THE SUCCESS OR FAILURE OF ANY MOVEMENT IS DETERMINED BY HOW IT HAS ACHIEVED ITS OBJECTIVES.

April 11, 2020(SSNN) — The success or failure of any Movement is determined by how it has achieved its objectives. The root cause of the current crisis in our country – and the outbreak of civil war – was the charge made by a group of SPLM Leaders, opposed to the new political dispensation which arose after 2005. These leaders under the direction of Dr, Riek Machar – then Deputy Chairman of the historic SPLM – challenged the status quo, calling a press conference on December 6 2013 – the rest is history, as it were.

The opposition politics which arose after the regime’s violent response – documented by the African Union Comission of Inquiry on South Sudan – was a hopelessly divided one. The opposition has been so divided throughout the course of the war, with the various groups conspiring with the regime against the others at different times.

It has been painful to watch.

The failure of the various opposition groups to present a united front against the power elite who preside over the unbearable status quo in our country, has ultimately resulted in our un-negotiated surrender. The stated objective of the opposition groups was, “to institute radical reforms, to bring about fundamental change in our country and basically to deliver the promise of the liberation struggle which gave us a flag”.

I am sad to say, we have failed and to claim we are still fighting for change is mischief!

It is true; the SPLM/SPLA (IO) could not wage the struggle alone, after the SSOA and FDs surrendered to the regime over one year ago. They have been voting with the regime and have even given the regime the power to chose their leaders. Coupled with the international diplomatic pressure mounted on the SPLM/SPLA (IO), the Movement was left with no options but to succumb to the illusion of peace. Any responsible citizen who has read the Agreement, knows that not a single provision of the Agreement has been implemented. In fact, the Agreement is being dismantled before our eyes – especially Security Arrangements – and we are helpless to stop it – in fear of losing our brand new jobs. If we have agreed to form the government outside the provisions of the Agreement and in the absence of credible Security Arrangements in the country; how can we then claim we have not surrendered.

The movement towards radical reforms and fundamental change has stalled. The opposition groups are in denial of their surrender to the status quo and still claim to be doing revolution. Our surrender would be honourable if we had the courage to admit it. We would be able to take stock and audit the revolution; we would be able to see where we have gone wrong and make revolutionary corrections. The revolutionary cadres in the Movement would be able to reorganize and transform the struggle, to fit the new political dispensation. The claim by the opposition that, “we can’t fight the system from outside we must join the system and fight it from the inside”, is mischief. This is the language of people who have been defeated. There is no way one can destroy a system which they are a part , you would be destroying yourself. It is actually from outside that a system can be destroyed. It is more likely for the opposition to become part of the oppressive system, than for the opposition to dismantle the system from within and history shows this.

The future of our peoples’ struggle for fundamental change is now in the hands of our civil population. We; the so-called “politicians” have been compromised, we have become part of the oppressive system. It is only through “people power”, our struggle still has a chance to be carried out to its logical conclusion. And though Covid.19 is a real existential threat and we must take it more seriously than we currently are, we should not allow any dark forces to politicise this global pandemic in order to further their objectives. The UNMISS is better informed and better equipped to handle the crisis within the camps – dismantling the camps would be a bad idea. The UN is not our enemy, they have been the only lifeline for our peoples’ for the entire duration of the history of our nascent Republic. The South Sudanese civil population displaced and forgotten in the refugee camps in neighbouring countries and within the country, have emerged as the strongest political force and should not allow this global pandemic to be weaponized against us by the traditional elite. Our people should follow the directives of the WHO and continue to put pressure on the R-TGONU to do the right thing not only regarding implementation of the Agreement, but even with regard to this new threat.

A luta Comtinua!

Cpt. Mabior Garang is the current Deputy Minister of South Sudan’s Minister of Interior. He can be reached through his email here for more information on this article.

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