Generational Exit: Why Youth Must Save South Sudan from Traditional Elites
By Makoi Mayen Chienggan, Juba, South Sudan
Wednesday, August 19, 2020 (PW) — South Sudan has gone through a lot since its independence from Sudan nine years ago. Southern Sudanese have waged a war for independence for almost half a century. It first started when Southern soldiers mutinied against the Anglo Egyptian rule on 18th August 1955, a year prior to independence. This came as a result of mistreatment of Southerners by their northern counterparts and the British.
The North had some semblance of development. Citizens in the North were educated and sophisticated. They engaged in modern agriculture. They traded with the outside well. They had hospitals they could go to when they felt sick. Some killer diseases such as malaria were no longer a menace. For labor, they had Southerners to rely on. And they got that labor at no or cheap cost since Southerners were seen as slaves. All that I mentioned above were not to be found in the Southern part of Sudan.
It was against this background that the Southerners took up arms and fought a war of liberation. The war raged on for seventeen years and culminated in a negotiated settlement, the so-called Addis Ababa Agreement in 1972. In the pact, the South was granted a self government.
It was made an autonomous region within Sudan. What this meant was that the South was left to its own devices and to chart its own future. Although some Southerners were not not happy with the terms of the agreement, they honored it anyway.
A regional government, with its Headquarters in Juba, was established. Although there were squabbles here and there among politicians, it was largely successful. Many institutions were set up -most of the buildings being used by the government in Juba today- and a strong bureaucracy was put in place.
Members to the regional assembly were freely and fairly elected. Those who engaged in corrupt activities were sternly punished and stripped of their powers. A democracy was beginning to take a foothold. In fact the South was the talk of everybody in Eastern Africa and was used as an example of people who are willing to develop themselves.
Concerned that the South was stealing the show and was on course to development and greatness, President Nimeiry disbanded the agreement, claiming it was neither Korean nor Bible and divided the region into three mini regions. To add insult to injury, he made Sharia the law of the land. Southerners were shocked but not surprised.
As the dust began to settle, they hatched a plan to start another war. And on 16th May, 1983, Kerubino Kuanyin shot the first bullet of the war that was to continue for twenty one good years. This time round, the youth who were the leaders of the new Movement wanted nothing less for themselves and their peoples.
Most of the leaders of the SPLM/SPLA were under 40 years. They forced the intransigent Khartoum mafia to the negotiating table and won the day with an agreement whose terms were very unfair to the Khartoum regime, among which is the clause for secession for the South should they feel Unity within Sudan was no longer attractive.
Just after two years of independence, South Sudan descended into a senseless war, thanks to greed and lust for wealth and power on the part of the SPLM Leaders. As we all know, there is no end in sight to this war soon. You may say, ‘But there is a Unity Government in Juba.” Well, as usual you have been duped. You have been lied to. These guys are just on a cooling break.
They just want the heat to evaporate before the real and mother of all wars start just yet. In football, it is a 15 minutes break you take before the second half begins. They are only strategizing on how to win the upcoming war. Lest you forget, they were arm twisted into signing the RARCSS and forming the so-called RTGONU. If you think I am making wild allegations, we have 2016 to refer to.
This brings to the question of the youth. What must youth do to save South Sudan? First off, we must understand that nobody is going to come from anywhere to write the wrongs in this country. The solutions to our problems must come from us. God may not directly intervene and there may be too much bureaucracy in God’s way of doing things. Hence the people that should and must save South Sudan are the youth.
It is the youth that are being killed on both sides of the war. It is the youth who are bearing the brunt of the war. It is the youth who are facing the economic hardships visited on them by the war. The youth therefore have the prerogative to say no to war by refusing to participate in butchering themselves.
They have to say no to tribalism. They have to demand that Kiir and Riek not run for Presidency in case this peace holds. The youth must actively engage in politics. We can Malemas. We can be Bobi wines. Let us send the traditional elites home. We can do it. Yes we can.
You can reach the author, Makoi Mayen Chienggan, via his Email: makoimayenchienggan@gmail.com
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