on the left.
After that all got up and raised their hands with Bashir in jubilation. They sat and the first opportunity was given to Riek to comment and make his pledges which he did for permanent peace. Salva had his turn and pledged the respect for everlasting peace. The most important component was the permanent ceasefire.
After hearing all those pledges and particularly the ceasefire, I was amazed and astonished which caused me to jump up forgetting my sickness and added that the ceasefire should include animals and the birds that have migrated out of the country. It should be a glorious respect for everyone and everything including the forest that holds all kinds of vegetation and the environment that envelopes us.
I quoted chief Mangar Machiek who is now the Late on what he said, ” Will there come a situation when the truth shall come back and reign again?” That statement was a mental research because violence, lies and intimidation rule the people up to the present moment. The other part is the non belief in qualities and the uplifting the non qualified to rule is a source of a lot of failures.
The idea of educated individuals who happened to be in the authority only hold to their positions as part of the livelihood and not as servants is another cause of failures. The leader is not told or advised from errors. Measure social vices are also a part of failures which I expressed in my first paper and there is need to mention them again: Tribalism, ethnicity, nepotism and corruption plus warlordism which need illumination.
All those vices cannot be easily removed if it does not start from the leaders themselves.
The detribalization should be taken up as a national process on the basis of political, economic, social and cultural unity.
Those concepts are the sources of nation building. They expressed national interests which are common among the communities. They promote free movement in marketing their commodities in enhancing their markets in various products such as grains, oil crops, root tubers like cassava, sweet potatoes and Irish potatoes, livestock sales etc.
Ethnicity like tribalism are foreign concepts for dividing up the people and to the effect rule by imperialists. They idealised these concepts to remain permanent and continue to agitate African leaders to let them be on each other’s necks all the time.
They become sources of conflicts here and there. These sources are non- basic to make the members of the same ideology enemies but at the end, they sit down and agree after serious damages have been made.
These are the reasons for us to study these concepts closely as they are creating problems in the society. We should commit ourselves to illuminating them as the leaders of Rwanda and Tanzania have done. The whole thing is determination to the national interest and the people.
South Sudan is a great state as occupied by great people who emerged from onslaught from 3100 BC- 2011 AD by Europe, Middle East and Caucasia.
It went under difficult situations of invasion and occupation for more than 5,000 years.
It went under colonization from 1881-2011. This means that we stood as nations from Chem and Cush after which we were thrown out in Sennar to South Sudan in 1300 AD followed by slavery immediately according to correct historical information by Chancellor Williams. ( African American as a Pan Africanist)
We went into resistance on the 18th August in 1955 which developed into Anyanya Movement calling for separation. That war was aborted in 1972 by the West in reaching weak agreement in three days. It broke out again in 1983 which became The SPLM/ SPLA that brought peace in 2005 in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
The emergence of this state created worries in some circles. It is true that the past African states retreated to South Sudan as they call it.
Please let peace create and build a solid foundation that had been shaken by unnecessary conflicts and bad governance that generated nonsensical hate among these historical people. We came to South Sudan defending ourselves and this is why there is an up rise of our people at any point and all come together like it happed in Torit in 1955.
When it was ignited in Bor in 1983 and also early in Bahr el Ghazal by Anyanya (II) and Anyanya (II) in Upper Nile, we all united and moved to Ethiopia where we came under one command.
As you have now come all together again, let this success not drop down again as you have pledged this morning. Let it be a turning point to correcting our mistakes and build national consensus and restore the past glory and grandeur.
I salute and deeply praise and hail the political leadership. Let this be the beginning of criticism and self criticism. The rise of the South Sudan as it is called be the yard stick to lead us all to glorious days of the past in our hidden history.
Thanks to all of you and the African-American researchers that dug up the untold history.
Vote of thanks also to all the churches of Africa, leaders and the people for their continued push for the unity of our leaders.
By one of your elders, Dr. Amon Wantok
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