UK lauds South Sudan leadership on reconciliation initiative

UK lauds South Sudan leadership on reconciliation initiative
The different between Jews Holocaust and Bor Massacred is that:
(A) The world’s people condemn the Jews Holocaust and punished those who were behind the murdered
(B) The world’s business people of today are supporting the Murderer of Bor Massacred and denied the right of humanity for political reasons.

Now I will keep my mouth short! But God will be the only judge for whomever after the Massacred of Bor civilians! The loss of lives for halve a millions people will be on their shoulders!

UK lauds South Sudan leadership on reconciliation initiative
Emma’s War
by Deborah Scroggins
HarperCollins £17.99, pp220

Emma McCune was a beautiful young Englishwoman who conceived a romantic passion for Africa, went to the Sudan to be an aid worker and ended up marrying a warlord. Her story is extraordinary, but also quite thin. Emma didn’t change anything. She become embroiled in the politics of southern Sudan, but made no difference, averting her eyes from things she didn’t want to see. She was infuriating, in the way that headstrong, very attractive young women can be.

Deborah Scroggins would be the first to acknowledge that Emma was less significant than she liked to think. (She was given to signing herself First Lady-in-waiting, a reference to her expectation of becoming the wife of the President of a seceded southern Sudan). Scroggins, an American journalist, was responsible in her early career for alerting the world to the Sudanese famine of 1988, in which 250,000 people died, and which, as she notes bleakly, not many people remember any more.

She has an impressive grasp of the brutal complexities of politics in the Horn of Africa, and what she has done in this book, very cleverly, is to weave the short story of Emma’s life into the vast, horrific story of the Sudan. Her book is a timely reminder that the history of this distant and untamed place has dire repercussions for us all: Osama bin Laden was in the country at the same time as Emma, supporting the Islamic government whose rule Emma’s husband was resisting.

If Scroggins has a theme, it is that the desire to do good in Africa has repeatedly tripped up Europeans and, latterly, Americans. Emma McCune went out to the Sudan as a missionary for the Western gospel of human rights, rather as General Gordon went to abolish slavery. The slavery continued after Gordon’s death, and civil war and starvation continued after Emma’s. Modern aid workers find it necessary, as Gordon did, to do business with the warlords and find themselves sucked into the maw of civil war, implicated in atrocities.

Africa consumes them, just as it consumed the US marines who tried to intervene in neighbouring Somalia in 1993, when bin Laden-trained guerrillas killed 18 Americans (in the incident that became the subject of Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down). The marines pulled out after that; Scroggins notes quietly that ‘we like our heroism on the cheap’.

Emma McCune was born in India in 1964, the child of colonial parents born after the closing days of Empire. Her father lost his job to a local man, and the family moved to Yorkshire and a life to which he, at least, was singularly unsuited. He started an affair, embezzled funds from the local Conservative Association and, ultimately, committed suicide. The McCunes moved from a Queen Anne hall to a council house and dreamt of how happy they had been far away from England.

It was at Oxford, where Emma was studying art and history at the polytechnic, that she first met young, idealistic Sudanese students and refugee officials. She slept with a bewildering array of them, both in Britain and in Africa, and started hanging around with academics and aid workers who were experts in the region. Eventually, she found her way out to Sudan and a job with Street Kids International, setting up schools.

Scroggins, on the one occasion the two women met, remembers being shocked by the fact that, unlike the other aid workers and journalists, who wore modest T-shirts and khaki shorts in an attempt to make themselves less visible and sexy, Emma splashed about in a bright miniskirt. But in other respects, she was typical: most of the work in Africa is done by romantics, by aid workers hired, in Scroggins’s view, less for their knowledge of the continent than their familiarity with Western notions of what it needed – concepts such as women’s rights and ‘grassroots development’. Their motives, like anyone’s, were muddled: ‘In truth, the average aid worker or journalist lived for the buzz, the intensity of life in the war zone, the heightened sensations brought on by the nearness of death and the determination to do good.’

Emma probably never really understood the crisscrossing currents of Sudanese politics. There was the northern government versus the southern rebels, the Muslims versus the Christians and pagans, the 100 ethnic groups with their clan and tribal subdivisions, the linguistic conflicts, the colonial and racial differences (Arabs versus the rest). And there was oil in the South, which the northern government wanted to get its hands on, and Sharia law, which the North was under pressure from its backers (including bin Laden) to impose on the entire country.

Riek Machar, the man Emma married, was a deputy commander of the southern rebels, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. He had a PhD from Bradford Polytechnic and was already married to a Nuer woman who lived in England with their three children. But the attraction to Emma was immediate, mutual and overwhelming; they began living together. Within months, they were married.

Emma was a natural partisan, an instinctive campaigner, with an added Western idealism that Scroggins considers to have been out of place in Africa. Once married to Riek, she took on his struggle as her own. After he launched an internal rebellion against the leader of the SPLA, there were atrocities on both sides: massacres, thefts of food, and children deliberately kept hungry to pressurise the UN to send more aid, much of which ended up in the hands of soldiers. Children were frequently sold (or captured) into effective slavery as trainee soldiers.

Emma’s friends in the aid community could never be sure how much she knew – she always defended Riek and argued that mistakes were not his – but her closeness to the fighters left them uncomfortable.

Emma died in a car accident in Nairobi in 1993. Although she had received death threats, it seems unlikely she was murdered. She was 29, and five months pregnant. An obituary in the Times referred to her as an aid worker, though she hadn’t been an aid worker for two years: the error, Scroggins says angrily, was ‘another example of the West’s inexcusable narcissism: the lazy refusal to see beyond our salvation fantasies’.

Scroggins has written a wonderful book, driven at bottom by her own passionate disappointment; she speaks at one point of ‘people like me, people who went there dreaming they might help, and came back numb with disillusionment’. Emma’s War is a gripping history of the Sudan, which doesn’t shirk the country’s complexities and which integrates into its cruel history the saga of Western efforts to help and interfere.

But she leaves us with an unresolved dilemma. Are we supposed to watch people go hungry? Give up hope for the starving? How can we not empathise? We are part of their world. Their violent deaths and starvation are barely imaginable to us, but we are partly responsible. The consequences of our interventions are still unspooling. We are linked to the peoples of the Sudan whether we like it or not, and we have to pray that their tribal violence does not catch up with us.

UK lauds South Sudan leadership on reconciliation initiative
Historian and Identity Advocacy View:

People don’t believe any report without sources or name of the person who write it. All these are hypocracy view of individual based on lying.

This is one of the reasons why South Sudanese are not going to adopted to word press. Because biases and Lying from press is already took root in South Sudan nation before even it reaches two months after independence. The press needs to learn its identity first before it is being respected.

UK lauds South Sudan leadership on reconciliation initiative
The 2nd split between the Separatists and Unionists within SPLA/M in 1991

There have been many separatists within the SPLA/M since 1983 who believed that Garang’s “New Sudan,” vision must be challenged within until their strategy yielded signal towards Garang’s “New Sudan,” vision in 1991 due to what we call “Nasir move,” the very blessing day for Southern Sudanese, the Nasir declaration of August 28, 1991 which got birth to “self-determination for South Sudan” http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article27738 it divided the movement [SPLA/M] into two factions once again; the SPLA/M-Torit faction under the command of Mr. Marxist-Leninist Garang with his self-claimed “New Sudan/United Secular Sudan,” vision and the SPLM/A-Nasir faction under the leadership of Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon with his “self-determination for South Sudan.” http://www.africa.upenn.edu.Hornet/sd_machar.html

Dr. Riek was compelled to declare Nasir move, not only because Mr. Garang was running the movement like his own property which was acknowledged by Lt. Gen. Salva Kiir after it was already too late in 2004 when he find himself openly at odds with his superior, but due to lack of clear directions, objectives, principles and human rights for/in the movement. Therefore, if the Naath/Nuer as a community has been hungry for leadership as Jaang/Dinka always shamelessly claims it, why would Lt. Col Samuel Gai Tut select Mr. Akuot Atem who is a Dinka by tribe to be the leader of the movement in 1983 if not only the selection was rejected by Mr. Marxist-Leninist Garang? Why would CDR. William Nyuon Bany aim his Pistol at Lt. Col. Samuel Gai Tut, CDR. Copra Abdalla William Chuol Deng and their supporters just to secure another Dinkaman, Mr. Garang’s leadership?

In the Garangist mental scheme, all the “anti-New Sudan,” who still believes in Anya-Nya II vision of secession must be eliminated. As far as Garang knew, the SPLA forces under his commands had every reason to believe that they had upper hand and that they could make it all the way to Nasir. Garang thought that the SPLM/A-Nasir faction under the command of Dr. Riek was very weak, demoralized and incapable of defending its Headquarters, Nasir let alone taking offensive operations. Shortly after Nasir Declaration of August 28, 1991 was announced, Garang declared, “the Gang of two Drs,” as he prefers to call them [Dr. Riek & Dr. Lam] “must be given their last blow.” He went further, “we will break them down soon, and it is a matter of time before we bring the separatists to the vision of no-return.” After Garang’s statements were intercepted by SPLM/A-Nasir faction, Lt. Gen. Tiger Bol Koang declared that “the very existence of the SPLM/A-Nasir faction is in danger,” and demanded that “all soldiers stand firm and fight to last drop of blood.”

Not surprisingly, the SPLA/M-Torit faction forces under the command of CDR. Rhino William Nyuony Bany launched and assault which almost routed instantly against the Anya-Nya II position along with few soldiers who appeared to be from SPLA-Nasir faction forces, burned down villages from Nuer Genesis homeland Bentiu [Liech/Unity State] including Leer, Dr. Riek Machar’s hometown. What CDR. William Nyuon and his forces didn’t realize at first was that in the second half of September, Lt. Gen. Lion Paulino Matip already redeploying many of his troops [Anya-Nya II] to prepare for “Operation Typhoon.” Instead of accepting their fate, the Anya-Nya II fought back with a ferocity that stunned the ill-prepared Torit faction. Most of Torit faction soldiers were ground-up by the Anya-Nya II forces. The Anya-Nya II forces under the command of Lt. Gen. Lion Paulino Matip did not only inflicted heavy losses on Torit faction, but pushed back CDR. William’s forces and penetrated deep inside BEG. This campaign against CDR. William’s forces forced them to retreat from the area just when Lt. Gen. Paulino Matip sent in more reinforcements.

But the SPLA-Torit faction forces under the command of Lt. Gen. Kuol Manyang Juuk and Lt. Gen. Salva Kiir who were deployed from the direction of Kongoor and Pochalla respectively to wipe out Dr. Riek’s force as ordered and predicted by Garang, failed miserably from their suicide attempts, instead encircled and pursued like hunting dogs chase rabbits or deer by Dr. Riek’s forces under the command of Lt. Gen. Tiger Bol Koang and CDR. Tiger Koang Banypiny. As a result, Duk Padiet, Panyagor, Kongoor, Twic East, Mading Bor and all the surrounding garrisons and towns plus some part of BEG were burned down to ashes when the “Operation Typhoon,” was launched as two Heroes [Bol Koang & Koang Banypiny] call it. Garang underestimated the SPLM/A-Nasir faction military strength, but his commanders on the ground knew they were often paying a heavier price for them than expected in terms of casualties-and that, in many areas, the Torit faction advance wasn’t moving as swiftly as they had hoped. Garang’s commanders were preoccupied with the more immediate goal: ensuring that their troops would maintain their progress as they prepared to strike Nasir faction from all directions.

Dr. Riek ordered his troops to withdraw after reaching Jumeza in greater Equatoria. The SPLA forces under Torit faction suffered tremendous losses and their mission failed miserably to bring “the Gang of two Drs alive or dead and trash the self-determination for South Sudan into garbage bin for good,” as Garang declared earlier before the war widespread like a wildfire beyond his imagination rather than vice-versa. A staggering pace that reflected the disarray of Garang’s subordinates encountered in most of the areas under attack. Torit, Kapoeta, Yei … were on the verge of cowardice and panic mongering evacuation until the common enemy overran almost all the liberated areas without any résistance from Garang’s SPLA/M-Torit faction. Can the unionists stand their ground alone without the separatists’ support?

Many areas including major towns: Torit, Kapoeta, Mading Bor … were recaptured and/or surrendered to the common enemy as a result of split. The remaining few garrisons and towns under the control of Torit faction were on the verge of panic of evacuation either to Uganda or Kenya refugees camps as well. Garang was blinded by his burning conviction that Torit faction had to defeat and subjugates the Nasir faction, a movement that he contemptuously dismissed as “a Gang of two Drs.” Garang himself suffered a near psychological collapse as his faction looked as though it might implode. Garang’s forces should have been crushed/break down and/or chased up to Kenya/Uganda-Sudan borders if Dr. Riek was for military option rather than reconciliation through peaceful dialogues instead. Garang’s “New Sudan,” vision did not accomplish anything, but setbacks, chaos, death, subjugation by terror and epic conflicts. It was Garang’s ambition in war that compelled Nasir faction to take immediate retaliatory-military countermeasures. The burning questions are: What prompted Garang to be the first to ignite the fire which he could not extinguish? Did Garang’s SPLA/M have the political will and muscles to confront both the main enemy (NIF/NCP) and the separatists at the same time?

There is no connection between the Nuer vs. Dinka and Separatists’ vs. Unionists. Of course, the armed civilians from subject tribes intervened during confrontations between the unionists and separatists in those dark days, and their intervention should not justify that the war was between the two big tribes rather than reasons suitable to their own interests. There have been ups and downs between these two big rival tribes since 1800s and it still functioning as we speak; Duk Padiet which was burned down to ash twice by Mighty Nuer Warriors/Jech-in-Bor at the presence of GoSS and its army (SSAF), proved beyond the reasonable doubt that Nuer vs. Dinka still exists.

The Nuer ethnic group has never been thirsty for leadership/ power as some folks may believe especially the Dinka, as a matter of fact the movement [SPLA/M] from its first two years, it was mainly dominated by Nuer ethnic group. The first two battalions [104 & 105] or Jamus & Tumsah almost all the troops were from Nuer tribe and if in doubts, don’t hesitate to consult someone like Lt. Gen. Salva Kiir, Lt. Gen. James Gathoth Mai, Lt. Gen. Oyiey Deng Ajack, Mr. Governor, Taban Deng Gai, S.G. Pagan Amum and Mrs. Nyandeng Mabior, but just for your information.

Many Anya-Nya II elements that deserted conditionally joined the SPLA/M within 1983. CDR. Rhino William Nyuon Bany who is believed to be the one to bring Garang to power is a Nuer by tribe. Lt. Col. Samuel Gai Tut and his group wanted another Dinkaman, Mr. Kuot Atem to be the leader of the movement, but Garang and his group did not only rejected the offer, instead wanted Garang to lead the movement after the Dergue regime of Mr. Mengistu Hailemariam secured the “ New Sudan,” vision for them. The blessing day for Southern Sudanese, the August 28, 1991 of Nasir Declaration was not a mean to hijack the leadership from Dinka as many people may assume, but a strategic move to force Garang and his supporters to make a U-turn from “United Socialist Secular/New Sudan,” vision to self-determination for the people of Southern Sudan. Therefore, base on all the above mentioned factors, it demonstrated that, the Nuer as a community has never been hungry for leadership/power and this must refute Dinkas’ claims.

And of course, as a result of Nasir move, Garang divorced and abandoned the alliance, called SPLA/M 1st National Convent at Chukudum in 1994 and the self-determination for South Sudan was the first agenda in that Convention. The movement changed from its former name SPLA/M as it was well-known back then to SPLM/A. Garang put self-determination for South Sudan to be the first agenda/priority whenever there is a peace talks with Khartoum government and Garang himself eventually signed for it, the self-determination for people of Southern Sudan in CPA. Garang gave up his “New Sudan,” vision, a vision he always refers as a “vision of no-return.” This raised too many unsettling questions from his allies especially the inner circle of NDA, Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile who were oblivious and betrayed at the same time by his self-observed “New Sudan,” vision until they realized that Garang shamelessly made a U-turn which left them in illusion.

The right of self-determination has been eloquently championed and articulated nationally and internationally by the Anya Nya II movement since 1975 until SPLM/A-Nasir faction joined those Separatists thereafter the Nasir Declaration on August 28, 1991 was declared. It has a democratic and an inalienable right to all people as well as conflict resolutions. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) an umbrella of the traditional Northern political parties, the Marxist-Leninist SPLA/M and the National Islamic Fundamentalist (NIF/NCP) regime in Khartoum were all asthmatic to concept of the right of self-determination. Thus, no matter what the so called traditional parties do, they do not have the trust and confident of the South for their deception and unilateral abrogation and dishonored of many agreements. The SPLA/M alliance with NDA was a repeat of the past, which SPLA/M should have not fail to understand its future implications for the South once the so called NDA gets the grip of the wheels of power in Khartoum.

Then, why remain separated if the former Marxist-Leninist SPLA/M led by Garang relinquished its “New Sudan,” vision after it was forced by Nasir move to adopt the only sole objective of the movement, the self-determination for South Sudan? Leadership has never been a big concern from separatists’ political point of view since 1975 as some people shamelessly may believe, but directions, objectives, principles and human rights for/in the movement. The SPLA/M division between the separatists and unionists should not justify the merits to classify the SPLM/A and/or GoSS as a Dinka movement/gov’t just simply because the two leaders, Col. Dr. Garang and Lt. Gen. Salva Kiir hail from that ethnic group. If this is the case, as some folks claim it, Lt. Col. Samuel Gai Tut, Col. Dr. Garang plus many others should have not joined the Anya-Nya I [SSLM/A] under the leadership of Joseph Lagu, but viewed it as Madi’s movement.

Kim Deng is a military Historian, SSAF officer from Headquarters, Bilpam and he can be reached at kdeng75@yahoo.

UK lauds South Sudan leadership on reconciliation initiative
Similar atrocities were also committed against other ethnic groups in the South such as the Toposa, Murle, etc. by Dr. Garang’s forces in the 1990s. All are documented!

The claim by the Dinka Bor community intellectuals that the 1991 SPLM/A split resulted in the massacre of Bor by the then Nasir faction leadership was and still a propaganda campaign against personalities like Dr. Riek Machar. Of course, there was a fight over Bor town which actually resulted in the lost of, maybe, thousands of lives. This cannot be disputed! But who can the Bor personally hold responsible? The fight over the control of Bor town to my best knowledge was not ordered by the leader of the then SPLM/A-Nasir faction, Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon. These were some of Dr. Machar’s military officers who felt very angry after hearing the news that Garang’s forces were killing in cold blood Nuer officers who were on Garang’s side in Equatoria region. Dr. Garang’s forces, particularly from the Dinka ethnic group decided to kill in cold blood every Nuer officer on their side in Torit town simply because a Nuer leader has challenged Garang’s leadership in Nasir town.

These angry Nuer military officers from the SPLM/A Nasir faction mobilized some of the Nuer armed civilians who are neighbours to Dinka Bor and attacked Bor town. They had fierce battle with Garang’s forces stationed in the town. After several hours of fighting they overran the town, which resulted in lost of hundreds or thousands of lives and massive displacement of Dinka Bor population up to Equatoria region. I personally feel sad about the incident. But the Dinka Bor community members should not use it as a propaganda campaign against Dr. Riek Machar for reasons best known to them. This is a pointed finger at the wrong person. They should learn the truth about the incident, what provoked it and who organized the attacks.

The same was true with the attack on Malakal town in 1993 by the armed Nuer civilians organized by the late Wurnyang Garkek. Late Wurnyang claimed to have been possessed by God’s spirits and that the spirits directed him to help liberate the South. He successfully organized a force that was popularly known as the ‘White Army’ from the Nuer civil population and ordered them to capture the capital of Upper Nile region, Malakal. They attacked the town and captured about seventy-five percent (75%) of the town. The Sudan government forces held certain positions in the outskirts of the town. Because Wurnyang’s armed civilians were not trained soldiers and had no supplies of ammunitions, when they realized that they were running out of ammunitions, they started shouting in the town calling on their individual colleagues to supply them with some bullets if they had plenty. The government soldiers came to realize that these were just armed civilians and that they had run out of ammunitions. The government forces gave them a final full thrust and chased them out of the town. The town again fell under the full control of the government’s forces. The government forces first thought it was Dr. Riek Machar’s forces attacking the town, but this turned out to be somebody else organizing and ordering the attack on Malakal town.

To me, as a person who has been in the SPLM/A since its inception in 1983, I see the 28th August 1991, split as one of the most blessings the people of Southern Sudan have received from their creator. Of course, the split resulted into setbacks when it came to military activities against the Khartoum government, but has revolutionized the SPLM system and set a clear objective for the satisfaction and achievement of the aspirations of the people of Southern Sudan.

The 28th August 1991 Nasir Declaration, which was code-named ‘The Creeping Revolution’ under the then leadership of Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon, called for Self-determination for the people of Southern Sudan to determine their political destiny. This is to be determined in a referendum on vote for separation or unity and to be supervised internationally in Southern Sudan. This patriotic call by the people of Southern Sudan was resisted by late Dr. Garang until the year 2002. Garang was instead calling for a United New Socialist Sudan in the 1980s (a vision he copied from Ethiopian President Mengistu Haile Mariam’s New Socialist Ethiopia). After Mengistu was overthrown, he then changed the vision in 1990s to a United Secular Sudan (or New Sudan as he called it). The viability of this big dream or vision was in question as many people saw and still see it as just a beautiful dream but unrealistic in its achievement and was meant to confuse the cause of the people of Southern Sudan given the complexity of the problems in the Sudan and their deep rooted origins. Subsequent American administrations in Washington DC dream of a ‘New World Order’ which they now find unrealistic to achieve for the whole world. Every body can dream beautifully, but making the dream come true is the question. We need to be realistic in our visions!

The 28th August 1991 Declaration also called for democratization of the Movement by putting its structures in place, particularly the arm of the SPLM which was treated subordinate and incorporated into the arm of the SPLA by Garang’s leadership. This explains why in the old days of the Movement, Dr. Garang put the SPLA first by calling the Movement the ‘SPLA/SPLM’ instead of the ‘SPLM/SPLA’. This was corrected after the 1991 historic move for better change. The Movement was also lacking its legal institutions. Garang was every thing! After being challenged reasonably by the Nasir faction leadership on these issues, he reacted by organizing and calling for the First SPLM National Convention in Chukudum in 1995. Before the Convention, and in the months leading to the time the Convention was called for, Garang felt much pressure on his leadership from within his faction and began to understand the need to establish structures for the Movement. There were voices who called for change on how the Movement was being run by one man.

For fear that many more intellectuals and military Commanders would continue to defect to Dr. Riek Machar’s faction, Dr. Garang found himself toothless and could not resort to his old ways of either murdering his political and military opponents from within in cold blood or silencing them in prisons without trial. His leadership survival at that time after the split significantly depended on how Dr. Machar would handle his coup against him. If Dr. Machar were to choose to overthrow Garang militarily as the last resort by attacking his positions in Equatoria region, Garang’s leadership would have come to pass in those years. Machar instead chose to engage Garang in dialogue to resolve the issues that caused the split and would only fight in self-defense if Garang attacked his positions. This helped Garang to re-organize his forces that were in the state of panic. Luckily and by chance, Garang used Machar’s peace talks with the Khartoum government to accuse him of collaborating with Khartoum. This also helped him to regain support from those in the region and Western world who wanted the war to continue in Southern Sudan. Dr. Machar’s position not to escalate fighting by removing Garang using military might in Equatoria region, where he shifted his bases and fighting force, resulted in sharp disagreements with his colleagues which also resulted in further splits within the Nasir faction. Can you see this dilemma which was not completely taken note of by Garang’s faction?

The 28th August 1991 popular Declaration prompted its leadership to strategize on how the liberation struggle could be achieved. The leadership chose the path of peace as the way forward. They engaged themselves in a series of peace talks with the present government in Khartoum in Abuja One and Abuja Two and subsequently signed the Khartoum Peace Agreement in 1997. Dr. Riek Machar incorporated other factions which also defected from late Dr. Garang’s faction and became their overall leader. These factions included the Bahr El-Ghazal Group (BGG), led by late Kerubino Kwanyin Bol, the Bor Group (BG), led by late Arok Thon Arok, the Equatoria Defense Forces (EDF), led by Dr. Theophillus Ochang Lotti, and some other groups. Dr. Machar signed the famous Khartoum Peace Agreement (KPA) on behalf of all the factions that joined his Movement, the South Sudan Independence Movement (SSIM) with its military wing, the South Sudan Defense Forces (SSDF). For the first time in the history of the Sudan, the Khartoum government conceded the right of self-determination for the people of Southern Sudan in the Agreement. This was also enshrined in the National Constitution of the Sudan in 1998, which clearly articulated that this right would be exercised in an internationally supervised referendum after four years from 1997. The referendum was to be exercised in Southern Sudan in the year 2001 about seven years ago.

Dr. Garang at the time vowed that he would not sign any agreement with the Khartoum government under President Omer Hassen El – Beshir. He used to say that the Khartoum government was too deformed to be reformed and that he wanted it removed by military force. He called the Khartoum Peace Agreement a sell out despite the inclusion of the clause ‘self-determination’ in it plus many more achievements including Southern Sudan retaining a separate army. The significant thing I personally feel was missing in the Khartoum Peace Agreement was the involvement of the international community, which distanced itself from the Khartoum Peace Agreement on a number of interests that I don’t want to write about here. The Khartoum Peace Agreement, like any other agreements signed in Sudan, was violated by the Khartoum government in the year 2000. Dr. Machar, after championing self-determination in the Agreement, decided to resort to other strategies back in the bush to bring late Dr. John Garang to the developing peace process and indirectly revive the Khartoum Peace Agreement in a comprehensive form based on self-determination!

On 6th January 2002, the two factions of Dr. Machar and Dr. Garang merged in Nairobi. This time with bold declaration that the two groups agreed to resolve the issues that led to the split within the SPLM/A on 28th August 1991.. The right of self-determination for the people of Southern Sudan as called for in the Nasir Declaration was officially accepted and became the official objective of the Movement to determine the future political status of the people of Southern Sudan. Democratization of the Movement and respect for human rights were re-affirmed because Garang had already adopted these principles after the 1991 split and before the merger in 2002. But the Merger Agreement recognized that more work needed to be done on these principles. The Nairobi Merger Agreement also called for a Second SPLM National Convention to be held within three months to elect the leadership of the ‘new’ SPLM. Dr. Garang delayed the convening of the Convention indefinitely for fear of being defeated in the election by Dr. Machar or any other candidate. The Merger Agreement also called for serious revival and resumption of peace talks with the Khartoum government.

As a result of the Merger Agreement between the two leaders with renewed spirit and quest for peace, just after six months from the merger, the first protocol of the CPA on self-determination for the people of Southern Sudan was signed in Machakos, Kenya in July 2002. Commander Salva Kiir Mayardit, the then Deputy Chairman for Military Affairs signed the Protocol on behalf of the SPLM/A. The road to peace became irreversible!

On 9th January 2005, the SPLM/A and the National Congress Party-led government signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). Dr. Garang signed on behalf of the Movement while the then First Vice President of the Sudan, Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, signed on behalf of the Sudan government. If you read the CPA in comparison with the Khartoum Peace Agreement, you would be convinced that the CPA is not more than a revised text of the Khartoum Peace Agreement with the exception of the international support and the United Nations Peace Keeping Forces in the South. However, the effectiveness or not of the international support and the UN Peacekeeping forces in Southern Sudan is another thing one may evaluate.

The clear message I want to send to those who might have been blinded by tribal sentiments and cheap propaganda against leaders who have greatly contributed or actually revolutionized our way forward as the people of Southern Sudan is that they should get realistic and honour these great leaders like Dr. Machar with utmost respect.. 28th August 1991 Declaration should not be used for negative propaganda, but instead be remembered as a blessed birth day on which a clear path for the liberation and freedom of the people of Southern Sudan was set. The road to our freedom is still long and painful! We need to get united as one people with one objective that will lead us to our desired destiny. Propagating on the so-called Dinka Bor massacres with fabricated negative stories attributed to innocent and great leaders like Dr. Riek Machar will not help the cause the Dinka Bor want to achieve in Southern Sudan or in a united Sudan.

The author is based in southern Sudan.

UK lauds South Sudan leadership on reconciliation initiative
When it comes to these leaders earliest splits in their respective leadership ranking positions of the SPLM/A, in my observation, I believe that the disagreements during the movement that did result into their separations from each other, was due to the following two reasons:

(a) One reason was related to fulfilling of the Nguendeng’s predictions (Prophecies) about Sudan’s civil war’s leadership body unrests in 19th century; particularly, when it comes to these top five of the SPLM/A earliest leaders. The issues they had faced at that particular days of the movement, everything was already been predicted through the Prophecy of the Nguendeng or being pre-told by him, including the other unrest times between the Dinka or Jieng and Nuer or Naath tribes over the long stretch days of the struggles for freedom. In which actually did happen throughout most of these respected tribes’ lands or regions. However, the most remembering incident between the two tribes; it is what happened in Jonglei State (formerly known as the Upper Nile region of Sudan) in November 15, 1991. The incidents being described nowadays “the Southeastern Dinka (Jieng) massacre” Or if I may describe it as “the Jieng (Dinka) Twic/Tuic East massacre” according to my analysis view based on the most affected groups among the Dinka communities that were hard hit the most within the region at the times of the interventions by the “SPLA Nasir section” led by Dr. Riek Machar and Dr. Lam Akol, and their collaborators or associates.
(b) Second reason, was due to their uniqueness in characters of intellectuality that I think were the clashes behind their divorces though in SPLM/A; it did allow them to separate from one another during the movement years. Because among these people (Dinka Twic East & Dinka Twic West tribes), it shows that an intelligence always clashes among themselves, because they often read each other very well. Somehow, a person maybe able to read your character easily and interprets whatever you try to do or say in any way or another. Sometimes their intelligence does the backlash though among themselves, based on their simple rule of everything often has to be proved (debate in a democracy way) first by the people before that particular thing being done or an action is being taken. In addition too, the Jieng Tuic East people are naturally democratic systematic people through whatever they do; in their lifestyles, they have the ability to debate issues before anyone among them proceeding to the really actions (thing). However, sometimes their intelligence does advantages the person among them who have decided to migrate to other tribes, places, groups as that person every time goes and becomes a shining star in leadership, wherever he had gone to.
Anyway, here are some of the Dinka branches (tribes) in which I think people should have to know about them due to their closet characteristics to Dinka Twic East in whole Dinka (Jieng). These branches of Dinka are having unique or related characteristics and languages as well: Dinka Twic East itself, Dinka Twic West, Dinka Padeng /Padang (Paweny, Dongjol, Luach, Thoi, Rut, Lual Yak, Ageer, Nyiel, etc.), Dinka Abiliang and Dinka Ruweng (Abyei & Pariang) and Dinka Rek. Anyway, to anybody who seems to have doubts about this identity please gets more information from South Sudanese well-known, intellectual, scholar and Historian persona like Dr. Francis Mading Deng and our elders back home too.
As it maybe a repetition of their blessing characteristics, this sub-tribe (Dinka Twic East) of Dinka is having powerful characters that are so compelling compared to other tribes. And here are some of those characters why God (Nhialic) has been choosing the leaders for South Sudan’s freedom, independence struggles and liberation within this tribe: (a) Intelligence, leadership, hospitality, calm, tolerant, plus they don’t like greedy, they always don’t believe in violent solution as an individual or group last resort for any kinds of confrontations or insults, that is why sometimes they are misperceived by other tribes like they are the cowardice people. However, those groups of people don’t know one thing about this tribe of the Jieng Tuïc East, in reality; they are not actually coward people. The reason why they are always being perceived as they are like the cowardice people, is often due to some of their characteristics below: tolerant behaviors, hospitality, calm behaviors, mercy or kind behaviors, intelligence, natural leadership traits that often allow them to be tolerant attitude (conduct) people, plus nearly everyone of them is not occassionally talkative people, pride for whatever an individual or relative own in an integrity and honest way, dignity or Dhueng (Dhu???/Adhu???), they are not people who believe in bloodshed based on vain or misleading reasons and causes, they have an instinct or nature of democracy system behaviors, also they love diplomatic manners than violent behaviors, being a selfish and greedy person among them is every time recognized as out of their norms and their natural characteristics, they are quiet people, non-violent behavior people, cares, etc.
When they decided to fight, in many cases they can fight if the reason to do so is_ grantings them justice when diplomatic time takes over the conflict or fight, otherwise; there would be no back down if the reason individual (persons) is fighting has a legitimate cause to spill a human blood or right reason to do so.
However, people should not take me wrong anyway; because some of their characters had been deteriorated in recent decades through their late intermarriages with other cultures or tribes that had begun during the twentieth-centuries, and that trend now is still continuing nowadays as a consequence of their long civil war of Sudan acquainted with revolution. For that reason, most of young people within this tribe of Dinka Twic East are now starting to marriages from other tribes or cultures. So it has had brought in some characteristics that are not really related to their original genes’ norms, values, beliefs, principles, integrity, attitudes (conducts), dignity, traits, etc. And I think that intermarriage is not going to stop soon, it will continue that way as long as evolutions growing in, in every second and minute around the globe and over their own land as well. I am just to let you aware that, this tribe of Jieng Tuic East has already brought in some of the outside characteristics that wouldn’t show their original true tribe identity as upon today era (s).
Because they live in a landlocked area, it allows it to be one of the reasons why this sub-tribe of the Dinka (Jieng) namely Dinka Twic East has never been well known that much within some of the other tribes in South Sudan (former whole Sudan). Particularly, regarding the issue of their misidentification that was just occurred immediately after the British Empire gave up the power of self-governing to Sudanese in the form of independence in 1956, but beyond that or before the 1956; the Jieng (Dinka) Tuic (Twic) East was a well known to other tribes of the Dinka (Jieng) and Nuer tribe as an independent sub-tribe of the Dinka (Jieng). Even now the majority of other tribes back home know that the Dinka Twic East is an independent branch of the Dinka (Jieng), unlike Diaspora’s people. Being a landlocked tribe, it did help back then though when it comes to their tribe’s culture protections.
But who cause this mess of their identity? Well, the mess of their identity was caused by the regional leaders, scholars, professionals, intellects, and so forth; singly, by those who were not restrained by their deadly hearts of dishonest basis on nepotism (brotherhood & sisterhood), tribalism, biases, corruptions, etc. Furthermore, to make this issue even more complicated; these people lives were heavily adapted to cattle keeping, agriculture, hunting, fishing, and other lifestyles that didn’t allow them to be known by some of the Un-Dinka (Jieng) tribes in South Sudan. Because back then, to let your tribe to be known it must have had to have educated people or leaders who had abilities to records or documents their own tribe identities, and they wouldn’t care of others.
In addition, to me look it through different perspectives or contemplations, it was a good thing though to people of the Jieng (Dinka) Tuic East in some points, how? Especially, during those years of the civil war in Sudan. It did reduce much of hatreds that would have been portrayed toward this tribe, most of the hatreds that were caused by the civil war unrest in Sudan. Plus their constituency being heavily involved in freedom fighting, for example, Dr. Garang de Mabior being the chairman of the Sudan People Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) and deeply supports from his own tribe of the Dinka Twic East tribe men and women.
Nevertheless, right now I am thinking people should know why God (Nhialic) had been able to choose a freedom leader (s) from this tribe root. Equally important, this is one of the tribes of the Dinka or Jieng hadn’t been affected that much by the outsiders, until the late days of the 1950s and civil war days or years. Let’s put it this way, especially after the British Empire allows Sudanese to self-governing.
I believe this tribe could be one of the most tolerant and calm behavior people (Jieng Tuic East) among most of the Dink tribes in South Sudan. They love to engage you whenever you may be thinking that you are the smartest person than them. In addition, being the first offender (cause of insults) person as usual is not their own fan characters, sometimes they look like they are the dumpiest people you ever met, but their intellectual characters allow them seems to be like that. Moreover, it is due to their intelligence, even sometimes an individual may have the ability to know what you are trying to do before you can even know it. And of course, they are not that kind of people with much of the character like egos and/or outgoing people. They are calm and at the same time steady in their lifestyles. They are smart when it comes to a situation handling through the diplomatic manner. As this motto will shows it to you, diplomatic solution is more important to them than fighting solution. According to these people believe, being defeated through a diplomatic way is worse than being defeated through fighting causes under the wrong reason. In addition too, they love to live with people in peace and harmony without being a trouble maker; it is one of their most important characteristics why every time the majority of people always love to stay with one of their pure blooded sons or daughters rooted in Dinka or Jieng Twic/Tuic East tribe. Because the Dinka Twic East people are good people you ever want to miss out when it comes to making a good friendship with one of them, again who has a pure character from their actually tribe’s backgrounds and genes. You have to admire living together with one of these people. Furthermore, I think you may have to know this. They always don’t react violently, but when they do, please watch out carefully about the situation in which an individual or person has gone into an extremely violent behavior. You have to watch out critically about the accusation or any situation that facing one of their really characteristic person, because that accusation or situation against one of them could be 100% wrong.
The Dinka Twic East tribe could be one of the tribes among Jieng tribes with an identifiable or significantly confusing problem with alphabetical letters like “L & N”, especially when it comes to pronunciations. By the way, if you are Christian, and you still remembering this quote from the Bible “the people with strange language (tongue)” if I am so quite correct about the quote, well, this tribe and other closest branches in Dinka could be one of those sections of the Jieng tribes where you can get the strangest tongue (Speech). Moreover, Dinka Twic East tribe also could be one of the few Ethnic Groups in East Africa that has a problem with some of the English language’s letters, in which of course they had adapted into their own languages alphabetical letters. The other tribe in East Africa that I know so well at this juncture, who besides has a problem with some letters through pronunciations in East Africa, is the tribe of Agikuyu (Kikuyu) in Kenya. However, the Agikuyu problem is a little differing though in regard to letters with that problem of the Dinka Twic East of the Jonglei State, South Sudan. Without doubts in my mind, I believe both tribes are having the same natural adherences or uniqueness of their languages in any way or another. As in Agikuyu case, they have a pronunciation problem with the alphabetical letters like “L & R”. So both tribes are still having the same problem in pronunciations; although there seems to be differences in two letters. Still though, the Jieng Tuic East maybe among tribes that has an origin of the word, “Pan”, which means in their language as “Baai or pandu/panda (Home or Your home/our home)”. Sometimes they just shortened it as “Pa”. This word is mostly common in their language when it comes to places or village’s naming. It resembles the most commons word “Pan”, which is always being used by the World or Continentals’ Organizations like Pan-America, Pan-

UK lauds South Sudan leadership on reconciliation initiative
When it comes to these leaders earliest splits in their respective leadership ranking positions of the SPLM/A, in my observation, I believe that the disagreements during the movement that did result into their separations from each other, was due to the following two reasons:

(a) One reason was related to fulfilling of the Nguendeng’s predictions (Prophecies) about Sudan’s civil war’s leadership body unrests in 19th century; particularly, when it comes to these top five of the SPLM/A earliest leaders. The issues they had faced at that particular days of the movement, everything was already been predicted through the Prophecy of the Nguendeng or being pre-told by him, including the other unrest times between the Dinka or Jieng and Nuer or Naath tribes over the long stretch days of the struggles for freedom. In which actually did happen throughout most of these respected tribes’ lands or regions. However, the most remembering incident between the two tribes; it is what happened in Jonglei State (formerly known as the Upper Nile region of Sudan) in November 15, 1991. The incidents being described nowadays “the Southeastern Dinka (Jieng) massacre” Or if I may describe it as “the Jieng (Dinka) Twic/Tuic East massacre” according to my analysis view based on the most affected groups among the Dinka communities that were hard hit the most within the region at the times of the interventions by the “SPLA Nasir section” led by Dr. Riek Machar and Dr. Lam Akol, and their collaborators or associates.
(b) Second reason, was due to their uniqueness in characters of intellectuality that I think were the clashes behind their divorces though in SPLM/A; it did allow them to separate from one another during the movement years. Because among these people (Dinka Twic East & Dinka Twic West tribes), it shows that an intelligence always clashes among themselves, because they often read each other very well. Somehow, a person maybe able to read your character easily and interprets whatever you try to do or say in any way or another. Sometimes their intelligence does the backlash though among themselves, based on their simple rule of everything often has to be proved (debate in a democracy way) first by the people before that particular thing being done or an action is being taken. In addition too, the Jieng Tuic East people are naturally democratic systematic people through whatever they do; in their lifestyles, they have the ability to debate issues before anyone among them proceeding to the really actions (thing). However, sometimes their intelligence does advantages the person among them who have decided to migrate to other tribes, places, groups as that person every time goes and becomes a shining star in leadership, wherever he had gone to.
Anyway, here are some of the Dinka branches (tribes) in which I think people should have to know about them due to their closet characteristics to Dinka Twic East in whole Dinka (Jieng). These branches of Dinka are having unique or related characteristics and languages as well: Dinka Twic East itself, Dinka Twic West, Dinka Padeng /Padang (Paweny, Dongjol, Luach, Thoi, Rut, Lual Yak, Ageer, Nyiel, etc.), Dinka Abiliang and Dinka Ruweng (Abyei & Pariang) and Dinka Rek. Anyway, to anybody who seems to have doubts about this identity please gets more information from South Sudanese well-known, intellectual, scholar and Historian persona like Dr. Francis Mading Deng and our elders back home too.
As it maybe a repetition of their blessing characteristics, this sub-tribe (Dinka Twic East) of Dinka is having powerful characters that are so compelling compared to other tribes. And here are some of those characters why God (Nhialic) has been choosing the leaders for South Sudan’s freedom, independence struggles and liberation within this tribe: (a) Intelligence, leadership, hospitality, calm, tolerant, plus they don’t like greedy, they always don’t believe in violent solution as an individual or group last resort for any kinds of confrontations or insults, that is why sometimes they are misperceived by other tribes like they are the cowardice people. However, those groups of people don’t know one thing about this tribe of the Jieng Tuïc East, in reality; they are not actually coward people. The reason why they are always being perceived as they are like the cowardice people, is often due to some of their characteristics below: tolerant behaviors, hospitality, calm behaviors, mercy or kind behaviors, intelligence, natural leadership traits that often allow them to be tolerant attitude (conduct) people, plus nearly everyone of them is not occassionally talkative people, pride for whatever an individual or relative own in an integrity and honest way, dignity or Dhueng (Dhu???/Adhu???), they are not people who believe in bloodshed based on vain or misleading reasons and causes, they have an instinct or nature of democracy system behaviors, also they love diplomatic manners than violent behaviors, being a selfish and greedy person among them is every time recognized as out of their norms and their natural characteristics, they are quiet people, non-violent behavior people, cares, etc.
When they decided to fight, in many cases they can fight if the reason to do so is_ grantings them justice when diplomatic time takes over the conflict or fight, otherwise; there would be no back down if the reason individual (persons) is fighting has a legitimate cause to spill a human blood or right reason to do so.
However, people should not take me wrong anyway; because some of their characters had been deteriorated in recent decades through their late intermarriages with other cultures or tribes that had begun during the twentieth-centuries, and that trend now is still continuing nowadays as a consequence of their long civil war of Sudan acquainted with revolution. For that reason, most of young people within this tribe of Dinka Twic East are now starting to marriages from other tribes or cultures. So it has had brought in some characteristics that are not really related to their original genes’ norms, values, beliefs, principles, integrity, attitudes (conducts), dignity, traits, etc. And I think that intermarriage is not going to stop soon, it will continue that way as long as evolutions growing in, in every second and minute around the globe and over their own land as well. I am just to let you aware that, this tribe of Jieng Tuic East has already brought in some of the outside characteristics that wouldn’t show their original true tribe identity as upon today era (s).
Because they live in a landlocked area, it allows it to be one of the reasons why this sub-tribe of the Dinka (Jieng) namely Dinka Twic East has never been well known that much within some of the other tribes in South Sudan (former whole Sudan). Particularly, regarding the issue of their misidentification that was just occurred immediately after the British Empire gave up the power of self-governing to Sudanese in the form of independence in 1956, but beyond that or before the 1956; the Jieng (Dinka) Tuic (Twic) East was a well known to other tribes of the Dinka (Jieng) and Nuer tribe as an independent sub-tribe of the Dinka (Jieng). Even now the majority of other tribes back home know that the Dinka Twic East is an independent branch of the Dinka (Jieng), unlike Diaspora’s people. Being a landlocked tribe, it did help back then though when it comes to their tribe’s culture protections.
But who cause this mess of their identity? Well, the mess of their identity was caused by the regional leaders, scholars, professionals, intellects, and so forth; singly, by those who were not restrained by their deadly hearts of dishonest basis on nepotism (brotherhood & sisterhood), tribalism, biases, corruptions, etc. Furthermore, to make this issue even more complicated; these people lives were heavily adapted to cattle keeping, agriculture, hunting, fishing, and other lifestyles that didn’t allow them to be known by some of the Un-Dinka (Jieng) tribes in South Sudan. Because back then, to let your tribe to be known it must have had to have educated people or leaders who had abilities to records or documents their own tribe identities, and they wouldn’t care of others.
In addition, to me look it through different perspectives or contemplations, it was a good thing though to people of the Jieng (Dinka) Tuic East in some points, how? Especially, during those years of the civil war in Sudan. It did reduce much of hatreds that would have been portrayed toward this tribe, most of the hatreds that were caused by the civil war unrest in Sudan. Plus their constituency being heavily involved in freedom fighting, for example, Dr. Garang de Mabior being the chairman of the Sudan People Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) and deeply supports from his own tribe of the Dinka Twic East tribe men and women.
Nevertheless, right now I am thinking people should know why God (Nhialic) had been able to choose a freedom leader (s) from this tribe root. Equally important, this is one of the tribes of the Dinka or Jieng hadn’t been affected that much by the outsiders, until the late days of the 1950s and civil war days or years. Let’s put it this way, especially after the British Empire allows Sudanese to self-governing.
I believe this tribe could be one of the most tolerant and calm behavior people (Jieng Tuic East) among most of the Dink tribes in South Sudan. They love to engage you whenever you may be thinking that you are the smartest person than them. In addition, being the first offender (cause of insults) person as usual is not their own fan characters, sometimes they look like they are the dumpiest people you ever met, but their intellectual characters allow them seems to be like that. Moreover, it is due to their intelligence, even sometimes an individual may have the ability to know what you are trying to do before you can even know it. And of course, they are not that kind of people with much of the character like egos and/or outgoing people. They are calm and at the same time steady in their lifestyles. They are smart when it comes to a situation handling through the diplomatic manner. As this motto will shows it to you, diplomatic solution is more important to them than fighting solution. According to these people believe, being defeated through a diplomatic way is worse than being defeated through fighting causes under the wrong reason. In addition too, they love to live with people in peace and harmony without being a trouble maker; it is one of their most important characteristics why every time the majority of people always love to stay with one of their pure blooded sons or daughters rooted in Dinka or Jieng Twic/Tuic East tribe. Because the Dinka Twic East people are good people you ever want to miss out when it comes to making a good friendship with one of them, again who has a pure character from their actually tribe’s backgrounds and genes. You have to admire living together with one of these people. Furthermore, I think you may have to know this. They always don’t react violently, but when they do, please watch out carefully about the situation in which an individual or person has gone into an extremely violent behavior. You have to watch out critically about the accusation or any situation that facing one of their really characteristic person, because that accusation or situation against one of them could be 100% wrong.
The Dinka Twic East tribe could be one of the tribes among Jieng tribes with an identifiable or significantly confusing problem with alphabetical letters like “L & N”, especially when it comes to pronunciations. By the way, if you are Christian, and you still remembering this quote from the Bible “the people with strange language (tongue)” if I am so quite correct about the quote, well, this tribe and other closest branches in Dinka could be one of those sections of the Jieng tribes where you can get the strangest tongue (Speech). Moreover, Dinka Twic East tribe also could be one of the few Ethnic Groups in East Africa that has a problem with some of the English language’s letters, in which of course they had adapted into their own languages alphabetical letters. The other tribe in East Africa that I know so well at this juncture, who besides has a problem with some letters through pronunciations in East Africa, is the tribe of Agikuyu (Kikuyu) in Kenya. However, the Agikuyu problem is a little differing though in regard to letters with that problem of the Dinka Twic East of the Jonglei State, South Sudan. Without doubts in my mind, I believe both tribes are having the same natural adherences or uniqueness of their languages in any way or another. As in Agikuyu case, they have a pronunciation problem with the alphabetical letters like “L & R”. So both tribes are still having the same problem in pronunciations; although there seems to be differences in two letters. Still though, the Jieng Tuic East maybe among tribes that has an origin of the word, “Pan”, which means in their language as “Baai or pandu/panda (Home or Your home/our home)”. Sometimes they just shortened it as “Pa”. This word is mostly common in their language when it comes to places or village’s naming. It resembles the most commons word “Pan”, which is always being used by the World or Continentals’ Organizations like Pan-America, Pan-

UK lauds South Sudan leadership on reconciliation initiative
Scroggins’ book is an excellent overview of the tragedy of Sudan; and this article is an eloquent and comprehensive review of the said book; but Scroggins did not know Emma McCune. They had a passing encounter, literally while they were passing each other.
The book is tarnished by Scroggins’ frequent slights against Emma, as if Scroggins was jealous of Emma, not only of Emma’s beauty but also of her courage. Scroggins dipped her toe into the horror. Emma jumped in. Emma did not drive around in air conditioned U.N. 4-wheel Land Cruisers. She lived in the remote villages. Scroggins is right in commenting on the thrill many aid workers feel when located in a danger zone, but thrills are not enduring. It takes guts to be in there for the long haul, often the only European. Emma’s trips back to Kenya and Europe made it all the more tempting for her not to return to the Sud. But she went back again and again. It is true that Emma was controversial, single minded and difficult to dismiss, but this does not make her committment to her cause superficial. I suggest that Emma McCune will be remembered far longer than Deborah Scroggins. At least Emma has an international hip hop star and peace activist singing her cause. He is Emmanuel, a former child soldier she rescued. He is raising funds to build a primary school in her honour. To balance Scroggins’ overview I suggest an earlier book ‘Till the Sun Grows Cold’ by Emma’s mother Maggie McCune, in which the reader will gain a more human portrayal of the passionate young woman Emma McCune.

UK lauds South Sudan leadership on reconciliation initiative
Lind

History and Identity Advocacy View:

I think Riek Machar was facing two things:

(a) Mr. Riek Machar was rebellion against Sudan People Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM?A) based on Nguendeng’s prophecy about Dinka and Nuer unrests at the time of civil in Sudan.
(b) Second, in my humanly view side, I believe Dr. Riek was misled by higher leadership position interests and ignorant to some of the earilier SPLA leaders who were a head of him and he think they were not educated. Also he was tricky in by Professor of Chemical Engineering Mr. Lam Akol. Then Mr. Lam left in mess of that. Furthermore, was the vision to fight as separation regime.