Juba University suspends Professor Taban after criticizing Kiir’s leadership in an open letter

February 11, 2020 Newsbeat

Professor Taban lo Liyonong, during an interview with a journalist (Photo: File)

February 11, 2020 (SSNN)—The Directorate of Human Resource Management at the Juba University has suspended one of its professors Prof. Taban Lo-Liyong after criticizing the Kiir administration for mishandling the country’s internal affairs, in an open letter addressed to the United States Special Envoy to South Sudan, Tibor P. Nagy.

In a letter seen by SSNN, the school administration accused Professor Taban of making an inflammatory statement directed at inciting other tribes and stoking hatred among citizens in the country.

“Reference to Juba Monitor newspaper of Wednesday 29th February 2020, issue No. 1865 page 6-7, you wrote an article entitled “open letter to President Donald Trump’s Special delegation to South Sudan Hon. Tibor P. Nagy”. The article has gone over the right of self-expression and amounts to:

1. Incitement of ethnic hatred.
2. Bringing the name of the University of Juba into disrepute.”

“Based on the above concern, the Vice Chancellor has directed your suspension from your duties without pay effective from February 10th, 2020, pending investigation by a committee to be constituted to look into the case.”

Two weeks ago, Professor Taban blasted a certain tribe, which he did not mention, for claiming to be the winners of the country’s liberation struggle.

“No tribe can claim winning the final war single-handed. Just as when the first shots for independence in 1955 were fired in Torit Barracks by the Equatorian Corps of the Torit
Battalion, all other South Sudanese joined. Most of us had believed SPLM/SPLA,” said Taban.

Adding that, “The means one of our component tribes has chosen is foul. It uses national resources to promote itself and its own people and keeps others behind or starves them form the resources or takes from the resource a territory that has wealth and transfers it to its own. So when, using the resources of the nation, it has taken away, but holds its own already extant ones to itself, this is modern colonization.”

“Taking away resources, removing the resources by giving them to their own foreign nationals is colonising. This is the position comrades of yesterday wanting to demote fellow comrades into the category of menial servants or second class citizens. And when you felt the bitter cold of Torit or Kapoeta thorn bushes during the war and had voted for separation are now again being colonized you baulk at such demotions, or degradation or take up arms. Worse still if the government you had voted into power does it to you.”

He went on and accused that particular tribe of having the lion’s share from the current 32 states than the rest of other tribes.

“Those citizens who actually stick to 32 states initiated the abrogation of the 10 states, so that the wealth of all the 32 states with Abyei Administrative area tilts the balance their way: 33 for them. They, alone abrogated the former states and their boundaries. They alone divided the land into 32 states. They gave themselves 17 states, which is more than half the 33 states.”