Open letter to Salva Kiir to stop corruption and mis-use of power

15 June 2006
In Press releases

June 13th, 2006

Lt.General Salva Kiir Mayardit

First Vice President of the Republic of Sudan, and President of southern Sudan.

Your Excellency,

Since May 16th, 1983, when the SPLA/M founders, yourself included, took a heroic move to fight against the injustice, in the Sudan, you have shown to us, the oppressed and marginalized people of the Sudan, your true leadership and allegiance to the Movement and its cause.

Together, with our beloved leader, late Dr. John Garang deMabior, and others, you have set up the New Sudan’s vision and series of its objectives on which our struggle for freedom and justice, in the Sudan, was based upon. These objectives of fighting for a United New Sudan included a Sudan that is free of tribalism, Nepotism, and corruption. In fact, the New Sudan’s vision and its objectives became a real force that has made the SPLA/M to achieve success and progress, as a guerrilla movement and as a political movement, and now as a Political Party in the Sudan.

In short, the SPLA/M and its vision became a symbol of hope, justice and liberty for all the oppressed and marginalized people of the Sudan. This is because the SPLM/A, with leadership’s guidance, offered a credible, reasonable, and an attractive vision, “the New Sudan’s ideology,” that will save Sudan as one country and grant freedom and justice for all the oppressed in the Sudan without exception.

Not the least, your faithful role as an SPLM guerilla leader was admired by all of us. Therefore, after the tragic death of our beloved leader, Dr. John Garang deMabior, we all applauded your unanimous election as the SPLA/M Commander-in-Chief, and a First Vice President of the Sudan and President of Southern Sudan. We knew and still believe that the movement will be safe under your well-informed leadership as it has always been since our movement inception. In addition, the people of Southern Sudan and the marginalized areas in the Sudan, in general, see in you the quality of a good leader that will fight injustice, tribalism, corruption, nepotism, and as well deliver to them economics development that will usher the Sudan into a new era of peace, freedom, equality and progress.

Your Excellency,

We, the SPLA/M’s merged two chapters in Calgary, Alberta, have taken this opportunity to bring to your attention our concern regarding Mr. Peter Both appointment as the SPLA/M representative in Canada. In April 2006, Mr. Martin Majut Yak returned to Calgary, Canada with letter of appointment for Mr. Peter Both as a representative of the SPLA/M in Canada. Mr. Martin Majut Yak was here, in Calgary-Canada, with us, and Mr. Peter Both was his stooge who plotted with him to divide our SPLM supporters.

In fact, Mr. Martin Yak was the architect of the divisions which resulted into having formed two SPLM chapters in Calgary in 2004, and Mr. Peter Both, in an election in which many members were banded, was one of the electoral committee that connived to elect Mr. Martin to be a Chairman of one of the SPLA/M Chapters in Calgary. This incident divided the SPLA/M Chapter into two chapters in Calgary. Indeed, this division became an agony here, which the SPLM community has been going through and which will take time for its wounds to heal. Equally, when Mr. Martin Yak became one of the SPLM/A Chapters, he made sure that our community here stayed divided because he rejected all the attempts made to reunite the two chapters so that our community is unable to work for a common goal of supporting the movement.

However, when Mr. Martin Majut Yak went to the Sudan to seek employment in the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS), our community here in Calgary, yawned with great relieve. Immediately, two chapters took a move of reuniting our divided community and finally agreed to hold the SPLM community election on June 24th, 2006 in which the two chapters will finally emerge together, and thus reunite our divided community in Calgary.

Unfortunately, last April, Mr. Martin Yak’s return back to Calgary with an appointment letter of Mr. Peter Both as the SPLA/M representative in Canada, which Mr. Martin Yak claimed and vehemently voiced out to have been a degreed appointment from the President of Southern Sudan, His Excellency, Mr. Salva Kiir Mayardit, which significantly has threatened our unity here again as a community. We managed to reunite our community in the absence of Mr. Martin Yak, but now our community has been thrown back to the square root and shackles of division by an appointment of Mr. Peter Both as a representative of the SPLM/A in Canada, which we suspected was based on Mr. Martin Majut Yak’s advice.

This has prompted our concern and curiosity, because the appointment, in question, has withheld and null and voided the rights and responsibilities for the community concern to decide for itself. Hence, we have decided to write to you in this regard bringing into your attention our dismay and concern about the damage that the appointment of Mr. Peter Both has created. If this appointment was done by you as stated by Mr. Martin Yak, which we greatly doubted and questioned, then we appeal to you, your Excellency, to avert this decision for the following reasons:

Firstly, Mr. Peter Both participated in the division of our community here in Alberta. How will he work sincerely to represent us all without grudges against those who disagreed with him here in the past?
As a community and supporters of the movement, we feel that it is our right and responsibility to choose or elect our representative (s) democratically instead of our government appointing a representative for the community.
Secondly, individual appointed by the government or any power per se, are only accountable to the power that appointed them rather then the people whom they are supposed to represent.
Thirdly, our community felt disenfranchised from it’s democratically rights to choose its representative.
Fourthly, individuals appointed instead of being elected to the office, use that absolute power to segregate others in the community, and this has been one of the bitter issues, which has resulted into community division, here, in the past, and now.
Fifthly, if Mr. Peter Both was appointed by Mr. Martin Yak, which we think is the case, then we question what gave Mr. Martin Yak right and power to robe the right allotted to the community to elect its representative (s)? Mr. Martin has just joined the SPLM/A when he realizes that there were/are positions available for grasp. Since the movement inception, he did not want to be in the list of the SPLA/M martyrs, but he rather joins the SPLM/A payroll list. We are not against him working for the Government of Southern Sudan; we categorically disagreed with his action of appointing or recommending the representative for us when he indeed participated actively in perpetuating the division in our community.
Sixthly, Mr. Martin has blacklisted those who rejected his appointment and situated Mr. Both as his watchdog in Calgary.
Seventhly, Mr. Martin had appointed Mr. Morris Bataly five years ago as SPLM representative, and until now we don’t know if he officially served him (Bataly) with a letter of releasing him from his duties or not. Now we have two SPLM representatives, one is Mr. Bataly and his last appointee Mr. Both.

Your Excellency,

Using one’s power to decide for others against their will is a misuse of power and corruption. In fact, it is a disservice to the system in question. Hence we appeal to you to stop Mr. Martin Majut Yak and his likes from misusing their power to subdue or withhold the rights of others. This is not a time to keep on dividing our people; it is the time to come together in order to work for the common goods of our people and discard actions that will lead us to misunderstanding.

We feel that appointing individuals to rule over others against their will is a retrogression to the past mistakes, which bitterly divided us, and indeed a mistake that will again result into unwanted and untold consequences.

We have observed and concurred that what happened during Addis Ababa agreement is happening again, whereby individuals who were not part and parcel of the Anya nya 1 movement got access to government positions and subsequently betrayed the cause, but the true patriotic Anya nya veterans, who, fought that war courageously and had endured all sorts of hardships had to swallow the bitter taste of marginalization and intimidation.

Apparently, the history is repeating itself, because people who did not struggle for the last 22 years are currently the ones who are trying hard to enjoy the fruits of liberation. The SPLM/A as a visionary movement, has to be vigilant in order to rescue it’s self from these elements who find their strength in gossip and in using high ranking connections to ascend into power unnoticed.

Finally, we the leaders of the two SPLM chapters in Calgary that were divided by Mr. Martin Yak, have jointly merged together for the benefit of our people and are preparing our people in June 24, 2006 for an SPLM general election, and hereby rejecting Mr. Peter Both appointment because it has deprived the SPLM supporters here of their rights to experience democratic rights of choosing their leaders.

Our aim is to correct short comings that would cripple the SPLM as a political movement so that the SPLM becomes a viable alternative party in the Sudan that is capable of leading the people of the new Sudan into the coming general election and finally usher them into new era of justice, equality and progress in the Sudan.

Your Excellency,

The SPLM is the people’s movement. It fought a war for people’s rights and dignity to decide for themselves. Equally, the SPLM fought the war of liberation so that the coming generations of the Sudan experience justice and as well exercise liberty without hindrances.

Having said these, we would like to point out that we are not against people who would like to return back home from the Diaspora to help the government of the Southern Sudan, but we are against actions of people who return back home, with hidden agenda of acquiring power, just to come back to segregate others in the community as well as appoint their friends and political allies at will.

Equally, we would like to state to you that we adhere to the clear and transparent policies of appointments through human resources development of southern Sudan so that chances are open to all with no discrimination.

In the light of these, we urge you to urgently and seriously look into issues that we have raised in this letter.

We wish you every success in leading the people of the New Sudan.

SPLM/A Oyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

New Sudan oyeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Signed:

For United Chapters of Calgary

Deng Akol Leng, [email protected]

Simon Chuol, [email protected]

Daniel Bichiok, [email protected]

Simon Mayiik Nyok, (403) 264 – 5216 or (403) 827 – 4330

Gatwech Banban, (403) 366 – 6404 or (403) 616 – 0964

Michael Marror Liech, [email protected]