South Sudan War: Re-branding SPLM to SSDF is of no consequence

By Benny Gudo,

June 19, 2017(Nyamilepedia) —— Once again comrades and friends, I take this opportunity to make known to the whole world that President Kiir and his cronies failed to run South Sudan patently. They brought the nation to the knees as evidenced by their inability to resolve the ongoing war. So, it’s perturbing, futility and indispensable to give them further room to dice with the lives of people in the new nation.

Put bluntly, President Kiir betrayed Africa and all friends of South Sudanese who tenaciously espoused the birth of this young nation. Whether he submits or deny to the latter, I don’t mind but I will reiterates that the people of South Sudan are suffering simply because of his awkward praxis as a statesman. Moreover, without any shadow of a doubt,  this war started in his office, at J1 not Upper Nile, Unity State or anywhere in the communities of South Sudan save for J1 only.

For this reason, we have the right to point the gun where the centre begs. And I to repeat that as human rights watchdogs, we shall keep our fingers on the pulse, come run come thunder, till our fellow continental brothers and sisters attain freedom, peace and justice. Insignificance of President Kiir stealthy moves.

a). The proposed national dialogue initiative.

For starters, at every turn where is chaos the world over, people put forth national dialogue to seek common ground so as to restore stability. Meaning to say, national dialogue by its nature is the sole route to PEACE and STABILITY. But turning to South Sudan, this is not the case partly because the key parties in conflict, particularly SPLM- Dinka led by President Kiir himself, have no political will to walk the talk. In the end, national dialogue remains a pie in the sky. Events of 2015 peace agreement signed by President Kiir and Dr Riek Machar, and July 2016 war outbreak in Juba speak volumes especially on the part of the incumbent. This is the reason why people of South Sudan are now skeptical about his so called national dialogue initiative. Hence, I urge the incumbent to leave that job to other neutral groups such as AU and UN.

b). the dismissal of Gen. Paul Malong Awan from the acme rank of SPLM.

I noted with serious concern that the fall of Gen Malong is of no fruition to South Sudanese. This is chiefly because Malong himself was not the sole peace barrier, but albeit, the vile and heinous system which SPLM enacted has the bearing. In light of that, the people of South Sudan will have to celebrate only if the latter is wholly obliterated not Malong Awan himself.

Afterall, it’s not the person that matters but the system.  As such, Gen James Ajongo simply wore his predecessor’s shoes on the fateful day of  his swearing in. Nothing changed save for the face but the system remains intact. Even President Kiir let the cat out of the bag few days ago after Malong’s dismissal and l quoted.

“I was tired of receiving reports about Malong almost every hour of people telling me things I knew he was not doing. This was becoming a routine talk and it was like I was not listening to the, so I decided to make changes which I informed Malong about, so he should not be surprised when the time comes,” President Kiir told members of the Dinka council of elders who paid him a
courtesy call on Wednesday evening.

The President went on to tell the elders that his reasons for the change were to see what those who had been making the reports and claims would do next. “I made the changes because I wanted to see what the people coming with reports about him will have to say again. I did this because I don’t want him to be a scapegoat for the inefficiencies of those who use to come to me,” added the President. The aforesaid statement  per se was a clear testimony that those celebrating the General’s downfall must do it with skepticism.

c). Presidential decree  no 85/2017

The fundi of deception is at it again, this time on restructuring the SPLM-Dinka stormtroopers to South Sudan Defence Forces (SSDF) in a way to deceive the international community which has been questioning the composition and behavior of SPLM-Dinka soldiers for quite some time. Of which, a leopard will never change its spots. Nevertheless, tribal militias  at SPLA will never reform under the current administration because it is the government itself which intoxicated them.

Suggested solutions

The international community must push by whatever mince possible in order to achieve PEACE in South Sudan. I think at this stage, the line must be drawn in the sand to deal with any peace obstacles which may arise at any moment. If it means that President Kiir, for instance, is the main peace barrier, he must be removed blatantly to save millions of livelihoods. For it’s known that a nation is bigger than individuals. However, any meaningful peace initiative, brokered by AU and UN, at this stage should incorporate both Kiir, Machar, Lam and Cirillo.

Instead of renaming SPLM to SSDF, the envisaged UN brokered government of national unity must initiate security sector reforms- teach soldiers to serve the nation not individuals. Lastly, of significance is to diffuse and diversify the composition of SSDF so that it incorporates all tribes not the majority (Dinka).

I rest my case.

the author is a Zimbabwean PHD student, a pan-African, peace maker and South Sudan friend based in Zimbabwe. contact: gudobenny@gmail.com