The dusty storm of reaction

By Zechariah Manyok Biar

January 31, 2010 — My article about the State Minister of Finance in the Government of National Unity (GoNU) caused a dusty storm of reaction that few of my more than hundred articles that I have written since 2008 have ever caused. The contentious debate under the article even surprised non-Sudanese. An American citizen from Boston, Massachusetts sent me an e-mail in which one sentence captured my attention. He wrote, “I found your article in Sudan Tribune inspiring and I have never read such contentious responses to an article.”

What is it about this article that touches the wrong button of those who do not like it? If it is because I have praised Dr. Lual Deng for his achievements that angered critics, then I had done this before. I had written articles about the Minister of Internal Affairs Major General Gier Chuang and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army Chief of Staff Lt. General James Hoth when they were appointed to their current positions, but nobody angrily reacted to those articles the way they reacted to the article about Dr. Deng. Maybe we will learn something from these reactions.

The anger revolved around tribalism and corruption. Some people accused me of tribalism because I had praised my tribes-man. However, two of the people who accused me of tribalism did not answer this question: “Show me your innocence about tribalism and I will shut up?” They never answered this question because they know that I know them more than they know me. So what is the point of accusing others of what you are known for?

The same people accused Dr. Deng of tribalism because he is building his own community despite the fact that he is a national figure. What national figure means when it comes to community development may be a point of debate. But Dr. Deng has programs for other communities, too. The Peace Village that is being built in Twic East is in the honor of the Former SPLM/A leader Dr. John Garang de Mabior. One Peace Village is being built in Greater Equatoria in the honor of Samuel Abu John, the first South Sudanese to register as a soldier in the Sudanese army. The third is being built in Greater Bhar El Ghazal in the honor of the current SPLM leader Gen. Salva Kiir. All of them are initiatives of Dr. Deng.

Another problem was that Dr. Deng has introduced agricultural activities in Twic East and not in other communities. I have a lot of knowledge about this agricultural thing because I wrote my first article about it, published by New Sudan Vision on August 28, 2008. Dr. Deng and the GoNU Minister of Finance announced the need for investment in agriculture on November 4, 2008. In January, 2009, tractors were bought by the Government of South Sudan and distributed to states for agricultural activities. I then wrote an article, suggesting ways the program could be implemented. I am still waiting to hear any community that has put those tractors into successful use. Whether the program is successful or not, it was a national initiative from Dr. Deng?

Dr. Deng followed up with his national agricultural initiative and bought some tractors that would be paid back by Twic East community because he believed that people must see the good results of agriculture-for-market before they like it. Those were the agricultural activities that I mentioned in my article. Were other communities unable to do the same? If they were unable to buy additional tractors, then have their Members of Parliament (MPs) involved in making sure that the project worked? If so, then what is wrong with using Dr. Deng as an example of success story since I have mentioned at the beginning of my article that there are a lot of effective leaders in South Sudan? If they have not done it, then is it not possible to tell a story that shows how it can be done?

The sending of SPLA officers to school for distance learning during the war by Dr. Deng was another tribalism issue he was accused of because the names of Generals mentioned in my article sounded like Dinka Bor names. The sound might be confusing, but the fact is that only two out of six commanders who completed their studies are from Bor. Gen. Hoth is from Nuer, Gen. Gier is Dinka Ngok of Upper Nile, Gen. Oyai is from Shilluk, and Gen. Pieng is from Dinka of Abyei. But the most important thing is that these Generals were not the only ones sent to school. Many others were sent but did not graduate. It is coincident that those who graduated have the names that sound like Dinka Bor names, whatever that means.

The building of Gadiang is another thing that Dr. Deng and I were accused of tribal loyalty. But facts that I mentioned about leaders, including Dr. Riek Gai from Nuer, in the building of Gadiang were ignored because critics wanted to make their points.

The message that I wanted to communicate in the article is stated in its conclusion, which reads: “I can go on and on about the achievements of Dr. Deng. The message I am trying to communicate to our leaders in both North and South Sudan here is that we the citizens of Sudan in general and South Sudan in particular would like our leaders to tell us what they will do when elected in the upcoming elections. We are not interested in your expertise in merely tearing of one another down; we are interested in how you plan to take town to people in your constituencies all over Sudan. Dr. Deng and other effective leaders in Sudan are good examples of what we want our leaders in every state to do. Mere words of how great one is no longer convince us because we have been hearing them since 1983. What convince us now are actions and clear plans for actions.”

Those who reacted to the article chose to ignore the conclusion and made claims that included accusing Dr. Deng of looting public money. Using public money for one’s personal benefit is actually a corrupt practice. However, there must be a definition of what public money means. Does it mean any money that has government on it? If so, are places like three Peace Villages that are funded by GoNU private personal properties? If they are personal properties, then are they personal properties of the honored individuals or properties of Dr. Deng?

There is more to this complaint than the eyes can see. There are people out there who jump into criticism of ideas but they produce none. These kinds of behaviors are called “cognitive dissonance” in psychology. Cognitive dissonance is what makes people read particular newspapers, listen to particular radios, and watch particular TV programs. This is because people like things that confirm their beliefs and make them feel good.

But cognitive dissonance is the enemy of change. Change is not the confirming of wrong ideas or behaviors that one already has, change is displacing what does not work and replacing it with what works. The problem we have in many parts of Africa is that we think we can talk about something that confirms our existing way of seeing things and hope that it will produce different results.

We pull down those who excelled among us and wonder why Africa is still backward! President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda once said that Africans are like grasshoppers. When grasshoppers fall into a hole, they stay there. If one of them tries to climb out, the rest jump on it and pull it down. This may explain the reaction that my article about the achievements of Dr. Deng received.

We take refuge in blaming outsiders for our problems even when it is clear that the outsider’s hand is absence in what we are going through. There is less outsider’s hand in the lack of developmental programs in rural areas in South Sudan. The problem is that our MPs do not know that they are representatives of their constituencies. If MPs do not focus on the welfare of their constituencies, then how would development reach the people who need it? There are many investors who fund well-planned programs. Even the government of Sudan or South Sudan can fund programs from different constituencies if they have clear plans.

Somebody may argue that our MPs do not have access to outside funders the same way people like Dr. Deng have. I understand that. But small start is often better than waiting for the huge one. When Dr. Deng used his little amount of money to buy TV sets for 12 centers in Bor area as well as motivated Telephone Company to invest in Twic East, he was awarded Peace Village program to honor the influential leaders of South Sudan because he was already doing something for his people.

My additional argument would be that if leaders can have enough money to pay ghost workers, then why can’t they have little money for small developmental programs for those who are alive and not working? Is that a problem of Salva Kiir or ministers? Is it not the problem of those who love themselves more than their people?

Who is better than whom, those who eat it all because they do not want to be accused of tribalism for building their constituencies, or those who use little they have to build their constituencies? This is the question I want us to consider in the upcoming elections. Criticizing other people’s ideas while producing none may make one feels good but it solves few problems.

Zechariah Manyok Biar is a graduate student at Abilene Christian University, Texas, USA. He just graduated with a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry and he is still pursuing a Master of Science in Social Work, specializing in Administration and Planning. He can be contacted at [email protected]