The Oath of Loyalty: A Divine Covenant Between Service Men and Women and the Supreme Constitution of South Sudan

By Ariik Kuol Ariik Mawien, Juba, South Sudan

Thursday, 01 September 2022 (PW) –– On August 30, 2022, South Sudan successfully graduated the first batch of the unified forces at Dr. John Garang Mausoleum in Juba. The regional leaders from Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Egypt attended the function. The members of the Diplomatic Mission from different countries around the world and the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) were also present.

The training and graduation of the Unified Command fulfil one of the core principles of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) signed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on September 02, 2018. This agreement ended the five (05) years of civil war in the country. In the implementation matrix, parties to the agreement recommitted themselves to peacefully ending the three (03) year transitional periods with the conduct of free, fair, credible, and transparent democratic elections in which parties agreed to extend this year for another two (02) years up to 2024.

What does the Oath of Allegiance mean to service men and women? This Question examines the Oath of Loyalty in different aspects, as hereunder: the Oath and Loyalty; the Oath and Sovereignty; the Oath and Discipline; the Oath and Morality; the Government Obligations; and the Conclusion.

The Oath and Loyalty

In my view, the Oath of Loyalty means several moral obligations to men and women in uniforms. It is a Divine Covenant between individual personnel and the Supreme Constitution of the Country (Republic of South Sudan). Each individual must discharge his/her duties in accordance with the Constitution, Code of Conduct, and the underlining regulations and principles guiding different institutions of the security sector. It means doing work with trust, commitment, integrity, neutrality, impartiality, and professionalism.

The Oath and Sovereignty

The Oath empowers individual personnel to voluntarily stand tall, especially during times of aggression in defending the Country’s Sovereignty and its population. This includes; protecting people’s lives, essential assets, territorial integrity, water resources and extreme airspace against potential violations from enemies. In pursuance of these national duties, the exercise shall involve potential casualties including material and human losses. If such exercise is genuinely justifiable and reflects the ultimate will of the citizens, then, those who lose their lives are respectfully regarded as martyrs and fallen Heroes and are accorded respect and dignity throughout the Country and their lives commemorated too.

The country must assume the full responsibility of taking good care of the families of late heroes through the provision of essential basic services such as clean drinking water, food, shelter, health, education, and adequate security. Upon witnessing these responsibilities from the government, the citizens continue to increase their love for the country; soldiers become more willing to compromise their precious lives for the country; the security sector becomes more contested because others are willing to join, and widows and orphans continue chanting slogans of mighty sovereignty instead of mourning their loved ones. In the international arena, the country that cares for many of its citizens, including those who died on the front lines, becomes more respected and accorded due respect and necessary diplomatic immunity.

The Oath and Discipline

The Organised Forces including Army, the Police, Prison, Wildlife, Civil Defence Force and the National Security Services are expected to display high discipline within their ranks and in relation to different components of the Civil population. As a Country, organised forces are required to provide basic security inclusively to South Sudanese people and the foreign nationals residing within the vicinity without discrimination throughout the Country. We are legally mandated to portray the good image of our Country and the people by doing what is just and lawful.

We must respect everybody including civilians, Constitutional post holders, Foreign Diplomats accredited to our Country, our commanders, law, Democracy and Human Rights Advocates, Humanitarian and Religious workers, International and National Organisations as well as civil society Artivists. We must clearly remember, that South Sudan signed and ratified different treaties and conventions making it an active member of the International body.

These include; the United Nations Human Rights, International Convention on the Rights of the Child, Democracy and Good Governance, Geneva Convention and Additional Protocols against all forms of War crime and crime against humanity, zero tolerance against rape and gender-based violence, African Charter on the Rights of the Child and people’s Rights etc. These fundamental principles are binary to every member state of the United Nations and nations are obliged to respect them accordingly, South Sudan is not exceptional.

The oath and morality

The security sector in general must be morally and legally capable of carrying out its legal obligations without breaking the law. For instance, the Country has been experiencing the alarms of lawlessness during Times of Conflict. In recent years, there were several reports of women and girls raped by soldiers in Bentiu, Yambio, Yei, Magwi, Malakal, Wau, Juba POC and other parts of the Country. On the same note, there were reports of organised forces erecting multiple roadblocks along the highways leading to different regions.

The truck drivers and other road users have been bitterly complaining about the heavy tax illegally collected by security forces on the way. Several reports accused the Country’s security forces of looting travellers and robbing residents of their properties, especially in Juba. On many occasions, suspects apprehended by security forces in Juba, are always comprised of members of organised forces, thus proving the public outcry true. Separately, foreign nationals entering the country, private and public taxi drivers, boda-boda riders, companies, and Humanitarian Agencies accuse the police of illegal collection of taxes without authentic notification payment receipt.

According to different sources, police have been collecting money on immigration, vehicle plate numbers, log books, and driving licenses even when documents are still valid. This is an unethical method the Organised Forces must immediately seize doing it along their duties.

The government’s obligations

The government must ensure the welfare of organized forces through the provision of necessary logistics, such as uniforms, arms, transport, water, food, medical services and basic training. The government must ensure timely provision of monthly salary, quick deployment of forces, ranking structure, and biometric registration of forces to meet the basis of forming the standard, professional, and conventional armies in the region. The commanding officers must avoid promoting their family members and neglecting those on active duty.

For example, the security sector has been badly consumed by internal corruption where those in power promote their wives, children and in-laws who have never received basic professional training, leaving the active personnel redundant and neglected. When promoting untrained, un-oriented kind of police personnel or a soldier who is on schooling somewhere in East Africa and Diaspora, you are not only disadvantaging the neglected active personnel, you are also harming the Country.

Because, you are creating a duty vacuum, financial misconduct, Constitutional bridging, violating the Labour and Public Service Acts and abusing the trust of the President and the South Sudanese people. The government must seriously look into this matter and reciprocate the malpractices by imposing radical accountability against individuals involved in order to reduce the effects and magnitude of institutional corruption.

Conclusion

With the recent graduation of Unified Forces, service men and women must strictly observe and stick to their moral obligations in upholding the Country’s Constitution, protecting territorial integrity, water resources and airspace, and ensuring the lives of the civil population including foreign nationals and essential assets they are possessing. The Organised Forces must respect Human Rights Principles by avoiding abuses including illegal detention, rapes, gender-based violence, and torturing of inmates under their custody.

They must respect their Oath by disengaging themselves from politics, tribalism, sectarianism and ethnicity. They must seize from collecting unathorised money from citizens and foreign nationals and checkpoints must be erected for security purposes only. They must improve their working relations with the civil population and restore trust through integrity, neutrality in politics, and ethnicity, and be more impartial and professional.

Therefore, involving themselves in unethical practices of tribal affiliations, rebellion, sectarianism and Regionalism definitely break their Oath of Allegiance to the Country and the people.

The author, Ariik Kuol Ariik Mawien, holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Development and Community Studies (2018/2019) and a Bachelor of Science in Economics (2013-2017) from Rumbek University of Science and Technology (RUST). He can be reached via Email: ariikkuolariik@gmail.com; Twitter: @AriikKuolAriik; Skype/WhatsApp: +211 (0) 923 650 380 or Cell Phone: +211 (0) 928 187 790.

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