National Congress ruling party mentality
By Watts Roba Gibia Nyirigwa
Sept 15, 2005 — The comprehensive peace agreement which was inked on January 9, 2005 has put an end to the 21-year old conflict between south and north which claimed more than 2.5 million lives and more than 4 millions displaced internally and in the neighboring countries. Now the two signatories SPLM/SPLA and NIF/NC are talking about making unity attractive to Southerners! But since when the NIF (salvation) came to power by coup in June 1989, there was no single project executed in the south, except massive destruction and massacre of the black African population, which south witnessed during the 16 year reign of salvation (inqaz) government.
Now after two decades of war, destruction and ruin in Southern Sudan which has no infrastructure, clean and running water, hospitals, schools and electricity is another fierce and brutal challenge to South Sudan and SPLM/A. And one was wondering as whether six years will be enough to build Southern Sudan and to make the unity attractive as it used to be stipulated by President El Bashir and to make Sudan home to all Sudanese!
The riots and slaughters which took place in Khartoum after the death of Dr. John Garang, and even which is still happening today on daily basis in Khartoum as an isolated cases, demonstrates clearly that the wound will take years and years to heal.
Why don’t we southerners practice our self-determination, self-expression, and freedom of living in harmony and dignity as other nations, and why are we deprived always from our rights in Sudan? When a southerner says that he stands for secession, he is separatist and if a northerner says, he is not. For how long would we southerners continue to bear this injustice and disparity? This is exactly what is happening now in the Sudan media about Salva Kiir, forgetting that Kiir was the very person who inked the first Machakos protocaol.
If we (Sudanese) really wanted to implement the CPA fully as it is without change, then there is no need at the present juncture to pointing fingers on someone that he is “separatist”. But as Sudanese regardless of gender, race, color and religion we have to work collectively to the implementation of the CPA in order to realize the vision of the New Sudan where everyone lives in peace and dignity. And let us keep the course and focus on providing security, peace of mind and start to do what we should have done since five decades ago to elevate and meet the desperate needs of the Sudanese people.
It is obvious to mention here that the current set back and delay in the formation of the government of the national unity, indicates clearly the mentality and the hidden agenda of the NC/NIF of depriving South Sudanese people from their rights. As one would wonder, why NC/NIF agreed to negotiate and to sign the CPA, and what has changed? Obviously nothing changed it is the same people and the same mentality of NIF who wanted the land only but not its people. There will be no mutual respect, unless if you value the other person as human being and consider his legitimate right of living on equal foot, and that is our problem with the Northerners. The dispute, mistrust and the big gap between the Southerners and Northerners will need time to vanish if the Northerners changed their mentality and show a real brotherhood which I very much doubt they will do. The NC/NIF do not have vision to the New Sudan, so how can they agree to share equitably and qualitatively the power with SPLM/A? The NC/NIF is sacred to implement the CPA as stipulated, because it sees no future for them under the New Sudan which allows the participation of all the Sudanese political parties to shape the New Sudan.
* Watts Roba Gibia Nyirigwa is a Sudanese residing in Cairo – Egypt.