QUOTE: ‘You can’t govern if you are ungovernable yourself.” South African ANC leader, Sipho Makana. (From Mark Gevisser’s: A Legacy of Liberation)

Now that we are starkly and forebodingly faced with the likely inevitability of an impending Kiir Mayardit’s Second Reign in Juba, south Sudanese have serious cause to worry about his second-time governance.

After the First five years of disastrous misrule by President Kiir, south Sudanese justifiably deserved a more competent leadership to lead them to the coming independence and to set the basic foundation of our new South Sudan Nation in 2011.

Inarguably, the accidental Kiir First Reign, which evolved into an inescapable nightmare providentially forced on the south, was abominably tainted by unending insecurity, a culture of impunity, lawlessness, gross kleptocracy and other multiple crises.

Kiir was and still is evidentially a weak leader who is constrained by many shortcomings, but adamantly has chosen to hang on to power because of the anachronistic ‘Dinka-must-be-ruler’ syndrome.

Incidentally, he’s the last surviving member of the original SPLM/A High Command.

Kiir and his accomplices should, after the fact, realize that you can’t govern the nation if you are ungovernable yourselves -- that’s the reality.

In furtherance to the ethnic domination strategy by his majority group, Kiir had to manipulatively restructure the newly incarnated Military Council so that his tribal group conserve and continue their domination in the government.

As a leader, Kiir seriously lacks any charismatic populism across the south Sudan nation, an attribute that severely incapacitated his ability to rule.

Compounding his enfeeblement, Kiir insensitively prefers to place the ties of blood before the politics of principle in his calamitous governance, such that the aggrieved south Sudanese majority have seen nothing by corruption and criminal negligence to deliver the anticipated peace dividends.

Whereas insecurity continues to spark with ceaseless spontaneity and impunity, the SPLA and its appendage i.e. the police, have demonstrated remarkable ineptitude to contain the situation basically because the SPLA is still a tribal army where the soldiers and their commanders act as tribal aggregates.

Despite millions of dollars having been spent on this supposedly embryonic national army of the south Sudan nation, the not-so-well-weaponized and notoriously undisciplined SPLA hasn’t morphed completely into a united force.

Inconceivably, the dominant Dinka and Nuer soldiers continue to fester in their historically hostile antagonism and stubbornly continue to pay greater allegiance to their respective tribal commanders while the so-called ‘smaller’ tribes are forever alienated and marginalized.

Miserably failing to contain the sporadic deadly tribal fighting across the land, the SPLA is perpetually unable to pay the soldiers’ salaries due to endemic looting of the allotted budget by the senior officers, many of whom are ostentatiously very, very rich.

Concerning the paroxysms of tribal fighting chiefly over cattle that’s akin to the legendary Wild West, it is embarrassing that in this Millennium, those with thousands of cows haven’t envisaged a better, safer and modern way of rearing these beasts.

As a solution, either these cows are lawfully culled or  limited fenced-in grazing is enforced by State and county authorities as deterrence.

With the coming elections and the totally unpopular and definitely corrupt selection process of candidates by the SPLM Electoral colleges and the SPLM Political bureau, the SPLM itself is organically on a self-destruction mode and internal rebellion.

Extemporaneously, many disgruntled and rejected prominent SPLM personalities are openly in rebellion against Kiir’s leadership and opting to stand as ‘independent’ candidates against those ‘corruptly’ chosen candidates.

Such a divided party, absolutely bereft of cohesion, solidarity, morals and principles, can’t be relied completely upon to lead the south Sudan nation to full independence now and in the future

Gerrymandering with the elections nominations by SPLM Chairman, Kiir Mayardit, has abundantly shown that patronage and sycophancy remain the main tenets of his party, which isn’t new or surprising, after all.

The real danger for the south is that many politically and monetary greedy and self-serving SPLM leaders left out in the election process or who might fail in the elections and not given back lucrative ministerial, governorship or top jobs in the GOSS, will unashamedly gravitate to the jellaba Arab north and the devious NCP of Al Beshir.

What these unpatriotic ‘comrades’ will effect is a diabolic and disastrous about-turn on the aspiration of the people of south for secession because they will become vociferous proponents of unity with the Arab north.

As US Secretary Hillary Clinton aptly reminded the Kiir’s GOSS recently, “In Southern Sudan, no matter the outcome of the referendum, Southern Sudan must increase its institutional capacity and prepare to govern responsibly, whether as a semiautonomous region within Sudan or a newly independent nation. I have been tracking the increasing interethnic and tribal violence in the South over the course of 2009, and I share the concerns raised in recent reports that highlight the death of more than 2,500 people and displacement of more than 350,000. These stark figures illustrate the need for the Government of South Sudan to improve governance and security in the South with the assistance of international partners, including the United States.”

Truly, as Secretary Clinton and others has repeatedly imputed, responsible governance is woefully and sadly lacking in the south and this despicable cancer will inevitably be carried on even to a post-referendum independent South Sudan Nation, so long as Kiir hangs on to power.

Once again, Kiir has been strongly implored by the UN Secretary General to start constructive deliberations with his jellaba NCP partners of the CPA, not later, but now in the remaining few months BEFORE the 2011 Referendum on the vitally procrastinated issues like the South-North Border demarcation, the oil revenues and nationality issue of southerners in the north, among many other issues.

Without the normal flow of the oil revenues to Kiir's GOSS from the supposedly would-be ‘good neighborly’ Arab North, as Kiir himself said, South Sudan would immediately be ‘Kwashiorkor-ed,’ and the whole country would be ineluctably sent into a state of chaos.

That is great cause for apprehension because without money, south Sudan in the absence of good leadership, would simply and rapidly disintegrate and because a lawless nation.

This begs the important question: Has President Kiir saved some monies somewhere outside to cover for that period when the jellaba Arab North would maliciously and deliberately strangulate the newly independent South Sudan Nation? 

With all the infamously corrupt thieves that have since been anointed by Kiir as his finance ministers, all southerners have cause to worry because these people most likely have "eaten" all the money and nothing is in reserve for the nation.

Not surprisingly, Kiir has never once apprehended, tried in court and incarcerated any single alleged thief even when we have that compromised and redundant so-called Anti-Corruption Commission. 

Like Kenya, our brotherly neighbors, South Sudan under Kiir has become a nation that pathetically adores and glorifies thieves, especially if they belonged to your own tribe.

Perhaps in response to the anticipated growing pressure, Kiir constituted a special Taskforce under his deputy, Machar, to delve into the same Post-referendum issues.

Unfortunately, Dr. Machar himself, who covertly dreams about Kiir’s job itself, is an overloaded man whose previous many assignments has been questionably inconclusive and some were calamitous, like the LRA so-called peace debacle.

He might just be cynically uneasy to see Kiir get all the credit that he truly doesn’t deserve from Machar's own sweat.

Notwithstanding the erroneous choice by Kiir, this taskforce should rightly be spearheaded by a non-partisan personality from among the many southern intellectuals, academicians, retired judges or other learned southerners, not necessarily SPLM members.

After all, the south belongs to all of us and it's imperative to have unanimity and consensus during the post-referendum period for the survival of our new nation.

During this significant election period, we need to be firmly assured by Kiir that freedom, equality and justice are accorded to every southerner. There is need to restrain his tribal boys who are recklessly and arbitrarily harassing or intimidating other southerners in the name of security.

Finally, the fate and future of the nation and the people of South Sudan are at a critical stage whereby there is a compulsive imperative and necessity for a more conscientious and dedicated leadership that has the ultimate foresight to guide us to our final destination.

Do we have such a leader--- that’s a cause to worry about?

 SSN Editor Comment...Click Here