What can South Sudan govt achieve in 2008

By Charles B. Kisanga

January 15, 2008 — Today 14th January 2008, the South Sudanese Government and their Northern counterparts are again making official celebrations, in Wau town, in Southern Sudan, to mark the 3rd anniversary of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which was signed between the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) and National Congress Party (NCP) to end 22 years of hostilities between Sudan Peoples Liberation Army forces (made of mostly South Sudanese) and Sudan Armed Forces (SAF). The agreement was signed in a big ceremony in Nairobi on 9th January 2005. This year, perhaps in a gesture to depart from the confrontation of last year in Juba between Beshir and Kiir the official celebrations are taking place a bit later, than on the day of the anniversary itself, in the Southern Sudanese town of Wau .

This time the Southern public are carrying high hopes that this year’s celebrations may bring better understanding between the leaders of the Southern Sudan SPLM and their Northern counterparts of the NCP and allow smooth implementation of the CPA. Things never got better after last year’s celebration which was marred by a hot confrontation between Sudan ’s President Omer El Beshir and GoSS President, Lt Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit. The confrontation during last year’s celebrations was a starting point for more confrontations between the CPA partners NCP and SPLM which continued throughout the year and ended with the sudden unilateral withdrawal of the SPLM from Sudan ’s Unity government on October 11 2007 claiming that the NCP was not honouring the agreement and abrogating many provisos of it. In the aftermath of the abrupt SPLM withdrawal from the Unity government there were continuous heated exchanges between the two sides and a threat of return to war. Some extremists in the SPLM were openly calling for war with their partners while on the other hand El Beshir was starting to talk the Jihad language and calling for mobilisation of the so called popular defence forces – a body of merciless Northern militia killers. Counter actions flared up repeatedly which almost dashed all hopes of peace and people were already calculating on how to survive the next round of war.

But the good news was that no one was even prepared f or such a war; not SPLA or SAF and in the end the confronting sides had to negotiate and make deals. Perhaps the most important element to prevent the war was voices of Southern Sudanese like the author of this article. The Southern leader, Lt General Salva Kiir was so concerned with the criticism of the SPLM withdrawal from GoNU that when he attended Sunday mass in Kator Cathedral in Juba during the week of the withdrawal, he vehemently attacked the criticism so much and even referring, indirectly to the authors’ article denouncing the withdrawal. Further when the GoSS leader went to USA with high hopes that the USA might back the South in a war with the North, he was only to be disappointed by the way the American tried to talk him out of the war idea. Behind closed doors the US officials told our leader point blank they cannot support any war and there is no way they can do that as any war will devastate the South again and brig immense suffering in the whole region again. The US advised our leader to mend relationship with Beshir and may be getting Saud Arabia and Chinese mediations in this. Of course the idea of stitching up friendship and mending the relationship between SPLM and NCP was one thing I had advised in my article suggesting the way forward based on the fact that without trust you cannot work as partners. To get the message across, some US officials even went on the media to mention what they had lectured to our leader. “ US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice proposed to Salva Kiir confidence-building measures with Beshir and NCP and even suggested China and Saudi Arabia mediation.”

On the other hand the US also put pressure on the Beshir’s government fro compromise. For his part President El Beshir decided to accept cabinet reshuffle proposals from SPLM whether he considered proposed names as bad or good choice and SPLM had to do with half agreements on the withdrawal of SAF forces from South Sudan territories and Abyei protocol could be dispensed with until later. Many Southern Sudanese really believed the whole saga was about reshuffle rather than the other reasons mentioned by the SPLM leaders advocating the withdrawal from GoNU. Of course the infighting in SPLM with groups such as Garang boys- made up of mostly former bush SPLM kitchen cabinet members, against Mayardit boys or against some United South Sudanese and Democratic SPLM forces in the SPLM
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According to many Southern analysts the really winners of these NCP-SPLM bickering were the Garang boys and the SPLM Northern sector because the two groups have seized control of SPLM as can also be seen by the recent appointment of Abdel Azizi el Hilu as deputy SPLM Secretary General. Since the SPLM Secretary General himself has accepted a cabinet post and he is not there to run the office (unless he tells me he can work 100 hours a week) then Abdel Azizi el Hilu will be the man really in charge of SPLM. Commander Abdel Azizi el Hilu of Nuba mountains came back into the country on January 8, 2008 after almost 2 years absence As the Governments in Sudan wind up the 3rd anniversary celebrations more and more Southerners might be losing trust in our SPLM which was created by the charismatic leader late Dr. John Garang de Mabior in 1983, with the notion of a united Sudan and fighting for the total liberation of the marginalised in the whole Sudan and not only in the South. Well, late Dr. Garang used to say those who need to liberate only the South can continue the fight and they can remain at the boarder when the liberation goes North. It seems his words were correct because now those who joined with the idea of liberation of Southern Sudan can remain and do whatever they want in the South but the SPLM is moving North and getting Sudan liberated from injustice and marginalisation as a whole. But that is only if justice, equality and democracy are to continue in the movement. But with all hopes for justice, equality and democracy evaporating fast from the South Sudan and these being replaced by rampant corruption, marginalisation, domination and inequality then it remains to be seen how Southerners will claim to enjoy the liberation in the South and so allow the liberation to continue in the North, because any divisions in the South can easily undermine SPLM ability to bring Northern political forces to its side.

As for the confrontation from October 11, 2007 to Dec 27th 2007, the current SPLM leaders had also sensed that they needed the return back to the Unity Government to prove the point that they really meant to be seen as promoting CPA and preventing as return to war as mentioned repeatedly by leader Salva Kiir Mayardit. All southerners had expressed great concern about an unjustified return to war just over petty appointments. The rampant corruption, power struggle and tribalism were neither giving President Salva Kiir any breathing space to handle the tug of war between SPLM and the NCP. As a result instead of steering people and tuning them for war and the war rhetoric as demanded by some SPLM extremist forces, the GoSS leader was now talking mostly about no return to war, to the happiness of many Southerners.

Hence if withdrawal from Government was meant to give a breathing space to the current SPLM leaders it was not to be the case either. Many SPLM insiders went lose with criticism of their colleagues in the SPLM leadership. In fact many believe now current SPLM leaders did not even enjoy 2008 New Year celebrations that much. Since the New Year many damning evidences of rampant corruption scandals has hit the current SPLM leaders especially the group led by Pagan Amum, the Garang boys or what I refer to former bush SPLM kitchen cabinet. Before and for sometimes now, the current SPLM leaders have used tribalism and divide and rule to undermine the credibility of criticism of corruption, tribalism and power struggle. But in the aftermath of the withdrawal from GoNU, criticism and open disagreement came from all the Southern regions, including Bahr el Ghazal . Just before the return to the unity Government, the SPLM Secretary General made a public announcement dismissing some senior members of the SPLM: Telar Deng and Aleu Ayeiny Aleu, both of whom would have been SPLM ministers returning to GoNU until they were sacked. The two members had made accusations that the SPLM is divisive and that that the members sometimes referred to as Garang boys were on the verge of staging a coup to remove Chairman, Lt Gen Salva Kiir from power. The man they accused as being the mastermind of the plot and the leader of the Garang boys SPLM group was none other the SPLM Secretary General, Mr. Pagan Amum. Mr Pagan Amum could not swallow such a pill and he immediately persuaded President Salva Kiir to dismiss and expel the two from SPLM.. When the SPLM did finally join GoNU on the 27th December 2007, the new cabinet line-up excluded the veteran political leader from Upper Nile , Dr. Lam Akol. It has been rumoured that Garang boys had been after Dr. Lam for a long time and they made repeated attacks on all his work and speeches over the internet. And there were numerous calls for his dismissal. To others it was clear that Mr. Pagan Amum was putting pressure on Garang boys to get rid of Dr. Lam Akol, a kinsman he had developed enmity against during a power struggle after Dr. Lad Akol rejoined SPLM in 2003 as he wanted by all means to be above Dr. Lam Akol in the SPLM hierarchy. It has been rumoured also that the Garang boys are waving a campaign to eliminate all those they considered as backers of Salva Kiir and opponents of corruption from the SPLM before an assumed SPLM National Convention in South Sudan sometime 2008.

In 2007, while the power struggle continued, the looting of the assets and corruption continued unabated. One might be thought of as being crazy to have access to money and not to steal it really because the norm of the current SPLM leaders is to take any money for themselves unhindered and many people have made away with millions of dollars from the meagre available Southern Sudan public funds from the 50% share of the oil money and what else is raised or comes as aid money… So if they cannot punish those who stole millions how will they punish those stealing a few thousand dollars? No one can ask why you did that since GoSS agents concerned with corruption said even last year they have no capacity to persecute anybody for corruption.

Hence let us just visit a few previous corruption examples. When it was reported by Sudan’s President El Beshir on 9th January 2007, that GoS gave SPLM $60 million in 2005 for formation for GoSS and transportation of its personnel from abroad to go back and take part in Government institutions and bodies, the disclosure was first denied by some SPLM leaders but then GoSS President Salva Kiir Mayardit appointed a committee to investigate the usage of the money. Dr. Samson Kwaje of former SPLM bush kitchen cabinet member, who was well placed in the past with SPLM bush corruption, was appointed chairman. I publicly criticised such an appointment and asking SPLM chairman Salva Kiir whether it was wise to ask the hyena which is suspected of stealing and eating the goat to go and look for the goat. Well until today we never received any report as to the result of the investigation committee and we know that the man in charge of handling these funds, Mr. Arthur Akuein, even though removed from his post is a free man today.

In the last few days a damning article by John Mayem Jurku have appeared in the Southern nets and South Sudan websites and the article makes more damaging disclosures about corruption and especially how Arthur Akuein claimed not to be alone in eating the money and revealed to the SPLM Interim Politburo how the balance of the money was distributed among some high ranking SPLM members such as : Pagan Amum 2.5 million US dollars; Malik Agar – 2 million US dollars; Yasir Said Arman – 2.1 million US dollars; Nhial Deng – 2 million US dollars; Deng Alor Kuol -2.5 million US dollars; Mama Rebecca Nyandeng -2.5 million; and perhaps many others got away with hundreds of thousands of US dollars.

While corruption and the power struggle continue some current SPLM leaders are also busy hunting luxury properties abroad and many have already bought mansions in Kenya , Uganda and other countries especially the Western countries where many have their families. This is a bit of surprise to me since I have been investing all my little money form UK back home and never putting any here in London, UK; hence I would wonder why people would be hunting for villas abroad instead of building them in South Sudan , unless they have no hope in the system they are running. If such is the case then why not leave those with hopes in their country to participate and work there rather than marginalising them?

Also the question I have for South Sudan masses and all SPLM cadres as we celebrate this third anniversary is: “For whom long are we going to allow our resources to be plundered by a select few without serious demand for change or demand new faces who can tackle corruption from the roots?” About 2 million fellow South Sudanese people died during the struggle and many people lost everything only to be confronted yet again with uncertainty and further losses this time via South Sudanese own making and not via Northern Sudan. Were all the fights for liberation in vain and only a few chosen elite are the ones to enjoy from our sufferings? Why has the spirit of liberation evaporated so quickly from the South? The President appoints committees to investigate many crimes and wrong doings only never to hear about the committees and their reports again. People are eagerly awaiting if ever there is also going to be any report form the four man committee appointed by our leader Lt General Salva Kiir to investigate the cold blooded killings of three Senior police officers in Yambio on November 4th 2007. Hence 2007 was especially very bad for many South Sudanese with these extra-judiciary killings taking place in many places: Yambio, Bor, Malakal, Toriti, Rumbek etc. Southern Sudanese cannot continue to stay indifference when after claims of freedom then it is their own brethren who are the very ones doing the likings because the Government is weak via corruption, tribalism, bad governance and power struggle.

There is a common theory that the masses take time to absorb and react and I believe if the situation does not improve in the South then there will come a time for the masses also to take things into their own hands. The one thing we can try to do is to avoid the kind of reaction we have seen recently in Kenya .The current leader of SPLM L. Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit has all the chances to act to avoid that. It only takes a few minutes to listen to the facts people are saying about marginalisation, tribalism and corruption. It is not the first time that I have tried to advise our leader Goss President Salva Kiir Mayardit that he made mistakes by quickly turning way from his closest allies after winning the leadership contest for the succession of late Dr. John Garang. A good example for our leader Lt General Salva Kiir to see is how a team comes to take power and rule in a Western style democracy, like the case of Tony Blair in the UK . Mr Blair had prepared his team even before he came into office in 1997 and all of them knew what they were going to do. But if you come to office then throw away all your trusted aides and confidents and take aboard any group with unknown agenda even how promising they are then you are bound to get into deep trouble soon or later because you will never know what the group were up to until much later.

Hence for leader Salva Kiir to continue to succeed and reach the 4th anniversary of the CPA and to win the trust of all the people he needs to accept criticism and turn back to his own backers and people who can work to unite the SPLM into a party for all South Sudanese. Without the move to unite the Southerners and promote democracy, the SPLM is bound to collapse and end up splitting making it hard to carry on the CPA implementation and sticking to the referendum deadline in 2011. Any failure to implement the referendum and CPA will mean we have denied late leader Dr. John Garang his dream of settling the issue of the South via the ballot box.

But I can sense a wind of change in leader Lt General Salva Kiir Mayardit. For the first time he had gone to the house of a Church leader, Rev, Andrew Mbugo to listen to the people and hear some criticism of SPLM and GoSS during the dinner event for the 3rd anniversary celebrations in Khartoum. Also he has continued to make the assertion that he will never take the South Sudan back to war. This is a greet move towards delivering peace, equality and justice to the Southern people. A lot will need to be done in that direction including great promotion of inclusion, acceptance of criticism and tolerance of dissent and making SPLM more democratic. For the big day today in Wau leader Sava Kiir may wish to call it a year to achieve something for all of the South Sudan such as declaring 2008 as a year for development and modernisation just like his 180 days action plan which failed in 2007 because there was no motivator s or a right hand man to see it through for him. Of course plans and actions are carried on the shoulders of devoted personality and if you have none then the plans will never succeed on its own. If there is no serious way out or progressive forward in 2008, then it may be too late to save SPLM as a one united great movement and promoter of the fight for marginalised people in Southern Sudan and Sudan at large and this at a time when we are just half way through the six years Interim period of the CPA. I hope it does not come to that and SPLM rids itself of all the problems and change comes quickly so that SPLM survives as one united party to take us to a new South Sudan in 2011.

Eng. Kisanga is a former SPLM NLC member and a leading SPLM member from Western Equatoria state. Mr Kisanga is Managing of Bibatech Ltd, a UK and South Sudanese ICT Service provider.
He can be reached on cbkisanga@yahoo. co.uk