Tribal identity: The biggest beast ever existed in South Sudan
The author recounts his story of fleeing war in South Sudan for a second
time.
Last updated: 31 Jan 2014 16:43
On January 9, 2011, I walked off the polling station thinking the problem of
South Sudan was solved. I was so proud and felt a great sense of dignity
for the first time! The threat from Omar Hassan Al-Bashir, the president of
the former Sudan, was now seriously defied by a very large turnout and by
the high prospect of almost all voting in favour of separation.
Former Southern militants formerly allied to the Khartoum regime were
welcomed back and integrated within ranks of the Sudan Peoples' Liberation
Army (SPLA). These included the former Vice President Riek Machar who came
back to the SPLA in 2002 when the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement/Army
(SPLM/A) and the National Congress Party (NCP), ruling party in Khartoum,
engaged in peace talks.
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Other militias, such as Paulino Matip's and Peter Gatdet Yak's with other
groups who fought alongside the government forces, would also later on be
welcomed and integrated into the Southern Army (SPLA). This
open-hand-embraced policy was meant to break a terrible cycle of intertribal
conflict and defection during the years of the liberation struggle. All the
atrocities committed were completely forgotten. Accountability was much
ignored. All was done, I believe, in the interest of "peace and
reconciliation" and of re-uniting Southerners regardless of past mischiefs.
An independent South Sudan would finally make up for all the atrocities
committed, deliberate or not, within and/or among communities of South
Sudan. Of course, knowing what I know now, I was being overly naive.
On December 16, 2013, South Sudan awoke to a very sad morning. The very army
that was tasked with protecting the president, a very noble job, had just
split along ethnic lines. They became Dinka and Nuer loyalists - not
national army. A friend and a colleague in combat all of a sudden became an
enemy. They turned guns against each other and created a very ugly scene in
the national capital, Juba! Trust and friendship faded in matter of seconds.
For those of us who were outside Juba, we heard the news about a foiled
"coup attempt". Some of the master-minds were already apprehended, while the
whereabouts of Dr Riek Machar and a few others were unknown. Anxiety among
the civilian population couldn't have been higher.
While this event triggered a national shock, provinces' authorities started
to demonstrate their autonomy. In Jonglei state, for example, the deputy
governor, who was the acting governor at the time, convened his security
committee. The committee consisted of himself, the acting governor, Hussein
Mar Nyot (Nuer); SPLA Division Commander, Peter Gatdet Yak (Nuer); State
Minister of Law Enforcement, Duop Lam (Nuer); and Police Commissioner, Ajang
John (Dinka). The committee discussed, inter alia, how to secure streets of
Bor, the state capital, in order to avoid a repetition of what was happening
in Juba. The division commander instructed his men to patrol the city at
night. For those of us who were later informed about this extra ordinary
meeting and preparedness, there was little or no doubt that whatever was
happening in Juba was Juba's and will remain there for them to sort out.
Unfortunately, the only Dinka security committee member had been fooled to
buy into this false belief.
At around 3:00am in the morning, I got a call from a village resident and
was asked what the "heavy sound of artillery in direction of town was for?"
had not heard any sound. Of course, a heavy sound of a running generator in
the hotel was loud enough to obstruct any other noise outside the hotel. I
looked out through my room's window and saw that hotel guests were already
gathered outside, having heard the news that the Division 8 Commander, Peter
Gatdet Yak, had defected and taken over two outposts of Bor town. He had
shot dead his Deputy, Ajak Yen (Dinka) and a few others. With Nuers being
the majority in Jonglei State, and in its organised forces, they switched
sides and Bor town became their easy target. They stormed and took it over
the evening of the December 17, 2013.
Witness - Our Man In Sudan
Bor being inhabited by a Dinka minority, and with the massacre of 1991 still
fresh in many people's minds, the population within and around Bor town
immediately scattered. Some ran to the bush while others crossed over to the
Western part of the River Nile. Ajang John, Commissioner of Police, narrowly
escaped with multiple gun wounds. Few of his men who tried and showed
resistance were killed.
From there, what started stupidly as a political wrangle among the elites
in Juba became clearly a fight along ethnic lines. I now see quite a few of
my former Nuer friends (with exception of Mabior Garang De Mabior) and
intellectuals elegantly dressed and negotiating on the team of Dr Riek
Machar, the leader of South Sudanese rebels.
It was at this point that I realised, ethnic identity is the biggest beast
that ever existed in South Sudan. Sadly, I am convinced that no amount of
compromise will ever suppress this reality in our country. As I write this
piece, while staying in a foreign country as a refugee for the second time,
I feel a great sense of low self-esteem.
Panther Alier is one of the "Lost Boys of Sudan" who fled Sudan's civil war
in the 1980s. He returned to South Sudan in 2009, after the Comprehensive
Peace Agreement, to participate in rebuilding of his country.
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Received on Fri Jan 31 2014 - 13:43:28 EST