Late Dr. Garang and the emerging conspiracy theories
By Peter Lokarlo Marsu *
September 23, 2006 — A number of conspiracy theories have long been postulated and advanced by a variety of schools of thoughts ever since the untimely demise of Sudan’s Vice President and President of the government of South Sudan, Dr.John Garang, on the 30 July 2005, in President Museveni’s chopper in South Sudan. These theories claim to have successfully cracked the code that held the mystery surrounding the crash of the helicopter in which 13 people including Dr. John Garang perished on board. There is an apparent unanimity of consensus this time, that all shades of opinions have rebuffed the official version of the report issued in April 2006 by the probe team tasked with the investigation of the tragedy. The report was clearly a fiction, which was probably designed with the intention of preventing the stirring of the hornets’ nest. Everyone disagrees with the ACCIDENT taxonomy and instead concurs on the perception that the likelihood of the existence of foul play could not be ruled out given the potency of the rancorous atmosphere maintained by some sceptical political elements in Khartoum before and after the signing of the Peace Treaty in Kenya, known as the CPA.
These conspiracy theories have attempted to streamline and titivate each hypothesis in order to pin the probable cause and motives that might potentially have prompted the perpetrators to embark on such a debauched and poignant deed on the wrongdoers.
When the initial conjecture emerged immediately in the aftermath of the crash, all accusing fingers pointed at the government of Sudan at the time. One incontrovertible verity remains that the scene had already been primed for the crime before late Dr. Garang left for Uganda. Yet the most irksome question is, who could possibly have set that ghastly scene that preceded the July 30 helicopter crash? Did a missile launched from the ground by some hostile group bring down the Mi 172 presidential Chopper? Do we have to chide and hold culpable the National Islamic Front and the UMMA Parties as the likely culprits? Was the National Congress Party of Omar Al Bashir involved in the assassination? Did the Democratic Unionist Party operate in joint venture with a foreign country to effect the grisly act? Or some freelance middle-of-the-road criminals, at the service of some international players with interest in the elimination of Dr. Garang from the political vista are to blame? Sadly, we may keep on grappling in the dark searching for the truth and never be able to unearth the reality, most likely for a long time to come. There remain many obscurities to be cleared up before one comprehends the actual motives of the killers. As we explore in profundity the intricate dynamics of contemporary politics in the region, one would hardly exclude the possibility of a covert conspiratorial network in that nerve-racking crime.
The recent report originating from the Arab based paper in Khartoum seems to act as a conduit for confusion. The information was skilfully crafted to deviate focus from the real criminals and also perhaps to dissuade South Sudan from American influence and espousal. There is looming trepidation in the north that the South might eventually plump for independence in the near future, and this prospect does not tally with the official line of thinking in Khartoum, hence the fabrication of such stories alongside other destabilising and provocative acts like the creating and maintenance of Warlords in South Sudan and the refusal to recognise the fundamental clauses of the CPA document have develop into cherished goals of the NIF/NCP. President Museveni was probably much preoccupied with the LRA File and was waiting to deliver the fatal blow and final victory on Joseph Kony and his rag-tag army through the full cooperation of the South Sudan government under his long-time ally and friend. Liquidating Dr. Garang at the time would be unimaginable. The assortment of weapons impounded by the Ugandan President could hardly have amounted to a judicious and justifiable rationale for eliminating Dr. Garang. The fact that President Museveni has knotted a noose around his neck by creating lethal foes over the years, who would certainly be trigger-happy to push him into the abyss, does not mean that we should throw our whole lot behind his enemies’ propaganda machine. One should guard against being taken in for a cheap ride. A time bomb smuggled on board the chopper at Entebbe airport, in a well-rehearsed and coordinated plot or some well-paid hit men lurking in the area could easily have accomplished the intended end result even without the knowledge of Museveni. There were conflicting accounts of the exact number of passengers on board. We do not know how many persons boarded the chopper at Entebbe airport. The whole saga is shrouded in mystery, and a cover-up campaign is in place, suggesting that something was amiss and someone had a hand in the affair, and is now surfacing with conspiracy theories backed up by some elements of sophistication to hoodwink people into believing their stories.
The World Wide Attack Matrix is indubitably a well-researched document intended to drive home and create a lucid impression and to achieve a maximum outcome on the receptive minds of those for whom the document is destined. Who is behind the creation of such an eloquently prepared report? Was someone paid to come up with this information? If the CIA was involved in the killing of John Garang, did they prevent any photographers from Sudan, Uganda or the UN team that arrived at the scene of the crash from taking the picture of the wreckage of the Chopper as mentioned elsewhere? This is undeniably an indication of a cover-up drive by those who intend to keep us in the dark. Apparently, it seems unbelievable to admit the role of the CIA in Dr. Garang’s. Assassination. In regards to the oil in South Sudan, which is being looted by the NIF/NCP, the contract was awarded to the Chinese, long before the late Garang was still waging the war in defence of the marginalized communities in Sudan. He had never been in contact with the Chinese or made another separate contract with them, if anything the NCP members could be the target of liquidation by the CIA, and not Dr. John Garang. Further more, we are not interested to be informed and stuffed by what the CIA is doing across the globe. Finally, though our Hero Dr. John Garang De Mabior has left an enormous void to be filled, hence we must pull our resources together and shore up the government in Juba so as to fill up that void.
* Peter Lokarlo Marsu is based in Australia. He can be reached at [email protected]