Building SPLA military capacity is good for Sudan
By Roba Gibia
April 4, 2007 — The continued problems and conflicts in Sudan, is principally due to the concentration of power whether being militarily or economically or politically in the hands of few in Khartoum without any opposing power whether being in south, west, east or north. As the concentration of power in Khartoum which is suppose to save the entire country’s welfare without prejudice and abuse, has been badly utilized by clique members of family to remain in power, restrain, marginalize, persecute and colonize the other peoples in Sudan. And if we scrutinize the causes of the armed conflicts in south, east and west was or is due to the disparity, bigotry and selective marginalization and imbalanced distribution of the Sudan’s wealth and government based developmental project policies. Thus, the national power in Khartoum doesn’t save the interest of the Sudanese peoples in general but a few family members who are struggling for their own family empowerment and power veracity. And that is why many analysts agree that the politics in Sudan is often a family affair, despite the fact that they do converge at weddings and funerals of each family but the desire to rule and remain in power is the main dictum of each family.
The power struggle in Khartoum is being confined in the very tiny circle of religious clerics and military generals or tribes. And that was or is what apparently happening within the Sudanese political arena, and if we could recall, the former President Jaafar Mohamed Numeri was in profound differences with Dr. Hassan Turabi who was the most critical of Numeri government and the primary advocate of sharia implementation in Sudan, and said that whether Southerners like it or not, the sharia or Islamic law will be implemented even in south Sudan. And it was same Turabi who masterminded or led a military coup against his brother-in-law Sadiq El-Mahdi in 1989 in collaboration with Bashir and Taha with intention to disrupt peace process or agreement between Sadiq El-Mahdi and SPLM/SPLA which was about to be concluded. Thus, the power concentration in the hands of few in Khartoum is to save the purpose of those religious clerics, generals and tribes, as they were all bond together with family ties. And despite the lousy fall of Turabi with Bashir-Taha in 1999 and the current sharp and hammering criticism which we were seeing from Sadiq and Turabi against the NCP led-government of national unity, yet they have same strategy and aspiration of power monopoly in Sudan, and if we look back Sadiq El-Mahdi had presided over the wedding ceremony of Taha and his bride, Turabi’s cousin. Thus, despite the fact that many NIF/NCP foes were physically mistreated and eliminated but the NIF/NCP could not dare to annihilate its most arrogant family member opponents, simply because they could differ publicly in notion or the implementation modalities but not on the objective and the overall strategy.
Thus, when the NIF overthrew the elected Sadiq El-Mahdi’s government in 1989 with Turabi as the chief mentor of Inqaz or salvation government, the sharia or Islamic law was fully implemented in Sudan, and Jihad or Holy war was declared against south or pagans as it was termed by Khartoum. Mujahideen, popular defense forces (PDF) and militias were mobilized to fight the holy war in south. And it was Turabi as a religious cleric who rallied the Muslims in the name of Islam and Jihad, and proclaimed that any Muslim dyeing in south is a sacrifice in the course of Allah (God), country and a martyr and will have a great reward in heaven. Thus, the war between north-south was visualized and pictured wrongly around the Arab and Islamic countries that south was against Islam and Arabs and a barricade for the penetration of Islam into the heart of Africa. But after Turabi’s bitter fall-out in 1999, his imprisonment by NCP and after his release, he contradicted all his previous statements, simply because he has no seat in the government. And this is as how the power is being manipulated in Khartoum, primarily to brainwash people’s mind by religious ethics, deprive, terrorize and hold them against their will.
Therefore, due to the disproportion of power, Khartoum had dishonored many agreements and yet it continues to impose and dictate its doctrine and dogma on the majority of Sudanese masses. And due to our long and preceding past experiences with Khartoum and as we are seeing now in the none-implementation of the essential Naivasha clause treaty, there is concern that the radical extremists in Khartoum who are against the north-south treaty, will try to jeopardize the whole accord in one way or another. And the fear is that, they may one day stage a coup against Bashir or Bashir himself will voluntarily step down to hardliners which he has been preparing, and if that happens, the first step would be discarding Naivasha agreement and consequently resumption of hostilities. Hence, the only way to avert the threats and guarantee smooth implementation of the north-south peace agreement, there is need to build the south Sudan’s SPLA forces capability to protect and deter Khartoum’s bullying. And our political leaders have to recognize that a strong political leadership requires robust military capacity to back its leadership or otherwise all of us will remain under the mercy of Khartoum. Let us not swindle ourselves that maintaining SPLA forces incoherently according to the agreement is the paramount guarantee, no, the assurance is to develop our forces and offer them all the necessary tools to protect the south Sudan’s territorial integrity and its airspace. And that was obvious, as during the war our people suffered dearly from the Khartoum air-assaults and bombardment, and SPLA had no anti-aircraft missiles and air defense forces to defend its people from Khartoum’s viciousness. Therefore, it will be incredible but I do not think even for a minute that our leadership and generals will permit the nightmare of the past previous wars to hunt our people again, and to ascertain the proclamation of our late leader Dr. John Garang that “there will be no more bombs falling from the sky on innocent children and women. But we will be hearing happy giggling of children and the enchanting ululation of women who are excited in happiness for one reason or another”.
Therefore at this juncture, I would like to reiterate that the building of south Sudan’s military potentiality is not against Khartoum or to destabilize the country, but to proportionate the power between the two partners and reverence of each party’s perimeter and influence. And I don’t think that our leadership and SPLA generals will be defraud and blackmailed again by Khartoum’s false slogan that we are brothers and sisters and have strong ties, but in actuality and deeds Khartoum never proved one day that Sudan belongs equally to all Sudanese. And that was evident, over the dossier of Abyei protocol, oil share and north-south border demarcation, Darfur calamity and the harassment of the marginalized people in Khartoum. Thus, when the United States of America in its efforts to exert doggedness pressure on Khartoum said through media that, one option to tighten screws on Bashir to accept UN forces to Darfur is to assist government in south to build a strong military force, Khartoum became more furious and said that America is playing with fire! Why, because America pressed on the most excruciating and grave button. But in authenticity, does the message and warning directed to America, and is it actually America playing with fire or SPLM led-government of south Sudan, if it started modernizing and building its military forces without the consent of Khartoum!
* Roba Gibia is a Sudan Tribune columnist. He can be reached at [email protected]