By Butrus Ajak, Australia
November 11, 2010 (SSNA) — With just less than 60 days to Referendum plebiscite, Bashir is on again for the Sudan Unity!! Don’t these Jellabas read between lines? Don’t they assess development on the ground? Don’t they see Southerners reaction towards the so-called trapping Unity? It is just ridicules they don’t reason. For those who didn’t read it, it was on the 7th November, 2010 when the Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir announced the formation of a Higher Committee for the Support of Unity and Referendum headed by him and followed by our President Salva Kiir.
Unfortunately, Kiir present in that “Unity committee” attracted more questions than answers. How do we decipher it? Is this not encouraging suspicious gaze and close door gossiping about our Kiir Mayardit? What would be the stance of our President who made it several times crystal clear he was for Separation? How will he get along with his boss and notorious Malual Madut who both deadly opposed to Separation? Is General Kiir being double standard in campaigning for Separation in the South or something? It is somewhat complicated to tell here guys how kiir will play it out and thereby it remains to be seen!! People with absolute conflicting perspectives on Referendum won’t be in one yacht as such; they will either break ties or merge into one ideology.
Organizationally, the most disregarded aspect of leadership; be it in the public or private sector is your relationship with your boss, as he would determine your success or failure as a leader, but Kiir relationship with South Sudan masses he is leading currently is more crucially vital than his relationship with the most wanted man Al Bashir. Kiir wants to serve both Masters and it won’t work. Therefore, these two inner forces are tearing our President apart. It will cost us severely if this chance is allowed to be hijacked again by the then oppressors. Kiir wants to please his boss and this ambivalent thought is sending conflicting wave of news to the eagerly waiting South public.
As South is widely expected to secede comes January 9th 2011, why Kiir dares to waste time and energy campaigning for Unity he knew was dead with the giant Dr. John Garang who once a time wanted to unite Sudanese African and obliterated Arab’s regime once and for all. However, death being what it is, John is no longer with us (R.I.P). Thus, Gen. Kiir needs to take time and effort to manage not only his relationship with Bashir but also with Southerners at this turning point in our history. Managing his team (South Sudanese) as a leader is much more imperative than managing his boss (Bashir). For Kiir to succeed and to remain a Joshua in our history, he requires that he helps Southerners stay focus. This forthcoming Referendum was a God given gift. This is the secret and he got to be vigilant enough so that he is not in a way lured into clandestinely endorsing such unwanted Unity.
It was well articulated once by Luk Kuth Dak that Southerners must believed in their leaders; this is true so long as they stay consistent and objective to what they say. People’s cause remains the first priority no matter what. Kiir’s past records stand tall anyway, his unwavering stance since the inception of movement from the time it was active, through to its dire and gloomy years may earn him some respect and bit of credibility among the South Sudanese populace. He stayed focus though at a time many opportunists had to desert the incipient and sprouting movement and hound their egos and desire. He kept it lively and going. He was kind of a reliable leader those years.
Nevertheless, the premise of Jellabas enforcing Unity now is a testing stage as we speak. In the CPA, it was clearly written both Unity and Separation are the options to choose from, whichever path you embrace is absolutely up to you, why NCP feels pungent once they hear Southerners wanting to Separate? Their reaction towards our departure is mystified and that alone is telling. Murderers cry when seeing South leaving? Is that not deceitful in its totality? NCP wants to enforce Unity because we are leaving with something valuable: untapped resources, human resources (slavery) and many more. Gone are those days Jellabin.
Optimistically, I hope kiir will steer the boat to the shore. If Jellabas want to drag South into War, then why not confront them head on? South is stronger and well primed than ever before. GOSS rules the whole region of South Sudan which is somehow promising in a way. We got to flex our muscles if Jellabas intend to down play our destiny. Kiir got to live up to his promises or else we are doomed to slavery and second class citizenship again.
Butrus Ajak is a concerned South Sudanese and a Swinburne University graduate who live in Australia. He is reachable at [email protected]