“The Citizen” targets the people of Mundri

By Justin Ambago Ramba

April 24, 2010 — It was a huge disappointment to many sons and daughters of western Equatoria state all over the world when they learnt of the malicious article that was published in south Sudan’s daily ‘The Citizen’ when an anonymous coward launched an unprovoked attack on Dr. Richard K. Mulla, under the title of “An independent candidate in Mundri East calls for alliance with the LRA to fight SPLA” published on Thursday April 15th 2010.

Although the anonymous author went in length to attack the independent candidate in issues much to do with SPLM core politics, the very timing of all these controversial accusation points to a desperation caused by the unfolding events at the polling.

The accusation levelled against Dr. R.K. Mulla clearly signifies a tip of a political iceberg. And as the conspiracy is meant to include other people from Dr. Mulla’s constituency and even the large community of WES, the article has indeed touched on very sensitive nerve. All concerned sons and daughters of this part of south Sudan should look at ‘The Citizen’ newspaper with much suspicion in its complacent role in publishing such a demeaning article under anonymity.

Since the article has touched on a very serious topic with a huge connotations both political and security wise, a serious legal steps must be taken against the owners of the paper and his friend who obviously is too wicked to sign his/her name.

If some disinformation think tanks are on hire by the enemies of WES, it should be made a point that they are exposed and made to swallow their nasty rumours.

There is no way that anybody can have the guts to accuse the citizens of WES and their brilliant representatives of any unclean deals with the fugitive bandits of the types that run the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels.

It is the people of WES who suffered the LRA attacks and still continues to do so. They are the ones who lost loved ones in the hands of these bloody thirst thugs. But now as if to add solid to injury, comes an anonymous coward to mock all these losses by spreading the cheapest of all propagandas.

Dr. R.K Mulla is himself a victim to the LRA presence in south Sudan as he had his truck loaded with construction materials targeted and burnt by this very notorious LRA, somewhere around the Tore area.

However can one ask this simply question, “Where was this SPLA which ‘The Citizen’ newspaper wants to talk of when the aforementioned incident took place? Was that not the same period when these very LRA were relocated by the blessing of the GoSS and given the safe havens of the Garamba Park? Was it not the very period when the thug, murderer, rapist, and wanted criminal, Joseph Kony and his men used to get handouts of thousands of US dollars, from the GoSS through its incumbent vice President, none but Dr. Riek Machar Teny?

SPLA despite its many shortcomings in WES, it remains to be south Sudan’s national and official army. They are there to protect the national sovereignty.

And even should the general impression be that SPLA is not doing much to protect the civilians in WES from the LRA attacks, which made the local teenagers to organise what is now known as ‘The Arrow Boys’, to defend their vulnerable communities, it still wouldn’t be anybody’s responsibility to relocated them (SPLA), from there except the GoSS President or the concerned minister.

But since the article has been made public, can we ask ourselves that, can the LRA and the supposed youth, be able to flush the SPLA out of WES as claimed by the hypochondriac author? If according to the international reporters that the LRA is now no more than 200 men army, would it be possible that any one in their right state of mind ever think of using such a small group to face the over 60,000 SPLA men armed with tanks, rockets and all sorts of modern weaponry?

This brings us to the most crucial question, “Who actually owns the SPLA”? Is it not representing all the people of south Sudan, including people from WES?

Yet one feels that there is a missing link in the story, and it is likely that some dirty minds are planning nasty conspiracies against Dr. R.K. Mulla and his constituency and possibly the whole of the WES.

On the other hand one is made to strongly associate this weird kind of behaviour with the election which in itself suffered severe flaws, irregularities and failed to win the approval of the US administration and the rest of the international community. Unless of course you are either a Chinese or a Russian, you will no doubt agree that the elections were even below the standards set for electing members to the Elementary schools food committees of the 50s and the 60s and they were violated.

If Dr. Mulla is targeted for his decision to run as an independent candidate, we must remember that no weak and unpopular politician would have ventured into that. Why his party refused to choose him in the first place cannot be revenged by falsely accusing an entire community of planning war against the country’s national army.

The whole electoral process was competitive all over south Sudan. However to be fair enough one can say that most if not all of the political forces in the south were rather poorly prepared for what otherwise was the most complicated polling practice in the human history.

If it were not for the wrong selection process, there would have been less competition for the SPLM as a party that dominated all the resources in south Sudan, just like anywhere else in Africa.

But the party’s ability to go for an easy win was largely compromised by its Political Bureaus’ choice of less popular candidates over those preferred by the grass roots.

To date, the fiercest competition posed to the SPLM official candidates came from its own members who contested as independent candidates. Expectedly the SPLM was tempted and it resorted to many indecent practices including intimidations and harassments that were reported all over south Sudan.

The author has the greatest regards for Dr. R.K Mulla, who is a highly trained lawyer with an extensive political experience based on his history in the liberation struggle and the huge undeniable contributions he had in the South Sudan Legislative Assembly (SSLA). His legal background is a tremendous asset that will continue to benefit the people of south Sudan. As such it is only natural to give the man his due respect. No way that he be smeared with those cheap fabrications, the type that only exist in the sick minds of envious and desperate rivals who might have found it too hard to match his talents and savviness.

To be fair enough to the people of Mundri, I think that this community has every right to sue “The Citizen” newspaper for damaging its image, in an issue which otherwise can be misinterpreted as possible treason. As dangerous as the accusation stands, the news paper must be made to pay the price and also bring to the public knowledge its ghost writer.

Dr. Justin Ambago Ramba, MB. BCH, DRH, MD. United Kingdom. [email protected].