The danger of misconceiving the independence of South Sudan
By Zechariah Manyok Biar
July 12, 2010 — Walking in darkness and misperception of issues are real brothers. The upcoming referenda that will undoubtedly result in the secession of South Sudan and Abyei are being directed to a road full of landmines by some few South Sudanese who misunderstand the reason why South Sudanese want to secede. The misperception about the independence of South Sudan, as I read it from the comments of some Southerners, is that South Sudanese want to secede in order to get rid of Salva Kiir and the SPLM party. Others think that everybody will be rich as soon as we seceded from the North.
These are very dangerous perceptions that need to be corrected, if South Sudan is to achieve its goals in the future. Correction of these misplaced beliefs is easy. The problem is that a person who would correct these misconceptions will be misconceived, too.
It has now become a slogan for people to accuse those who have different ideas from theirs of having been bought by the Arabs. I used to think that such a claim was based on information from intelligence personnel until I received the same accusation recently from those who think they know what they are talking about. If what these people accused me of was based on intelligence information, then there is no reason to believe in what intelligence personnel say at all. Since I trust our intelligence, I believe that accusing people of having been bought by Arabs is mostly a mechanism some people use for silencing voices that challenge misplaced beliefs.
What these few Southerners who go around accusing others of being bought by Arabs without intelligence information must know is that their strategy is not going to work. If they think that we will fear losing our popularity if we speak the truth, then they must understand that some of us who write opinion articles would rather choose progress over fame. What would my popularity do to help people that need real change? Nothing. So, why should I worry about it if my aim for writing is to contribute to positive change in our country?
My position now is that we Southerners must get into real issues about progress. Some of us writers are now more interested in introducing ideas that will contribute something positive to the upcoming state of South Sudan or Cush, whatever it will be called. We will pay little time focusing on Khartoum anymore apart from promoting peaceful existence between the two countries. This means that this time is not a time for us to tell ourselves what our ears want to hear.
The disadvantage of telling people what they want to hear is that it keeps them in the darkness of the pleasure-driven world—a world in which pain is regarded as a bad thing, when it is not. Some philosophers believe that God created pain for the survival of the creatures. The way leprosy cuts people’s limbs, for example, is to first attack their nervous system, making pain almost non-existence. The limbs that do not feel pain would then have no problem standing on fire or sharp objects. That is how leprosy kills. Those who think that there is nothing wrong with leprosy attack might be the ones who believe that everything about the world should be pleasing to their feelings. Our leaders should not be these kinds of people. They must tell people the reality of our need for independence, even if it is not pleasing to the ears of some people.
Our need for secession from Northern Sudan, as I understand, is to have freedom, not to eliminate tribes that we do not like or overthrow the elected president. Some people like to talk about war, but talking at somebody and shooting at him are two different things. None of us is new to these differences. That is why we prefer real freedom over fake one.
Freedom does not mean the beginning of next fighting. Freedom means the replacement of war with the deliberation of issues in a very conducive atmosphere. A free South Sudan that we are looking forward to should be a country where people are encouraged to be critical thinkers to be able to market themselves, if they want to be leaders, instead of using guns as means of forcing their way into power. The free South Sudan that we are looking forward to should be a country where the love of all human beings is promoted in every public and private institution. The free South Sudan that we are looking forward to should be a country where the rule of law is above everybody. The free South Sudan that we are looking forward to should be a country where prosperity of its citizens is promoted on genuine free market and creativity, and not on fraudulence.
Anything short of the above must be evaluated critically before we turn it into a slogan. There is always a danger in what many tongues utter; it clouds the minds even the minds of sophisticated thinkers.
We must know that voting for something is very easy, what are difficult often are the realities of what we vote for. Voting for secession in South Sudan will not be difficult at all, however smart the cheaters would be in the North, what would be difficult would be how to make the expectations that our people have about the new state come into being. Impulsive ideas and hysterical dreams will have no place thereafter, believe it or not. Now is the time to put things right.
Zechariah Manyok Biar, BA. Edu., MACM, MSSW. He can be reached at [email protected]
Awumtiai
The danger of misconceiving the independence of South Sudan
Good article Manyok. You are a true nationalist and therefore keep writing. Zechariah, those who chant such slogan of “Arabs buying people” Mister X is bought and Arab did this to Miss Y. They are very one bought by Jallaba. They feel jealous and therefore wanted to soil anyone they get.
They should know Arabs are selective in buying southerners they go for people they know!!!
Just ignore them and that gona speak volume.
By Maguacwum II.
thieleling
The danger of misconceiving the independence of South Sudan
Manya….
Here we go again!! Empty slogan, empty slogan……from your big-poisonous & fraudulence mouth.
The problem is that your boasting & empty, false pride misread others. You are NOT who you think you are. So, you need to be real with yourself first before you engage in real sophisticated debate with other south sudanese.
You are the same so-called opinion writer who admited to shoot his first bullets against south sudan nationalists/separatists on your writings last week.
Don’t you see your big contradictions here? Do you even know whose signature was on the Self-Determination provision in the CPA protocols? Yes, that was a big contradiction too. Do yourself a favor, quit reckless talk about freedom or giving equal opportunities for all. You don’t know none of these.
You are the same soldier who was given a permission to go study abroad by his commander-relative in SPLA. How many foot-soldiers were given that chance in SPLA during the war, except few very senior commanders to visit with their families in the camps or abroad? I also questioned your relative’s process of selecting who to go and who could be on the front-line
Please, don’t twisted things. Kiir & SPLM members are members of south sudan, considering most SPLM members come from south sudan today. What south sudanese are saying is that they don’t want a tribe or a political party to replace Jallaba in south sudan. No more dictatorship replacing another one, period.
If the rule of law takes place instead of intimidations and corruptions, then there will be peace in south even after independence. But if there is no rule of law, then there will be a war whether south becomes independence or stays unite with the north.
Yes, People of south sudan had enough military dictatorship of SPLM since the bush time. They want the power of democracy to reign in the south whether with the north or independence, period.
Please, war is a part of the civilization. That’s why it is used as a last resort to correct misrule or chronic corruptions anywhere in this world. The civilized world used it before. The very America you were in had its civil war. Europe had its own. Every society goes through it if it has to or revolution is warranted. South sudan is inhabited by some fearsome, revolutionary communities in nature. They cherish their extreme freedom. They can ONLY be led by a fair, honest government, but not a decay-rotten one like south had in the last five years of CPA.
Please, check south sudanese history & the colonial time. Also, the south’s current problem with ‘Sharia Law’ & why south want to seccess. It has nothing to do with your speculation about Kiir & SPLM. It is always south’s aspirations to seccess since before Sudan became independence. Your allegation does not hold water. There are no evidence to prove that!! Try other lies, but not this one.
Therefore, it is only natural to say there will be a change of guards in south after the Referendum unless the entitlement-mentality change in SPLM/A. It is NOT about Salva Kiir or the party-SPLM. It is the system that is used within SPLM that will trigger the anticipated violence outbreak or south-south civil war.
Dinka Boy
The danger of misconceiving the independence of South Sudan
Theiling,
The independent of South Sudan has been misunderstood by many during the war and these are your likes who just follow the dusty wind without proper examination . Why do you attempt to dispute the truth? people like you fill their mouth with independent while they have no strategy to liberate it. You and Dr Lam Akol are still talking about the secession of South while supporting Arab North indirectly. My friend,It’s easy to say something while you are unable to performed it.We all know who are men in the South. We also know you libereate the South from the subjugation of Arab North during the war.What do you know about the independent of South Sudan while you have been support the North for many years.
James Okuk Solomon
The danger of misconceiving the independence of South Sudan
I don’t think there is any Southerner who is misconceiving the independence of South Sudan as brother Zechariah Manyok thinks and lies here. May be he is the very one trying to confuse the Southerners, instead, as we heard from his very mouth last time that ‘confederation’ is the good idea.
My brother, independence is independence. There is nothing wrong if the independence of South Sudan leads to change of Mr. Salva Kiir disastrous leadership for good leadership. For sure the independence of South Sudan shall lead to the change of the name of the SPLM/A because “Sudan” shall be struck out from it and replaced with “South Sudan” so that it reads SSPLM/A. May be Dr. Riek Machar shall be the new leader of the newly changed SSPLM/A as Kiir is told to go home.
If Mr. Manyok is afraid that his new father (Salva Kiir) will lose power when the South becomes independence, let him say it clearly than hiding behind his so called “Misconceiving the Independence of South Sudan”. Even Mr. dishonourable Abel Alier have been heard advising Mr. Kiir to distance himself from any thing to do with independence of South Sudan because this shall make him and his tribe to lose the power and wealth they are enjoying now. Thus the conspiracy of Mr. Manyok is not a new think to me; because it seems to be within a network of opportunists who want to protect Salva Kiir to be in power by any means; even losing the independence of South Sudan. God forbids!