After US and IGAD, JMEC now back the appointment of Taban Deng Ghai as “legal” under the peace deal

Top diplomat backs new South Sudan vice president

Published August 28, 2016 Associated Press

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JUBA, South Sudan –  The top monitor of South Sudan’s peace deal said he and diplomats support the disputed appointment of a new vice president in order to support the country’s shaky peace agreement.

Although the legitimacy of Taban Deng as First Vice President is questionable, diplomats will work with him because they “don’t have an option,” said the chairman of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission, former Botswana President Festus Mogae, in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday.

Deng was appointed last month by President Salva Kiir after he controversially dismissed opposition leader Riek Machar from the vice president position.

After Juba, July 2016

thoughtsonthesudans

This is my first article about South Sudan since I was expelled by the GRSS in late April, at which point I was part of the JMEC secretariat. It is also the first time I have written publicly about South Sudan since I joined the IGAD mediation team in May 2014, and became part of the messy world of the peace process.  

After I left Juba, I felt that anything I might say about the implementation of the peace agreement could have been counterproductive, given the animosity some felt towards me. I did not want to create any complications for those who were continuing to work for peace.

But in light of the calamitous events in Juba over the last few days, the little I can do is to offer my knowledge of the process, in the hope that it can contribute to a way forward. I agree with Matt LeRiche

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The Wetland Reclamation in Gumbo, Juba, is an Environmental Disaster

By Malith Alier, Kampala, Uganda

August 28, 2016 (SSB) — What would writing achieve in this country called South Sudan? Some people in the past advised this writer that he and many others should pause because nobody listens! These sorts of people imagine that continuous writing changes nothing on the ground.

Writing is not about changing things instantly but it’s also about learning, entertainment and you name them. I bet that most of my fellow writers will continue to write no matter what. Whether something changes or not, writers will continue. Further, writing is as old as human civilisation itself. Therefore, it’s meaningless to advise authors to cease what they love most.

There are dangers associated with speaking one’s mind in the society as we witnessed over the past five years after the independence. Journalists, particularly those who expressed political opinions have been killed, imprisoned and tortured simply because of their views. This in itself will not stop or discourage writers. We see soldiers join the army and carry guns despite dangers associated with being in the army. This is the same with writers.

South Sudan: A Young Victim’s Inspirational Words of Wisdom

By David Mayen Ayarbior, Juba, South Sudan

Fighting in South Sudan

August 28, 2016 (SSB) — Last week I was listening to Miraya FM when I heard a little girl speaking some words of wisdom that must have fallen on the deaf ears of the war mongers who have held the country hostage. She was contacted by one of Miraya presenters (Sunny Martin) as a follow-up on her earlier interview about the recent breakout of another senseless episode of bloodbath in Juba. In her earlier interview she narrated her ordeal before saying some heart-hitting words, assuming we all have hearts.

The ordeal: when the bullets started spraying she was separated from her mother and started running to the church for shelter with a group of scared and helpless civilians. She later contacted her mother as she memorized the phone number. On their way to the church some unknown gunmen in uniform stopped them at gun point. They ordered them to hand in their belongings and, of course, they obliged. They were lucky in some ways.

When contacted by Miraya she said that she thought her life was going to be cut short at that small age. She then passed the following message to the ‘leaders’ of South Sudan, which I will try to paraphrase, even though I wouldn’t match her eloquence and spirit. She said: “We the children of South Sudan are suffering because of the war. Let this war stop. Let our leaders know that we want to be proud of having them as our leaders. We don’t want to regret having them as our leaders.”

The 25th anniversary of the Nasir Coup: The revival and the silver jubilee for self-determination in South Sudan

By Pal Chol Nyan, Juba, South Sudan

Riek Machar Teny, the armed rebel leader

August 28, 2016 (SSB) — 28th August 1991 goes down in the annals of history when the most renowned South Sudanese academicians in the persons of Dr Riek Machar and Dr Lam Akol, with Commander Gordon Kong Chol, the trio were members of the SPLM/A Political Military High command (PMHC), changed the political compass of the war against the North.

They adopted the idea of Self-determination for the people of Southern Sudan in Nasir versus Dr John Garang’s war for the liberation of the whole Sudan, something which was a quixotic battle. The Nasir Faction’s idea was misconstrued by many politicians and army commanders, most of them have lived through the ordeals of liberation and are now the leaders, as a betrayal of the Southern cause.