What is wrong with Kiir’s administration?

By Koang Tut Jing*

June 2, 2006 — Indeed, our country has gone long civil strife for 50 years now since
independent we spent nearly that time at war. Our fathers and mothers in
Anya nya I who tried to correct the mistreatment in the Sudan struggled for
seventeen years of relentless war ended with promises that never fulfilled
in 1972. In 1983, the five leaders (Garang, Kervino, Nyuon, Salva, and Arok)
of the SPLA/M shouldered the task of liberating the masses that have been
born into bondage of elites rulers in Khartoum based on justice and equality
for all Sudanese in regardless of their beliefs or race. Now Garang and
other three of the New Sudan leaders are off sight leaving us with the only
sole survivor of the SPLM/A leadership, Salva Kiir Mayardit. To be honest, I
am not sure if Kiir a curse or a blessing to us masses who are entrusting
our fate in his hand?

To examine the statement above I would first elaborate why I think Kiir
could be either a curse or blessing. One year after the formation of the
SPLM/A, Kiir was put in charged of Tiger battalion from Moonlight division
to lead them against the enemy forces in Pochala by then. Due to tactical
flaws from our Kiir, the operation went terribly wrong where our
brave-hearted Tigers shot at each other rather than the enemy. Because of
this the operation failed and the battalion began to desert the deployment
for their respective areas. This marks the beginning of woe Kiir has for the
SPLM/A. But worse scenarios were to follow.

In 1987, our president led two battalions from Zal-zal (Lazim and Sonky)
against the enemy convoy which was heading to Akobo; again the result was a
disaster against the movement. Salva once more failed his people. The enemy
entered Akobo in peace destroying the well organised SPLA/M soldiers due to
leadership weaknesses. As a consequence both battalions deserted Akobo for
their homes. Who bear the blame? Similarly, Salva failed the task when he
again was given some battalions from Intifadha to block the enemy convoy
which was from Malakal heading to Juba in 1989. Our gallant forces were
shattered and the enemy went through with its morale unreduced. The losses
the SPLM/A had in those two battles led by Salva were significant and
disastrous.

In addition, when the Ethiopian rebels were advancing against Mengistu’s
regime in 1991, our president was supposed to order the evacuation of our
refugees and the disabled SPLA/M soldiers before the enemy closed in.
Instead, he did not move swift enough to spare the massive lost we had in
Gilo River in term of lives. Again judge if Salva a curse or blessing?
Further more, when the enemy dislodged our gallant forces in Kapoeta in
1992, our Salva was indeed suppose to block the enemy from entering Kapoeta
but as usual the enemy soldiers went into the town without real resistant
and yet the SPLM/A had good number of forces which should have had defended
Kapoeta. Again the movement lost large number of its soldiers and civilians
on the fall of Kapoeta. Please see if Kiir can still lead us to success if
all the disasters the SPLM/A endured were inflicted on us under his
leadership?

With our Kiir as a person overseeing the security agency of the movement,
this important agency was the main source of faulty actions taken against
prominent politicians by the SPLM/A leadership in which Kiir was part of.
Our security organ was corrupted from top to bottom and if Kiir was not
himself behind the killings which was widely spread in the SPLM/A, why he
did not correct his organisation behaviour? The fact is, our president is a
blood thirst man and this can be seen when he put 24 members of Commando
Zal-zal battalion to death in one day 12 at a time. The killings of
prominent politicians like Lokurnyang Lado, Bol Akok, Dr. Juai, Yusif Kier
Tang and Copral Bol Kur must be blamed on our Kiir because if he did not
sign their death order I do not believe Garang can lay his hand on them! The
SPLM/A GIS was made up of blood thirst individuals under their top devil
Kiir Mayardit, they behaved as if they were creators.

However, despite all these Kiir did enjoyed a sole success in the rainy
season of 1987 when he was in charge of Blue Nile after the detention of
Kuanyin Bol. The first fall of Kurmuk was under his leadership but it was
because the men who themselves carried out the operation in line with
soldiers were themselves never failed a single operation they are tasked to
do during their lives in the SPLA/M. Kacha battalion from Zal-zal made his
dream true. After this long elaboration of Kiir’s past failure we ought to
move on and examine how this would affect the marginalised Sudanese under
the CPA.

Before the sudden death of our hero leader Dr. John Garang most of us who
were tasked by the SPLM/A leadership to export the justice and equality from
Bonga training centre in Ethiopia to all the masses in the Sudan under the
bondage of marginalisation through blood and sweat were hoping the dream of
a New Sudan emerging was inevitable. The death of Garang left us hanging
upside down and one wonder if the SPLM/A under Kiir will cross this rough
road in peace! Before the formation of GONU our late hero mind was set on
four ministries (mining and energy, finance, defence and interior
ministries) of which SPLM was suppose to get two of these four.
Unfortunately, due to his untimely death, the GONU was not formed on his
watch instead it was left to our Kiir to oversee it formation.

My dear oppressed and marginalised Sudanese Kiir has again failed us in the
face of the enemy we fought against for two decades. The failure of Kiir to
secure the ministry of mining& energy has offered a great chance to NIF and
its allies. I am wondering why we should complain about transparency in this
ministry? Friends, this is the grave mistake a leader ever made against his
own people. The lost of mining & energy ministry marked the turning point in
our SPLM/A. And it raises questions as whether can Kiir really make it?
Since then nothing good for the masses marginalised to see their lives
change. It doesn’t need magic to figure out what is wrong with Kiir’s
administration.

Kiir since the death of Garang, he has fallen in the trap net of hijackers
who for long time wanted the SPLM/A demolished. The likes of Bona Malual and
Justin Yach Arop are the tools remote controlling the leadership in person
of Kiir I guess why our lives are in stake now. Those are both corrupt and
blood thirst, what good would come from them? Kiir also is now surrounding
himself with more dangerous people like Martin Majut Yak who is currently
nominated as chief director for Kiir foreign policy. What good would a guy
like Majut who consider Kiir leadership as belong to Gogrial and Aweil will
bring to administration? The evident is recent article written by Dr. Mawein
and Majok from Canada revealing the ill intention of Majut against others
and the death threat he made against people criticising Kiir. How can a
knowledgeable man swear to defence Kiir presidency by “all means and at all
costs”? Against who? With such a people surrounding our president the SPLM/A
is dim to descend to chaos in the near future if those grave mistakes are
not corrected. No wonder our young talented officers are now being
marginalised in a movement which themselves paid dearly during the
liberation struggle. Because of marginalisation which our Kiir and his idiot
old advisors choose to do against anyone who dislike the way they are
running the movement, Nhial Deng Nhial is forced to resign from the ministry
he was in charge of. I bet more will follow suit soon as this administration
become where corruption is brewed. For this insight, I wish the SPLM/A good
luck because you really need it.

Although Kiir stated his position during the funeral of our late leader in
Juba when he said “SPLA/M is a vehicle without a reverse gear”, one can
wonder if our president meant what he said! One year on under CPA since
ascended on the leadership of SPLM/A, I never heard of him visiting places
like southern Blue Nile, Nuba Mountain, Kassala and other marginalised
society in the far north. In all those places we need our present feel if
the SPLM/A need to remain a national figure in the Sudan. We must not forget
that the SPLM/A fought this bitter war in the name of justice and equality
for all Sudanese and because of this we ought to stick to our principle. The
exportation of justice and equality to all areas in the Sudan was the main
reason why the SPLM/A sent its soldiers to Darfur in 1992, Nuba Mountain in
1987 and Blue Nile in early 1985. The souls of volunteered southerners lost
in those areas deserve our respect. But if our Kiir is a hidden separatist
then he ought to be informed that either separation or unity of the country
will work in the present of NIF.

The NIF has rejected the Abyei recommendations, the NIF is annexing many oil
areas from the south to the north, and the NIF is altering the 1956 boundary
between north and south. With these issues in hand our Kiir is not seemingly
aware of looming catastrophic against the marginalised Sudanese in the
Sudan. Instead the administration is busy washing the NIF dirt’s off as seen
in this quote “A case in point is the huge difference between SPLM and NCP
on questions of Abyei, of oil shares, of 1956 borders, and …
Why should SPLM work feverishly for comfort of a party which has clearly
showed no gratitude”? Indeed, as said by our late hero Garang,” the NIF is
too deformed to be reformed”, thus to reform NIF is to remove them from
power and that when we shall rest.

With all these as elaborated above I think you can see where the
administration under Kiir is wrongly leading us to and the doom descending
on our people in Sudan.

* Koang is a medical laboratory science student at Massey University,
Palmerston North, New Zealand. He is currently residing in New Zealand and
can be reached at [email protected]