By: Akic Lwaldeng, South Sudan, MAY/08/2018, SSN,

“August, 2015, the Pope Francis, told a group of youth that the greatest challenge in his vocation so far has been finding true peace, and encouraging them to learn how to discern between this peace and the one offered by the devil.” (Source: Catholic News Agency);

South Sudan people are seeking a sustainable peace in the country. In fact, it has been revealed recently that the European Commission Tourist Office advisers warned their citizens about security in Eastern Africa region, such as South Sudan, Kenya and Somalia.

And recently South Sudan, was ranked as the second worst place in the world after Somalia, to live and work in; this is because there is an ongoing conflict in the country and, also, because South Sudan regime faces several forms of malicious violence on foreigners and their own people.

And the question is: what’re the prospects for building a sustainable peace are? What would be the elements in such a peace and how might we bring them about?

In spite of all the militarism that now fills the headlines, I’m feeling less encouraged that the prospects are good for building a meaningful peace over the next few decades.

After all, friends, while I am sharing my thoughts and personal experience on these issues, I often asked myself what motivates a person from Western world to return to the country governed by immoral leaders.

I did study there, but I spent the majority of my life abroad. You could say that my return home represents a reunion with the place of my origin and allows me to gain a more holistic sense of self and identity.

In other words, returning home is an opportunity to be a part of something bigger and better, which could make me positively contribute to the lives of others.

If I could remember well, at the beginning of 2013/14 after having been independent for just two years, South Sudan was deranged, the government was able to control only five regions under the regime, the rest and most of regions were under control by the rebel movement.

There was an incredible number of severe casualties and deaths, women with children were displaced time and time again as we saw many refugees killed by both rebel SPLM-IO and regime SPLM-IG.

Those who were fraught with constant uncertainty many times felt that their freedom has been robbed and they have been disconnected from their family and outside world.

Today they are struggling to maintain a sense of purpose of living, which initially led some of them to leave the country. However, they often contemplated giving up with their lives abroad and just going back to South Sudan.

On the one hand, it was very easy to do it, but on the other hand lack of security was one of the real obstacles and made their returning process difficult, because of causes that prevented them from going back home.

I recognized that the institutional conditions in order to facilitate their returning and integration did not exist in previous years, because of the wicked regime.

In so many years security hasn’t improved, the experiences that I had with my returned colleagues are appalling. They were South Sudanese refugees from the neighbor African countries and all over the globe, but they were not welcome home with dignity.

This is something unbelievable and worthless way of celebrating the returning refugees.

Anybody in this world can easily understand that the current South Sudan regime is an unhealthy system; and that it would be impossible for any sound mind to suggest them to return home.

It is true that the refugees and internal displacement provided by the United Nation camps around the country is a blessing at this stage, but we must acknowledge that a friendly coexistence and the foundations for peace building are not there yet.

In fact, it is unrealistic for refugees from the neighboring African countries to come home to South Sudan under Salva Kiir’s regime: it would be a nightmare for their lives, and it would be the same as we have already witnessed in between 2015 to earlier 2018, genocide in cities such as Juba, Malakal, Bentiu and Bor.

This happened because weak and wicked agreements supervised and undertaken by a failure organisation, so-called IGAD, which was meant to act as a mediating agency, but, in reality, was not able to accomplish this mission at a decent level.

Therefore we are calling them to step down from this worthless negotiation: we realize that to be negotiators became a business for them, and, therefore, the longer it takes, the better and more profitable job they get.

And if we want a real peace, let it be UN or AU to lead the peace process on behalf of South Sudan people and refugees, and not anyone else: in fact, in the past they have done a successful job in Central African Republic. And again they facilitated the entire peace process by the CPA agreement in 2005.

I would give some advice to those who want to help the people of South Sudan, they should put pressure and action on the regime, such as more sanctions on the individual politicians and bans on buying or transporting weapons from some countries, such as Egypt, Uganda and Kenya.

In fact, these countries have no interest in peace in South Sudan, including the toothless so called IGAD plus. In fact IGAD Plus is a dead fish, should not conduct the peace process again, in order to avoid a waste of time.

Africa has so many organisations in the continent such AU, ECOWAS, and others. And I am afraid that IGAD will never ever bring a sustainable peace in South Sudan, with due respect, it looks like a dogs whining and barking with no effect.

Finally, South Sudanese people did put faith and creditable hope on the IGAD Plus to bring peace home, but they have been let down by it.

By Akic Adwok Lwaldeng
email:Akic.lwaldeng@yahoo.com
NDM’s Representation in the UK and member of the Policy Institute for Africa Economy.

BY: Dominic Ukelo, MP, Juba, MAY/06/2018, SSN;

On 4th May 2018, the members of SPLM National Liberation Council, NLC, who met in Juba concluded with their final resolution admitting to the public of:

1. Failing to institutionalize and democratize the exercise of power in their Party, which described mostly by South Sudanese people as the root cause of the current crisis in the Republic of South Sudan.

2. Their collective responsibility, as leaders of the SPLM party, for the crises that have engulfed the country.

3. Their loss of discipline and respect of the Constitution and Basic Rules of the SPLM party, which contributed to the emergence of the current crises over power and leadership.

Indeed, the innocent citizen of South Sudan didn’t commit any wrong doing to be killed or destabilized. The proximate cause of this brutal civil war was a falling out between the SPLM’s top politicians.

Therefore, giving the fact that the NLC of the SPLM, under the leadership of president Salva Kiir Mayardit, has admitted to the public and taken the responsibility of their wacky activities and irresponsibility, the people of South Sudan reserve their rights to hold the leadership of the SPLM/A accountable for their:-

a. Killing, committing rapes/abuses against the civilians in different places in the Republic of South Sudan.

b. Evil acts of destroying and pillaging civilian properties during government forces operations in several areas in the Republic of South Sudan.

c. Destabilizing innocent civilians, as the result, UNMISS continued to shelter more than 1,854,000 Internally Displaced Person IDPs, who’re forced to flee their homes by irresponsible behavior of the SPLM party.

d. Furthermore, as SPLM/A continue waging war on their own people, many civilians fleeing the country as we speak, bringing the total number of refugees so far to 4 million, scattered in the countries around the South Sudan.

4. Additional to the wide range of corruptions by the SPLM leaders, looting the resources of the country continue on daily basis, leaving civilians without basic needs; in which large financial transactions, involving politically exposed persons, defined as SPLM senior government officials and military officers, as well as their families, end up in personal accounts outside the country, those financial transactions have been unlawful or otherwise improper.

5. With all due respect to the SPLM/A and it’s history of liberation, the people of South Sudan are skeptical on the future of the country under the current leadership of the SPLM party.

6. Until the South Sudanese introduce new leaders to work for the interest of the country, to develop a road map in order to put an end to this conflict, and incubate a Marshall Plan for the interest of reviving the broken economy, the Republic of South Sudan will remain ruined and looted by the SPLM leaders.

By. Hon. Dominic Ukelo

BY: Apioth Mayom Apioth, South Sudan, MAY/04/2018, 2018;

“The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him” – Niccolò Machiavelli. Salva Kiir surrounds himself with the likes of Jieng Council of Elders (JCE), the former Khartoum politicians and formerly with Paul Malong Awan when he was popularly known as King Paul.

These sycophantic groups of opportunists do not question the conscientious rule of Mr. Kiir, that is why they continue to linger around whereas those of Majak da Agoot, Pagan Amum, and Joseph Bakosoro are a planet away from the discussion table.

Another significant reason of why South Sudanese and opposition parties, in particular, do not want to leave their lives to be dictated by the perpetual dull whims of Salva Kiir is that he loves to listen to just about anybody.

All kinds of people, whether they number in an entourage or a few people in number want to see and talk to the person with the highest position in the land.

This sole power that comes with being the president of South Sudan is one of the most cheerful things that he so much adores. And by talking to these varied groups of people, he gets to be pulled from one corner of South Sudan to another different dimension altogether.

With Salva Kiir being a natural introvert, he loathes criticism because he sees it as an infringement on his principles and worth.

Combating security challenges that are engulfing our nation do not play into his natural strengths of being naturally a shy person. That is why since 2005, we have had numerous insurgency starting from the likes of the late George Athor, Peter Gadet, David Yau Yau, Riek Machar, Thomas Swaka and Joseph Bakosoro.

Before the onslaught of the current political crisis, Kiir’s military solution on renegade generals was to quickly integrate them back into the mainstream South Sudanese military, because he didn’t know the proper way to create a conducive environment so they won’t be able to return to the insurgency and create a fertile environment for newer militant insurgent groups.

Shortly after the signing of the CPA, politicians were seen carting away money in boxes and every nameable enclosed container.

From 2005 to 2013, $12 billion was collected from the oil proceeds, and yet it is only 2% of the citizens that receive tap water in the capital Juba whilst after twelve years 98 percent of the population still receives water from commercial tankers.

Whereas in comparison, by the year 2004, twelve years after South Sudanese had taken refuge there no one was still receiving water from commercial water tanks in Kakuma Refugee Camp in northern Kenya.

The only visible developmental initiative of value is the Juba – Nimule Highway which was developed by the funds provided by the USAID.

Had we saved the petroleum proceeds, our people wouldn’t be living on hand-outs from the UN these days, would we? And yet you continue to say it is not easy being the president!

Come on, Mr. Kiir! Your predecessor in South Sudanese politics, Dr. John Garang de Mabior had it worst than you. How did he manage to motivate starving soldiers who didn’t receive any salaries as compared to their counterparts in the North.

John Garang did exactly that for 21 years while living on scraps not like you are living in luxury in Juba, and yet the chaos continue to proliferate each brand new day.

During the public viewing of the late James Ajongo Mawut, Salva Kiir said the opposition groups were calling for impossible demands.

Mr. Kiir, your resume speaks volume for itself: your leadership is a complete disaster, the circumstantial nagging issues continue to plague us as years passed us by without an end in sight.

We may eventually give in to our call for you to step down, but one thing that needs a complete makeover is the parliament.

There is just no way for you to take 75% of High Level Revitalization Forum (HLRF), while the opposition groups remain with only 25%.

I say 75% because the presidency itself is 25 percent added on top of the 50 percent for the government groups.

It is totally fair to share HLRF 50 – 50 among the major stakeholders of the opposition and the government groups.

By starting over with a clean slate, we could generate the best candidates for the parliaments on both sides and bring them to the new Transitional Parliament of National Legislative Assembly (TPNLA).

We have all seen what your current parliamentarians have done, so why is it in your best interest to continue on this same path and just cobble together the opposition and government into one unquestionable piece of junk?

Both the government and opposition groups need to scrutinize their members and select their best-qualified candidates so we won’t fail our people this time around.

“It is said that power corrupts, but it’s actually more true that power corrupts the corruptible. The sane are actually attracted by other things than power” (David Brin).

In South Sudan, Salva Kiir has put himself above the law, mindlessly going about his business and toying with us as if we are mere playthings.

The power has corrupted his very being from his unused gray matter down to the last fiber of his simplistic cells.

The same military that he commands belong to all of us: they are South Sudanese nationals. And never has it been in our recent memory that the military has been so fragmented like these challenging days.

Our military goes for four to five months without pay. We are a resilient people and every circumstantial and trying times produce its own heroes.

In the first Sudanese civil war, we had Deng Nhial, Joseph Oduho, Joseph Lagu and Abel Alier; and the second Sudanese civil war we had Dr. John Garang.

There is no doubt that the end is near for Salva Kiir to see the might of collective power.

Our people may be spread over across different terrains of unfamiliar lands, but a new hero may be sharpening his wits and indomitable intelligentsia, so he/she may rescue her people from the jaws of a fool.

Some people may be gifted with talents of a natural hero from birth, but it is the trying and challenging times like ours that create distinguishable heroes and heroines among us.

A peerless hero in the fold of John Garang might be lurking around the corner. Our military is in total disarray, thanks to neglect from Kiir and so with this mess as a daily occurrence, anybody can stage a coup and kick Mr. Kiir to the curb.

Apioth Mayom Apioth has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Sciences from the Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA USA. He is an Admission Counselor from the University of North Dakota. He can be reached at: agutkeu@gmail.com.