Telar Ring Deng leaves behind remarkable legacy in Lakes State

By Maker Mabor Marial

July 21, 2010 — In preparations for the 2010 historic elections in the Sudan in 24 years, the First Vice President of the Republic of Sudan, and the President of the self-governing Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS), Lt. Gen. Salva Kiir Manyardit issued a presidential decree no. 19/2010 appointing nine caretaker governors to run the nine states during the elections. It was by the power conferred upon him as the president under the article 103(2) (d) of the 2005 Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan.

For this reason, Telar Ring Deng who initially sought nomination for the gubernatorial candidacy in Lakes State but lost was appointed the caretaker Governor of Lakes State. However, his appointment was received with mix reactions in Lakes State. Many citizens believed that he wouldn’t do anything good to preserve the unity of the people in State and discourage inter-tribal conflicts during the course of the elections. On the other hand, some regarded him as a qualified man and could do better than his predecessors.

Accordingly, “Deng, the caretaker governor, was at first received negatively,” (Sudan Tribune, Feb 26, 2010) In 2008, Mr. Deng along with his colleague Aleu Ayang and Dr. Lam Akol were dismissed and expelled by Chairman Kiir from the ranks and files of the SPLM based on recommendations of an SPLM disciplinary committee. Their dismissal came amid tension between National Congress Party (NCP) and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). Later, SPLM reversed its decision and reinstated both Mr. Deng and Mr. Ayang.

His fallout with the SPLM overshadowed his character and a result many people didn’t truth him in Lakes State. A critic wrote in April 2008 soon after their dismissal “. He is simply a political prostitute. So, my friend, I want to address you as a supporter of Mr. Deng that Southern Sudan will never miss people like him. He is a disease and the SPLM leadership was right to get rid of him,” (Sudan Tribune, February 2, 2008). In deed, his grievances with the SPLM had cast some serious doubt in many people’s minds. They believed that he wouldn’t actually be effective in executing his duties anywhere in Southern Sudan. I was one of those who were skeptical about Mr. Deng’s ability to perform well but realized later that I was wrong in my perception. It’s a narrow-mindedness and ill-advised view that his fallout with the SPLM would automatically make him a bad man and could do nothing to help his fellow Southern Sudanese.

Deng’s appointment came at a time when Lakes State was rocked with rampant insecurity, cattle rustlings, abuse of power, distortion of public funds, and Dec 2009 clashes between civilians and SPLA soldiers in Akot where a number of people lost their lives, highway robberies and skyrocketing rate of crimes. His appointment came at a moment when the state citizens had completely lost their faith in government and therefore viewed any governor coming in as another disappointment. Thus, people initially viewed him as someone sent there just to plunder state monies and fill his bank account in a foreign country with a lot of money besides building a mansion in either Rumbek or Yirol.

Nevertheless, soon after his takeover Mr. Deng quickly move to confirm to the people of Lakes State that he could revitalize his state by improving security, initiating some important developmental projects and creating the environment where the rule of law play a key role in the realization of peace and stability in the state.

In doing so, he banded all the illegal courts that were created during Lt. Gen Daniel A. Akot’s administration. These illegal courts were being blamed for inter-clan feuds because they were interfering with traditional courts that were supposed to be dealing with civil cases such as adultery, elopement and marriage related problems.

Additionally, he removed taxes on all food commodities resulting in drop of food prices. His move to exempt taxes on food commodities was later replicated in May this year by the government of Southern Sudan (GoSS). Last month, Mr. Deng’s decision to make food non-taxable was appreciated by the people of the Lakes State through a United Nations’ Juba based Radio Miraya. Accordingly, his decision has save lives in Lakes State and Southern Sudan in general during a critical time of food shortages in the whole of Southern Sudan.

Besides, he reduced annual tax from civilians from 60 SDG to just 10 SDG per year. According to the citizens of Lakes State, his decision solely based on the fact that many citizens did not have jobs and therefore 60 SDG was high for them. On the other hand, many believe that the annual tax of 60 SDG was going to officials’ pockets instead of being used for development in the state. This, as result was viewed as a right direction toward bringing good governance to Lakes State.

Furthermore, Mr. Deng initiated the on going project of putting in place electricity, created improvised drainage system in Rumbek town and banned the consumption of alcohol during the working hours, from six in the morning to seven in the evening. A move many critics called “another Shari ‘a law in Lakes State.”

I saw the impact of alcohol consumption on the people of Lakes State when I was there earlier this year. People of all ages could freely consume alcohol from morning until evening because the alcohol sales and consumptions were not being regulated. And so, everybody could consume as much alcohol as he or she wanted. Consequently, this resulted in many crimes and serious domestic violent.

Also, Mr. Deng worked very hard during the elections by making sure that the elections went peacefully without incident or outbreak of violent. Hence, he could rarely sit in office; he would travel to most of the counties daily and make sure that everything was going on fine.

Mr. Deng was also against arbitrary arrest as it used to be in Lakes State. For this reason, he wanted all the legal procedures to be followed before the arrest was made. As one journalist told me when I was in Rumbek in April, “yesterday, someone went to Telar and asked for a permission so I could be arrested in regard to the news I had reported the day before. However, Telar refused, he told the guy that there was no legal ground for me to be arrested because I was doing my job as a journalist.” In fact, this was a major problem with the previous administrations, criticism against the government or officials were not appreciated and someone could be arrested and tortured without steps for legal procedures as a consequence.

In July 2008, a local journalist by name Manyang Mayom was stopped at night on the way back to Rumbek from cattle camp where he was covering the disarmament exercise. He was dragged out of his car and brutally beaten by the Sudan People’s Army soldiers; he was later treated in Khartoum for his injuries. Unfortunately, no arrest has been made in regard to his assault.

Mr. Deng in his speech during the swearing ceremony of the Governor Elect, Chol Tong announced to the people of Lakes State the award, received by a local journalist Manyany Mayom as a result for his continuous news coverage despite continuous harassment and abuses from the state government. He thanked him for his perseverance in covering the news in Lakes State under the hardships. This recognition was a surprise for the citizens of Lakes State because this young journalist was always portrayed as a bad guy. He was dismissed by the Ministry of Information, Telecommunication, Culture and Sports as a reason for reporting “information that was not cleared by his bosses as well as his involvement with the independent news provider Sudan Tribune and Khartoum Monitor,” (Sudan Tribuen, 2008). He was also accused of reporting “crisis of Lakes State Assembly with their leadership and the Executive.”

In 2007, the Union of Nuer Community in North America (UNCONA) described Mr. Deng in a Press Release as “ a liberal person who believes in Western style democracy…. easy-going, open-minded and a fellow who will get along with different tribes…,” (Sudan Tribune, Oct 4, 2007).

Mr. Deng is a lawyer by profession and also holds a degree in Political Science and Anthropology from the State University of New York. He served as a judge for a number of years in Sudan and he is well aware of the justice and highly respects human rights. He also understands politics and how to handle social issues. Additionally, he is well known for promoting South-South dialogue and masterminded Wunlit Peace Conference of 1999 where the Nuer and Dinka chiefs met to end tribal conflicts.

With these abundance knowledge, Mr. Deng in just two and half months, had shown to the people of Lakes State that changes don’t come in many months or years instead they can take place within a short period of time if the right man is in charge.

Alternatively, Mr. Deng’s excellent performances have so far cast a dark shadow over the administration of the new Governor Eng. Chol Tong Mayay. Should Gov. Mayay fail to fulfill his campaign promises I believe he will be fierily criticized. It’s a known norm in Lakes State for leaders to be widely criticized when they fail to meet public expectations and are appreciated for their outstanding performances.

There is already a pending criticism labeled against him in which Jur Beli Community from Wulu County feels left out in his administration and the State Legislative Assembly Specialized Committees. This is in addition to rampant car hijackings whereby SPLA soldiers seize private and NGOs’ vehicles for unknown reasons.

Gov. Mayay is a great guy and I hope he will do something to resolve these two burning issues upsetting his new administration and prove to the people of Lakes State that he can do better than Mr. Deng.

The author is the citizen of Lakes State and currently lives in the United State. He can be reached at [email protected]