China’s Weapons Transfer to South Sudan Marks a New Era For Beijing

While South Sudan’s Defence Minister General Kuol Manyang Juuk said the order was placed “well before” he assumed his post in July, the timing of the shipment shows which side China is backing.

Source: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/chinas-weapons-transfer-south-sudan-marks-new-era-beijing-1456345?

The Conspiracy behind South Sudanese Mysterious peace Talks

By Mapuor Malual Manguen

It is just under seven months now since war broke out in South Sudan. But ever since then, everyone has been calling for peace. These calls are made in churches, public rallies, in songs, and in the press, but the opposite has continued to take its toll; the war raged on.

The retired Catholic Archbishop of Torit Diocese, Emeritus Paride Taban told the BBC’s focus on Africa at the eve of the 3^rd Independence Anniversary of South Sudan, that both President Salva Kiir Mayardit and rebel leader Dr. Riek Machar have often called for “peace, peace, peace” that never been forthcoming. Yet, the two leaders are the principals of SPLM/A factions that are involved in ongoing civil conflicts. Every other South Sudanese whether neutral, government or rebel supporter is equally wondering as to why leaders declare peace in public while their field commanders continued to engage in devastating war.

And this is what begs the question of who calls the short in the hierarchy of rebels and government. Are the principals unable to control their field commanders? Is there presence of foreign underhand groups that could be pulling strings from behind so that they achieve their economic or national interest at the expense of dear lives of South Sudanese? Can our leaders be patriotic enough to say no to this conspiracy? Are protagonists of this war students of anarchy and warmongering philosophy? Now that the country has been reduced to shambles where cities and towns had been vandalized, thousands killed or maimed; where over a million are displaced and social fabrics torn apart, who is then a winner?

In my view, the winner in this South Sudan’s barbaric war is our former mother country, the republic of Sudan whose leaders have preached a stereotypical argument that “South Sudanese cannot govern themselves” to be granted an independent state. Another winner is the African Union (AU) that was reluctant to support referendum for self-determination of the people of South Sudan. Jean Ping, the former AU Commission Chairman told Radio France International in an interview in 2010 and I quote, “Will the independence of Southern Sudan not lead other players in Darfur and in other places, which are currently not asking for independence, to seek independence as Southern Sudan will have done? We have a feeling that we are sitting on a powder keg,” end quote.

It should be note that Africa is home to many secessionist groups that may seek to replicate the South Sudanese experience and work for self determination. This scenario is what worried regional powers with minorities in their own countries.

It is against this backdrop that African leaders could be part of conspiring cycle to fail South Sudan so that they justify their argument and to warn those African secessionists not to repeat what South Sudan did when they separated from Sudan only to butcher themselves two years later.

The conspiracy to fail South Sudan is being manifested in the region through IGAD member countries. The approach that IGAD countries are taking in South Sudan civil war is intended to snail-move the peace process as conflicts drag on and for warring parties to get time to mobilize their forces in terms of recruitment, training and equipment to be capable and lunch more devastating war.

As Uganda, a member IGAD country has firmly weighed its support behind South Sudan government, the other member countries such as Sudan, Kenya and Ethiopia seemed to be sympathizers of rebels. The rebels have established their offices in Nairobi and Addis Ababa. They have made these member countries including Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya as safe haven for recruiting their forces and stage their strategies to bring down government of South Sudan. In theory, IGAD forfeits its good faith and credibility just because of their individual economic and political interests in South Sudan. And the mysterious South Sudanese peace talks sponsored and hosted by the same IGAD appears more complicated and non ending.

The author is journalist, blogger, political and social affairs commentator based in Juba. He can be reached at mapuormalual@yahoo.com

Correction to article in The East African by Kevin Kelley, July 12, 2014

My views about the undeniable shortcomings and errors of the current government in Juba, South Sudan, have been seriously misrepresented in a post on The East African by Kevin Kelley (July 12, 2014).  Although I was interviewed by Mr. Kelley, there were critical omissions in his questions to me, and it was an error on my part not to demand greater specificity about the “lobbyists” that he suggested have been hired to help President Salva Kiir and the Juba government.

An Aa Pax Day

By David Aoloch Bion
–
The most divine day the most human day
On an aa aa aa aa aa aa aa pax day
The holy Verse in the Bible was read
The holier verse in the Quran was recited
The holiest verse in the Yacth was quoted
The three books were opened as
The three witness of oaths of armistic & commitment
At zero hour the drums beaten the bell rang
And one minute of singing was observed
Across the skin-across the tongues
Everyone sang unknown song before across the country
They danced, jumped and many timed-someersault
The candles lit the bonfires lit.
–
Before an ink dry on the dossier
The fists unfolded for bleeding & dying to stop
The mouths smiled for venom to evaporate
The red eyes turned greenest as olive leaf
The dark hearts changed whitest as Gabriel hair
The dead forgotten the scares forgiven
The foes first luncheoned in one plate
The birds perched the animals lied down at last
The trees leafed the grasses sprouted
The whole Sudan risen to it own
Knees from blood and dark ashes
And revitalized and quintessenced on Jan 9
–
Note, i wrote it when the peace was signed between the government of Sudan and rebell Sudan People Liberation Movement /Army [SPLMA on January 9 2005 that ended 21 year war

The Infidels

By David Aoloch Bion

–

Greatest blasphemy and sin

To black race and religion in history of humanity

For wanderers to call black

Infidels or slaves,

Abeed or kadir

To be jihadized or islamized

–

Wanderers, the hordes of Satan,

Intoxicated with ill-divine cocaine

How can you call black kafir,

When they believe in many gods

And their children believe in Yahweh,

The creator of the universe

–

Wanderers! Bear in mind that

Nationalism is the mother of widows

Sovereignty is the grandmother of orphans

Freedom is the future of

And hopes in their fatherland

The tears of our people concerning

Outstanding Grievances outside and inside their land

Due to wanderers

Are billions of barrels of petrol to?

Armed forces to keep on fire burning

For next hundreds of years until baobab falls

The upside down, tree fall

And forever

–

Note; this poem is from the collection of ‘’The Revolutionary Poems’’ published on Gurtong Trust in 2008