Madam Rebecca De Mabior Briefing to the Sudanese in Nashville, Tennessee

Feb 11, 2006 (NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, USA) — My Dear Compatriots, American Friends, Church Communities, Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of our Delegation and on my own behalf, I extend greetings from:

(1) Our President, H.E. Lt. General Salva Kiir Mayardit,

(2) My colleagues in the Cabinet of the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS),

(3) Parliament, and

(4) Southern Sudanese people.

Before we proceed with my briefing, I call upon us all to observe a few minutes of silence for our soldiers who sacrificed their lives for our freedom including my husband, late Dr. John Garang De Mabior.

Compatriots and Friends,

My heartfelt greetings to our people who are here in the South and those who have come from far places in the neighboring States and beyond. I take this opportunity to express my love to the so-called ?Lost Boys’, whom I would now happily refer to as found men and women because my late husband and I put a lot of interest on you and cherish your future as progenies of our struggle. On this note, my dear late husband and hero, Dr. John Garang De Mabior and I truly LOVE you comrades!

Similarly, I greet and thank the people of the United States of America and their government for having opened the doors of their country to host the suffering Sudanese migrants during the war. I specifically salute the Churches and American tax payers for their commitment and support to our people both at home and in the Diaspora. I urge them to continue praying for peace in the Sudan and continue their support for our people.

My dear sons and daughters,

I know that you love home and you are all anxious to hear about developments in your country. Let me tell you that life in Juba and Southern Sudan is beginning to take shape. I know that all of us were shocked by the tragic death of our late leader and hero, Dr. John Garang De Mabior, with whom we dedicated our lives for the liberation of our people and I truly share your grieve. I am proud to tell you that as I stood firm to encourage our people not to despair during the hours of the tragedy, be happy to hear that I will maintain the same position until our people are free after the exercise of the referendum at the end of the interim period.

My dear people,

I am fully aware that you are also anxious to hear as to whether the Sudan Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) is being implemented as expected. Yes, there are a lot of difficulties in the implementation process of the CPA and that is why I am here to share with you some successes and failures. I would like you to particularly keep your eyes clear, your minds sober and your hearts opened. So far we have made little progress on the following:
– (a) Governments at all levels have been formed.
– (b) National, Southern Sudan and State Assemblies are operating.
– (c) Interim constitutions are enacted.
– (d) Most Commissions as stipulated in the CPA are formed.
– (e) The Bank of Southern Sudan (BOSS) is established.

However, most critical steps are lagging behind and these include the following:

– (a) Redeployment of Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) north of border 1/1/56.
– (b) The Abyei report has been shelved.
– (c) Oil revenue shares not being transferred as expected.
-(d) The Commissions formed are not functioning and remain toothless.
-(e) Boundary Commission 1/1/56 has not been formed. These are just to mention but a few violations. I would like to draw your attention to the border issue for two reasons:
– (i) For the withdrawal of SAF, and
– (ii) Determination of the location of oil fields.
It is important for you to note that the borders between Northern Sudan and Southern Sudan are shifting overnight due to interest in resources that God has endowed southward. The wealth sharing issue is responsible for the shifting of borders because the CPA talks of sharing of oil revenue from Southern Sudan only and not from Northern Sudan. I do not want us to be tempted in rethinking the CPA but this is a sacrifice the SPLM made in order to reach a comprehensive agreement. I urge you to stand up with President Salva Kiir, the SPLM and GOSS in protecting the agreement.

Dear Compatriots,

My mission to the United States of America is initiated by the U.S. Government. I want to tell you that I have been privileged to be hosted by President of the United State of America, President Bush and the First Lady, Laura Bush, during the State of the Union Address. For the last two weeks, I have been meeting with several Officials of the U.S. Government including appointments in the White House, Department of State, Congress, Churches, the UN headquarters in New York, USAID, Louis Berger, friends of the SPLM and GOSS and the media.

My visit concentrated on the following:

– (a) Appeal for the implementation process of the CPA.
– (b) Issues related to the development of Southern Sudan, Nuba Mountains, and Southern Blue Nile.
– (c) The resolution of the problems of Darfur, Eastern Sudan and Abyei.
– (d) Regional security, particularly the resolution of the problem of the LRA.

The slowness of the implementation process of the CPA almost left us with nothing to celebrate during its first anniversary on January 9th, 2006.

My dear brothers and sisters,

Before his death, my late husband predicted problems – he knew our National Congress Party (NCP) partners well. He knew the implementation of the peace agreement would be a tough mission and warned us to be on guard. At the moment, I am working very hard with President Salva Kiir and our team in GOSS to guard the CPA. I have always reiterated that I am the watchdog to the CPA. I want to guard the CPA and make the people of Southern Sudan experience the freedom and dignity they have been yearning for many years.

My dear Friends,

Let me tell you deep from my heart that even though my husband is dead, I have now the CPA as my only husband! I would like to emphasize to you that protecting the CPA is not an easy task. We should be prepared for many hurdles, pitfalls, and challenges that are ahead of us. We can only succeed in this if we make our unity a priority and if we care to achieve our goals and objectives. At this point, I would like to inform you about a useful event that we just concluded in Juba recently with SSDF. Gen. Paulino Matip has made a great move towards unity by closing ranks with the SPLA and the SPLM-led GOSS. We have signed what is now popularly known among our people as ?The Juba Declaration’. I now call upon us all to congratulate Gen. Paulino Matip for the heroic move and let us urge all our people to unite for a higher goal – the total freedom of the marginalize people of Sudan.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It hurts me to say this, but it is what we are seeing in the country now. Our biggest challenge is, unfortunately, with our partners the National Congress Party (NCP). As President Kiir stressed in his recent press conference, the NCP are not complying with the implementation of the CPA. They are not honoring the partnership by doing their best to delay, manipulate and hamper the implementation process. Our partners have suddenly found it easy to water down the CPA by trying to sideline the Abyei report, undermine our status in the seat of National Capital (Khartoum), and our representation within the Government of National Unity (GONU) and setting up of the all-important commissions.

My dear compatriots,

If you look closely at the current governing institutions in GONU, you will see that the NCP have set up parallel institutions to the one outlined in the CPA. Most governing institutions remain unaccountable to the people, with unclear objectives, and all-too a replica of the old regime we agreed to dispose of with the CPA. That is why I and the suffering people of Sudan need you our people in Diaspora and the international community to share the role of watchdog! Help us call out the NCP on their failings, help us see this agreement implemented as it is stipulated.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me give you a practical example concerning the hypocrisy displayed by the regime we are dealing with. The Sudan Ambassador to Washington, D.C, is reported to be making a lot of noise on my visit that I have neglected the Embassy by not making any contacts or seeking their protocol assistance. Who of you would expect me to deal with the Sudan Embassy now while no efforts have been made for us to partake in the management of Sudan Embassies allover the world? There is no way that Officials of GOSS should have contacts with Sudan Embassies until our share of the management of Embassies and other civil service positions has been implemented. If this is not done quickly, then Sudan Foreign Policy will remain a policy of the NCP, thus, the SPLM has nothing to do with it. This is the position that I urge my President Salva Kiir, my colleagues in GOSS and the people of the marginalize areas to maintain. As for now, we will continue to use our SPLM Office in Washington to coordinate our programs with the US Government. We have discussed it with President Bush and his administration.

My dear compatriots,

Allow me to stress a final point on our partnership with the NCP because they may have representatives amongst you today. UNITY will only happen when the NCP understands that they must demonstrate their trustworthiness and even-handedness to the people of Southern Sudan and the marginalize areas. But let me also warn you that if the North tries to keep things as they were in the old Sudan, Southern Sudan will vote to separate! And for sure the people of Darfur, Nuba, Southern Blue Nile, and Eastern Sudan will also follow in the same way. A very costly price to pay. Belief you me, this is not a threat, it is an unfortunate reality and it saddens me to say it. The NCP is not advancing any serious efforts to make unity attractive as stipulated in the CPA.

What is the way out? My glimpse of hope is that the NCP will rethink its position and we will work together to implement the CPA as partners. The NCP will only be successful if it realizes that governing a country means giving your citizens what they want and in simple terms these are: a representative government, a real democracy, equitable share wealth for development, and most importantly, respect for the lives and liberty of citizens.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Another important issue that bothers my heart is regional stability. The CPA and our quest for peace have a profound impact on the stability of the region. There are problems in the region that are directly affected by the situation in Sudan, for example, refugees, border disputes, support for insurgent movements, manmade tragedies and natural calamities, among others. That is why I will always emphasize that the stability of our borders is also our own stability. I have pointed out to President Bashir that the CPA does not belong to us only as Sudanese. It belongs to the region and to the international community because a lot of efforts and resources have been invested on the realization of the Sudan CPA. Yes, the CPA is our biological child but it was mid-wifed by the region and the international community.

At this juncture, I would like to link this to the problem of Darfur. I am confident that if we focus clearly on the implementation of the CPA in both the letter and the spirit in which it was written and signed, we will be on the right tract and the fighters in Darfur will have an example to emulate in negotiating in good faith. As you know, we need a concerted focus on a solution for Darfur and Eastern Sudan and the CPA could be used as a formula to resolve problems in those areas. Like Southern Sudan, these areas are fighting for their own share in the running of the country. Unfortunately, the regimes in our country do not always recognize the problems of these areas as being political but rather dismiss them as humanitarian and banditry. I have promised our friends that President Salva Kiir and I will personally get involved in Darfur by visiting and engaging in Abuja. We will change and reinforce the SPLM team in Abuja in order to make progress.

My dear Compatriots, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me turn to development in Southern Sudan and the marginalize areas. Development is another area my late husband and I are passionate about. All of us know the desperate needs of Southern Sudan and the marginalize areas and I would like to highlight some of them. I will detail one area in particular which I am focused on and passionate about: infrastructure development, particularly building roads and transportation networks throughout Southern Sudan! The Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) will ensure that we are connected within ourselves and with our neighbors.

Lack of roads has isolated our people and isolation is responsible for lack of interaction amongst our people. The people of Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile need to be connected to Southern Sudan and the rest of Sudan by roads built for commerce and industry and not for military purposes. Similarly the rest of the north needs to be connected to the south to make our partnership stronger and to build the ties that bind us together. These are thoughts that my late husband and I cherish and I sympathize when the NCP is not making any efforts on the direction of partnership in order to make UNITY attractive instead of making SEPARATION attractive!

My dear Friends let me also turn to ourselves as GOSS. While concerned about the shortcomings of the NCP, I would also request you to spell out any shortcomings of the SPLM and GOSS. As liberators, we cannot ask you to loose sight of our weaknesses. Be critical in overseeing our role in delivering on our promises throughout the Interim Period. I am saying this because there are expressed fears by the international donors concerning the management of our resources for development. My visit to the United States of America has shed light on the way we see ourselves. There is widespread fear on us because we have not established watchdogs to monitor our spending and as liberators emerging out of the bushes of Southern Sudan, there is a lot of expectation that we have a chance to kick off economic development on the right footing.

What I have gathered during my visit, it concurs with what my President, Comrade Salva Kiir Mayardit announced in his speech in Juba on January 9th, 2006, calling for the establishment of:

(a) Office of the Auditor General and/or Inspector General and appoint appropriate personnel in it.

(b) An Anti-Corruption Commission as stipulated in the CPA and our Interim Constitutions.

Back to you, I appeal to the Sudanese community at large my comrades in the Diaspora that you have the tremendous potential to contribute to the realization of the vision of development in Southern Sudan and the marginalize areas. This will be the fulfillment of your contribution and efforts during the struggle. You have not been forgotten in our minds. I reiterate to you that there are a lot of programs and projects that we as SPLM and GOSS have initiated with donors and partners in order to attract the involvement of the Diaspora in the development of our country. For example, last month Academy for Education and Development (EAD) funded by USAID sent 13 of your colleagues to assist in the Ministries of Health and Education in Southern Sudan. We are working hard to ensure that you come back home to play a major role in rehabilitating your country. This message was given to me by our President, Salva Kiir Mayardit, who reiterated his call that our people in the Diaspora must come home and become part of the development of post-conflict Southern Sudan.

Similarly, in our meetings during this visit, we have lobbied the US Government, particularly Congress, the White House and the State Department and other donor countries to write off student loans of our Diaspora to enable them go back and work in Southern Sudan. I hope that steps will be taken to actualize this demand. This is a clear indication that the SPLM and GOSS are trying their very best to cater for the interest of our people both at home and in Diaspora. With this, I appeal to the U.S. Government and Institutions and people of good will worldwide to initiate scholarship programs for Southern Sudanese students. I want to bring to your attention that similar scholarship programs developed my dear late husband, Dr. John Garang De Mabior, former First Vice President of the Republic of the Sudan and President of the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) to become what he was. Therefore, I have no doubt that such programs will have a great impact not only in Southern Sudan but Africa as a whole and the world at large because they will produce many other dedicated servants like my late husband.

Before I conclude, I would like to acknowledge the State of Tennessee for hosting the largest number of our people. I would also like to in particular acknowledge the role played by Majority Leader Senator Bill Frist for alleviating the suffering of humanity. Let us all continue to pray that his leadership rises to greater heights to enable him fulfill God’s call to continue rescuing the anguished.

Finally, my sincere thanks to President Bush and his family, US Government, Congress, Churches and the people of America for their unwavering support during all of our times of trouble and hardship. I urge you to continue supporting our people until we finally reach the end of our struggle for development, freedom, democracy, human rights, justice and equality for all.

I pray that Almighty God continue to bless America to safeguard the peace in the world.

Thank you all for listening and God bless you all!