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By Dr. Peter Kopling Joseph
January 1, 2014 (SSNA) — We the People of South Sudan desire democracy but also yearn for a just and lasting peace not just any peace, this being the case, Why would the Obama’s Whitehouse and the European Capitals literarily hand our fate in the hands of Dictators the likes of Museveni of Uganda who has in his country clung to Power forever, and dealt mercilessly with his opponents as Kiir is now doing, in addition has never brought peace in any of the regional conflict he has been involved in, from Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Somalia to Democratic Republic of Congo?
To the Whitehouse, the European governments and African Union, I ask, does truth matters anymore? Is any word that comes from a government necessarily, the gospel truth? Is it to be taken over what its citizen says, regardless if such government has clear records of deceptions and tyrannical governance over her people? How can you prescribe a remedy without first understanding and reaching an accurate diagnosis? Shouldn’t you jump to therapy unless first understand what the root cause of the problem is? Otherwise the disease shall never be cured no matter how much medicine you pump into your patient? Should you not first understand the nature of the disease you are dealing with as well as what are the comorbid conditions of your patient not just the current one? What was the condition of the government of South Sudan under Kiir?
Was it not a government that has: restricted free press, Kills opinion writer, Assassinate and imprison lawyers and journalists. Assassinate tribal chives and turn around and blame it on tribal leaders opposed to its dictatorial leadership styles and have them all jailed as it happened in Wau and Nimule, dethrone elected governors and rule by decrees, Gives no account to her people, rendering the house of elected parliament worthless and puppets?
Was it not the very same government, that embezzled 4.5 billions of the national treasury and to top it all, a government that ranks the worst of the world governments, earning number five, only beaten by Somalia, North Korea, Afghanistan, and Sudan?
For those of us who live under this government, it is more than a statistics; it is a daily life for our Children and families. We wonder how it must be in Somalia, if being number five feels this way?
Such is the government that came out to announce to the world on Dec 16th2013 contrary to the truth on the ground, that it had “foiled a coup attempt” and the world has swallowed it all heartedly to the point Washington Asked another tyrant AKA Museveni to mediate and this same is mediating as he knows best with guns, tanks and jetfighters!
Shame on the advance democracies, what make you think we in south Sudan needs Museveni to negotiate with Bombs on our heads, We in South Sudan have, (Post traumatic stress disorders) PTSD to Bombs falling from the skies, thus is Washington surprised that, knowing Ugandan Air force was in the frontline, the Nuer forces, fighting for their lives, ended up shooting at the US military airplane, mistaken it for Uganda’s? Who is to blame for this?
Shame on Washington, the European and African Unions, for not being interested in the Truth and not believing the people of South Sudan, taking what the tyrant Kiir said at face value despite of his corrupt and abusive track records. South Sudan has acquired this distinction of top ranking corrupt nation in just few years of existence not for nothing, how shocking that all these antecedents mean nothing to Washington DC, European and African Capitals.
I urge Washington DC and the European and African Unions to set up a fact and truth finding committee and should do such, they will find out that the people of South Sudan told the truth, that Kiir, has predominantly given key government positions and ambassadorial positions of strategic capitals of the world to his Dinka Tribesmen, which explains why these ambassadors will propagate the Dinka View of South Sudan and Riek Machar, thus the world sees South Sudan from the eyes of the Dinkas although they are less than 16% of the populations and leading the world to think all south Sudan is Dinka and believe Kirr rather than the rest of South Sudanese who are complaining of lack of democracy and oppressions by Kiir and his criminal gangs.
Is it surprising then that though every tribe in South Sudan agonizes under Dinka atrocities, the only atrocity the world knows about is that of 1991? Even now, the UN is quick to point out reported atrocities in Bor but yet tight lips about Massacre in Juba under Kiir? Is it not because they view South Sudan as the Dinkas do, as results of most people of high places they deal with are Dinkas? The UN itself has and is contributing to our enslavements to the Dinka by accepting this to be the norm and not enforcing diversity.
In addition to favoring his tribesmen in government positions and contracts, Kiir also recruited a Tribal militia for tyrannical and tribal purpose, thus the person who instigated tribalism in South Sudan is Kiir. It was Kiir who issued to arrest his political opponents, rather than challenging them democratically. It was him who issued disarmaments of the handful, for window dressing Nuer, in his Militia, resulting into mutiny! So who started to use force here? Are the citizens supposed to receive his bullying and use of force with open arms?
The fight started with the arrest issued by the president who rules by decrees, he instigated this fight, not those who were gathering and holding democratic challenges to his tyrannical rule. If those opposed to him have done anything wrong it was holding meetings and speaking against a dictator who does not tolerate such in “his country”.
This same tribal militia, commanded not by the Chief of Staff but by Kiir himself went to Riek Machar’s house, ran it down with tanks, killed all those they found in the house, Women and children and demolished the house to the point they thought they killed Riek in that house. What does killing Women and children has to do with Riek Machar democratically challenging the president to open the path to the highest office? So who started the use of force for the highest office in the land, wasn’t it Kiir? Who started Massacre of women and children, was it not Kiir and the world is tight lips about?
Not satisfied with this they then and now turned their eyes on every Nuer house in Juba, Killing Women, Children and the vulnerable, even the Nuer who worked in civil services were not spared.
Dear Washington, European and African capitals, if you care about the truth, it was this that turned the Nuer who voted and brought Kiir to power into Survivalist fighters, to call them Riek’s rebels is to do them and those massacred a disservice.
This must be understood and well, These Nuer fighters opted to fight even before Riek could reach to them once they got the news of the Nuer Massacre in Juba. What this means is, they are fighting for their survival first, Riek’s Second and thirdly for the entire South Sudanese who are oppressed and condemned, like them, under Kiir.
Kiir instigated the Massacre and the rebellion was thrown on the chest of the Nuer, not of their choices. Self-defense is a natural right.
Once clearly understood the reason why the Nuer accepted the fight thrown onto their chest of no choice of theirs, then one concludes the Nuer with or without Riek are obliged to fight for their survivals until Kiir apologizes and calls the killings off, instead of aggravating it by dragging Museveni in to join the genocide!
No one, not even Riek, needed to tell the Nuer to pick up the guns and fight, nor must anyone now has to tell them to stop until the death sentences placed on their heads is lifted by none other than Kiir himself or until he is forced out of power.
While the world so righteously sings, power must not be change by force; the irony is those who came to government by force, remains in power by deceptions and use of force, like Museveni of Uganda repeat the same chorus.
While this is true, I also believe, power must not be retained by force or brutality while eliminating all democratic tools essential for peaceful power changes; under such to insist force must not be use is to perpetuate tyranny and a ploy to keep the oppressive regime in power for benefits not that of the downtrodden citizens.
Therefor those who call for such without condemning abolition of democracy and the use of force to hold grip to power have lost moral ground for such calls.
This fact must not be lost in the world’s zeal to keep Kiir in power. Behind the so-called legitimate government fighting rebellion is a real, single ethnic group, The Nuer, as of now soon to change, fighting for their existence! An ethnic group, started to be massacred in Juba by this so-called legitimate government. The worlds siding with Kiir criminal government and foreign mercenaries under Museveni amount to the world fighting a single tribe to eliminate them and we the rest of south Sudanese will not and can not simply allow such from happening!
Just watch and see!
Kiir’s uniformed Militia not Dinka men in plain clothes, hunted Nuer in Juba, house to house eliminating not only Nuer politicians but women and children, thus Kiir and his Militia declared massacre and ethnic cleansing on the Nuer people, even those that voted for him, What has Riek’s so called "coup attempt" has to do with this, indeed if this is truely a legitimate government of the people?
The Nuer accepted the fight head on for their self-preservations, survivals and are obligated! Unless of course what Washington and the EU in particular are asking for is for the Nuer to lay down and be ethnically cleansed from south Sudan by Kiir and his criminal gangs, for the mere sake of preserving peace and their so called legitimate government and the question is then for whom? Will it not achieve Kiir’s objective as his government has always been by the Dinka, of the Dinka and for the Dinka AKA born to rule?
To remove all doubts, about Kiir’s intent to eliminate Nuer from South Sudan, Consider this, the so called coup plotters are from, Dinka, Shiluk, the Greater Equatoria etc., how comes Kiir and his gangs, went house to house after Nuer women and children only? Why not Dinka of Madam Rebecca and other tribes?
So Washington, EU and AU capitals, what choices the Nuer have than to fight for their existence until Kiir calls his genocidal gangs off? What Kiir did is very identical to Al-Qaeda killings in western world, and Nairobi, coming after Civilians, women and children, and if the world agrees that such entity must be dealt with and fought, why would you then expect less of the Nuer? The world must denounce Kiir and Support the Nuer fighters and force Kiir to peaceful settlement of the crisis and human right abuses, which is solely instigated by Kiir.
He must be forced to stop his genocidal plan, until then to ask the Nuer to lay down their arms is to make it easy for Kiir and Museveni to complete their plans of massacre and ethnic cleansing.
Because Kiir instigated tribalism, massacres and committed ethnic cleansing against the very citizens that voted him to power and gave him the legitimacy, as well as demolitions of democracy in our country, we Southern Sudanese have irreversibly lost faith in Juba government under Kiir, which must go. What gave him power is democracy, because he has destroyed democracy, he no longer has legitimacy.
My appeal to aggrieved Nuer fighters is to abstain from killing Dinka Women and children as Kiir did to you, this is an evil and curse you must not partake in, it was Kiir’s uniformed militia, not Dinka Civilians, which killed your women and Children. Go after Kiir, his criminal militia, and foreign mercenaries, leave the women and children alone. If you do this, the gods will be with you and we, the rest of South Sudan, shall stand with your shoulder to shoulder to rid ourselves of Kiir, His gangs and Museveni’s killers.
We South Sudanese must, Demand that the world immediately, recall Kampala and Nairobi from the mediation process. Museveni cannot mediate because he is already in the fight supporting Kiir to exterminate the Nuer people from South Sudan and his jet fighters and army’s hands are stained with the blood of our South Sudanese people.
While our goal as South Sudanese, must remain a peaceful settlement of this terrible crises and immediate cessations of the ongoing massacre, We, the rest of South Sudan, all patriots, from greater Equatoria in particular and the Dinkas not align with this criminal government, given there are foreign boots on our soil, now we have no choice, but to join the fight for the preservations of the lives of our Nuer brothers and Sisters, that of our very own and the soul of our very nation.
Unless Kiir sends the Museveni’s Killers out of our Country and reach a cessation of hostilities and restoration of democracy so that we have the democratic tools available to dethrone him, as he must go, till then not fighting is not an option, because what are the alternatives in the presence of an active oppressions and genocide by this government and absence of democracy?
My fellow Countrymen, I leave you with this thought, Martin Niemoller(1892-1984) a prominent Protestant pastor who emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps, is best remembered for the quotation:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out–Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out– Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out– Because I was not a Jews.
Then they came for me–and there was no one left to speak for me.
Some of you are tempted to think, this terrible crises is Nuer issues only. This same wrong elements of the “born to rule” criminal tribal gangs, that have now hijacked Kiir’s government had early on bullied the Murus, and the Muru’s faced it alone, they turned and bulled the Kakwas in Yei, the Kakwas faced it in their one ways, alone, They bullied in Kajokaji. Of recent they Bullied the Balandas in Wau, they then Bullied the Madi in Nimule, in each of these cases, we each, individually and as groups, except the affected, remained silent, because it does not involve us, today in a very grandiose way, the Nuer are massacred, those in Juba are eye witnesses, you and I chose to remain quiet because we are not Nuer. THAT IS UNTILL NOW!
But tomorrow once, Kiir and Museveni dealt their final blows to the Nuer as threatened by Museveni and as started in Juba by Kiir, then once they come for you, NO ONE WILL BE LEFT TO SPEAK FOR YOU!
If Museveni can threaten to kill the Nuer, then we should openly let him know, the rest of us will not sit with folded arms! Fellow Southerners, We are our brother’s keepers especially when it comes to foreign boots on our soil, against any of our peoples! ZERO TOLERANCE!
With this my fellow countrymen, Unless Kiir reestablished peace in our country, send out Museveni’s killers from our country, then we are obliged to fight as we have no democratic tools left, with the ultimate goal to rid ourselves, of the foreign mercenaries and the criminal Juba Kiir’s government which has lost legitimacy because of turning its back on the very people that gives them the legitimacy with the supreme goal to establish a democratic government by all South Sudanese, of all South Sudanese and for all South Sudanese.
He who maintains Silence in the face of massacre is himself a murderer.
Dr Peter Kopling Joseph can be reached at [email protected]