If Garang were to attend the 4th anniversary of independence!
by Luka Biong Deng
July is a special month for the people of South Sudan during which they celebrate their independence as the most important achievement in their political struggle. Also in July, they commemorate together with the marginalized people of Sudan the loss of their Great Leader, Dr John Garang. As 9th of July is approaching, the people of South Sudan will have mixed feelings. On the one hand they will be joyful that their country, regardless of its health, is now four years old. On the other hand they will be mourning for their shattered dreams after the eruption of conflict in December 2013.
Certainly, the most disappointed people would be our martyrs who paid the utmost price for the better future for the people of South Sudan. In the preamble of our constitution we vow to remember and to be inspired by the selfless sacrifices of our martyrs, heroes and heroines in building our new nation. We promise to ourselves and to our martyrs in our constitution to lay the foundation for a united, peaceful and prosperous society based on justice, equality, respect for human rights and the rule of law. We also promise in our constitution and to our martyrs our dedication to a genuine national healing process and the building of trust and confidence in our society through dialogue.
There is no any other better times to live up to these commitments and promises to our martyrs and ourselves than after the independence of South Sudan on 9th July 2011. If our martyrs and our Great Leader Dr John Garang were to attend the 4th Anniversary of our Independence, what would they see and how would they feel? Like other South Sudanese, Garang and our martyrs would certainly feel proud that South Sudan is an independent new nation. This hard-won independence should make every South Sudanese proud and to cherish it regardless of the conditions being faced by our country. As some may doubt the value of such independence, the post-independence difficulties faced by the people of South Sudan should make them even more determined to create a better future. Most nations that are now prosperous went through difficult times but they managed to transform such difficulties into opportunities for building better future. Garang would certainly congratulate the people of South Sudan and President Salva for making dream coming true.
For sure Garang would be shocked and amazed by the rapid development in Juba. If he were to come before the crisis of December 2013, he would see considerable improvement in the livelihoods of our rural population despite the failure to realize his vision of taking towns to the people and to use oil revenue to fuel agricultural development. If every South Sudanese were to assess his and her wellbeing before the conclusion of CPA in 2005 and before the eruption of crisis in December 2013, one would say with confidence that there was a remarkable improvement. The status of Millennium Development Goals as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics improved considerable during the period of CPA although not to the level of attaining these goals in 2015.
Jonglei State was recognized as one of the best performing states with Bor town considered as one of the cleanest towns in South Sudan during the governorship of Kuol Manyang. Agriculture production increased considerably in Western Equatoria state during the governorship of Nunu and later under governorship of Joseph, one of the best performing governors. Eastern Equatori state prospered under Governorship of Emur and later on under Governor Lewis. Northern Bahr el Ghazal state witnessed considerable development under the governorship of Gen. Paul Malong who forged amicable relations with Arab nomads and traders. Unity State witnessed also considerable progress during the governorship of Taban Deng. Upper Nile state excelled in its prudent financial management under Stephen Dhieu, the then state minister of finance recognized to be one of the best state ministers by then. Western Bahr el Ghazal state performed better under governorship of Rizziq. Also Governor Clement Wani provided unique and stabilizing leadership in Central Equatoria state. Yes, we would have performed better if we were to manage better the oil revenue but the fact of the matter is that a lot of progress happened during the period of CPA.
Definitely, Dr John and the rest of our martyrs would be extremely disappointed by the status of affairs after the eruption of conflict in December 2013. Garang would find the country is bleeding with a senseless war that claims lives and livelihoods of innocent citizens everyday. Garang would also find SPLM is divided into four factions; namely SPLM-IG, SPLM-IO, SPLM-FD and SPLM-DC. Famine was aborted in 2014 and it is looming now in 2015. The level of malnutrition among children is as high as 30 percent that is more than double the officially recognized emergency levels. In some areas, one in three children is malnourished, a level that is usually seen during famine.
South Sudan faces the world’s worst food crisis in 2015 with about 4.6 million food insecure people. More than 2 million people have been displaced, of whom more than 1.5 million internally and more than 500,000 who fled to the neighbouring countries. The number of displaced persons is increasing everyday. During the month of June alone about 15,000 persons fled to Sudan. This level of displacement is unprecendented and it is the most serious displacement in the history of Southern Sudan. The recent survey conducted by law society shows that the level of trauma is extremely high at the rate of 45 percent with one in two persons suffers from trauma compared with 7 percent in USA. The civil war is costing the people of South Sudan, the neighboring countries and the international a great deal with cost ranging between USD122 billion to USD158 billion if peace is not achieved.
Besides these enormous costs and human suffering, the image of South Sudan has been badly tarnished and it is now labeled as the most fragile state in the world. Also South Sudan is among the worst performing states with regard to human rights, corruption, freedom of press, civil liberties and political rights. Some leaders of the warring parties may face UN targeted sanctions if no peace agreement is concluded. It is most likely that some leaders of the warring parties may also be indicted if the report of AU Commission of Inquiry is released on 15th July. South Sudan is exhibiting the ills of Sudan and it competes with Somalia and Sudan for the position of the worst performing state. Alarmed by the status of human rights situation in South Sudan, the UN Human Rights Council may consider the appointment of human rights special rapporteur.
Certainly, we, as people of South Sudan, did not live up to what we promised in our constitution to ourselves and to our martyrs. We have failed not only to be inspired and guided by the selfless sacrifices of our martyrs but also we failed to lay the foundation for a united, peaceful and prosperous South Sudan as well as failing to build trust and confidence among our communities.
The recent bold and historic decision by the SPLM National Liberation Council under its Chairmanship President Salva Kiir, to reinstate Mr. Pagan Amum to his position as Secretary General of the SPLM is a genuine effort towards the full implementation of the SPLM Reunification Agreement. This process will eventually provide a solid basis for realizing a comprehensive national peace agreement in Addis Ababa. With such optimism in the SPLM reunification and prospects for peace, Dr John and our martyrs may rest in peace with the hope that the surviving leaders of the SPLM will not again let down the people of South Sudan. Knowing the damage they have caused, the living leaders of the SPLM will this time around be inspired by the selfless sacrifices of our martyrs to achieve peace as the only thing that would make the people of South Sudan to meaningfully celebrate the 4th Anniversary of their independence.
The author is the Director of Centre for Peace and Development Studies, University of Juba, Global Fellow at Peace Research Institute Oslo and Associate Fellow at Carr Centre for Human Rights Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. He is reachable at [email protected] or [email protected]