Aliab students urges development to South Sudan Aweriar County

February 18, 2008 — It is with great honor that the Aliab community in Diaspora has taken this time out of it busiest day to formerly appreciate your leadership in Lake State. Our State has become a better atmosphere and environment for its citizens since you became the governor of Lake State. One must admit and acknowledge your un shakable leadership, not only during those three years of comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) which was signed by Khartoum government and the Sudan people’s liberation movement and Army( SPLM/SPLA) in Nairobi Kenya in 2005, but through out the History of our struggle for justice, equality, prosperity, dignity and humanity. Your leadership during those difficult times will go to the History of Sudan and the History of freedom marginalized people of Sudan in the South, East, West, and in the North. However, the challenges of the struggle remains at large although the newly born government of South Sudan (GOSS) has been doing the best it can to bring about the change in which we have spent half a century in the Bush. Great challenges were presented to us by the enemies of our people when John Garang was tragically killed by a political motivated plane crash on July 30th, 2005. We have been challenged and tested by the forces of evil since, but the people of good will and those who have been willing to sacrifice their blood, wealth, and land have resisted as the struggle continue.

You’re Excellency, I am writing to you on behalf of Aliab students in Diaspora, we applaud your leadership, but we are concerned about the negligence toward our people back home. We think that Aweriar County in Lake State has been neglected not only by your administration, but by the previous ones; which was the reason why the people of Aliab in particular were elated and delightful when you became the governor of Lake State under the leadership of South Sudan government. Before then and now Mr. Governor, our people have been the most victims of war in term of insecurity and development. First and foremost, in 1993, the war was waged on us by militia known as Aringa (Mundari) when they defected to the North and fought on behalf of Khartoum. During then, our people were in Bush, fighting the common enemy for the freedom that we are all enjoying at this moment. Our women, children and elderly who were harmless were brutally and innocently killed without being defended either by the SPLA forces, nor the Aliab youth since we were confronting the North in various areas of South Sudan. Our houses were set on fire by the same people whom we were fighting for their freedom, and our resource were looted and raided in our absent. Nothing was done by either SPLA/SPLAM, nor did the people of great Aliab ever revenge. Perhaps those were the moments the patriotic citizens of South Sudan such as our people of Aliab were dedicated to the common epidemic caused.

Your Excellency, when the comprehensive peace agreement was signed by the North and South, a high level of hope was placed into our people’s hearts, minds and souls from all corners of our nation. Our people were relieved from war, fear, anxiety and hopelessness. They were told by our hero, Dr. John that the Sudan “will never be same” again, high level of hope and optimism once was poured into their hearts and minds all over Sudan given the fact that peace and prosperity was going to echo everywhere all over our nation, yet today Mr. Governor, the people of Aliab are still face with injustice within the government of South Sudan which they had so bitterly fought along side by side for the caused of our people. Our innocent’s citizens of Aliab community are being attacks and harassed by Mundari ethnic clan, and no government intervention has ever occurred. We the members of this community have been able to remained silent, and assure our people that if we did not revenged during the war, then we should not now because we have a government that can look over all of us and oversee our problems. Yet our commitment and patriotism has become our coward whereby the enemies of our people have been taking advantage of good people of Aliab. Therefore Mr. Governor, we are calling upon your leadership, and the leadership of South Sudan as a whole to pay attention to this problem. Advise Clement Wani so that he stops his people from attacking our people. We wanted our people to be free that is why we fought for more than two decades without weavering. It is never too late to urgently address this problem before it dynamite. People fights for freedom, no one ever fought for any reason that is not associated with freedom, thereafter the people of Mundari have nothing to free themselves from Aliab Dinka, but they have to free themselves from the common enemy which has been always responsible for hatred and misunderstanding among us. We the people of greater Aliab do not want to be left with no choice but to revenge, for our people in the entire nation have so much to focus on such as the implementation of comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) with its unimplemented contentious protocols. We are tat ime where the stakes are too high to focus on ethnic problems, but on the common purpose in which we must accomplish. We the Aliab students in Diaspora are disappointed, outraged and angered by this unnecessary killing of our people. It is in your administration and the of South Sudan government’s best interest to make sure that the Mundari stop harassing our people, and let’s all build peace among us, cooperate and have unified coalition of will that shall enable us to confront the common enemy either now or in the future.

Moreover, Mr. Governor, we have been struck by the fact that the development has been taking place in all regions of South Sudan since the signing of comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) in 2005, unfortunately Mr. Governor, as I am speaking today the people of Aliab within your State of great Lake have no even the basics, such as clean water, clinics, and schools. As far as the school is concerned in Aweriar County, there is only one stable primary school in Bunagak (Aliab) and it is only from first to seventh grades, which means that the kids who make it up to seventh grades have no access to eighth grade leave alone secondary level. On the other hand, there is only one primary healthcare clinic which is situated in the same area of Bunagok. This means that our people are the targets of outbreak epidemic diseases such as Cholera, Malaria, Typhoid and other rheumatic controllable epidemics which are preventable. Mr. Governor, as citizens of our land, and people who have so much contributed to the caused of our people, our minds keeps wondering as to why our people are being neglected when they have assumed their roles and responsibilities as everybody else in the South during the struggle? Why our people are being allowed to be die either in the hands of other human beings or diseases? Why our people are not well represented since the philosophy of what we had fought for has been about fair and just representation of all citizens, either in local or federal level? Right now Aweriar County is the only county among other Counties in ten States of South Sudan without even a commissioner; and this is happening on your watch as well as the government of South Sudan.

Mr. Governor, we as citizens of Aliab and South Sudan are demanding immediate attention to these problems, because we can not afford having lost our people’s lives during the war; and losing them now when the peace that we had wanted and fought side by side with everyone else has arrived. We can not afford having lost our people’s lives during the war because of opportunities and prosperity for everyone, and yet loss those opportunities and prosperity after they have been achieved through the contributions made by our people. We value your leadership, patriotism, and contribution to our nation, but the people of Aliab will hold you accountable for damages done to them when you were capable of improving every Lake State citizen’s life. We want you do resue our people from Mundari ethnic clan, and from the above epidemic diseases. Finally, the roads are being constructed all over Sudan, because better roads enable development flourish in term of improving people lives; unfortunately, there has been no single road constructed to connect Aliab citizens with their neighbors, so that they can have easy access to goods and service that everybody is enjoying in the South. Once again, we the aliab students abroad think that our people have been neglected, and it is time now for you the governor of Lake State and the government of South Sudan to act and do something about our neglected citizens. There is no any reason why service and goods are being deliver to the rest of citizens and alienate our people.

All in all, the intimidation of our people by Mundari must stop. It is a responsibility of the government of Lake State and the government of South Sudan to satisfactorily assure the safety and wellbeing of every citizen in the South. It is your responsibility to make sure that we do not stay divided because of ethnic’s problems and the lack of fair transference. Our unity and dedication to common caused are needed than ever before; so that we are always ready to confront the forces of evil with undivided theme. We are in a time whereby our political actions must be unified in order to combat the common enemy with undivided will. We must be free, because a man’s life is worthwhile when he is free and his life is worthless without freedom. Union through assurance of equal opportunity and security of our people is urgently needed. And it must be accomplish whatsoever. We wish our government of South Sudan the best success and health as the struggle continue.

Garang Ayang Kuoi

Southern Vermont College

Bennington Vermont U.S.A.

[email protected]