South Sudan: The Tragedy Of Africa’s Ethnic Convulsion

The euphoria that heralded the attainment of independence by South Sudan, the world’s newest country in 2011, has gradually waned, leaving ordinary South Sudanese in trauma, poverty, hunger and other debilitating effects of war. OMONU YAX-NELSON writes.

The United Nations has warned that the conflict in the world newest country, South Sudan was degenerating into genocide.

Also, the various humanitarian organizations that are involved in assisting victims of the conflict have been reeling out gory statistics, testimonies and eye-witness accounts of humanitarian disaster ravaging the country.

These ranges from about 1.5 million refugees who have fled into Uganda and other neighboring countries. The same number are said to be displaced internally. While thousands of women are being reportedly raped and dehumanized every day.

Most pathetic, according to aid workers are the thousands of children who will not live to fulfil their destinies because they are dying daily from kwashiorkor as a result of malnutrition.

In the current report, submitted to Human Rights Council pursuant to its resolution 31/20, the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan recommends that the Government of South Sudan, with immediate effect, cease hostilities, conclude a permanent ceasefire and renew publicly its commitment to the implementation of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in Republic South Sudan, including cooperation with the African Union, for the speedy establishment of a hybrid court for South Sudan.

The Commission also recommends the immediate establishment of an international, independent investigation, under the auspices of the United Nations, into the most serious crimes committed in South Sudan since December 2013 by, inter alia, collecting and preserving evidence of human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, and by supporting criminal proceedings before the hybrid court and national, regional and international tribunals with jurisdiction over such crimes.

In thrashing out the remote and immediate causes of the conflicts in the Nile country, experts in International conflict management have pointed at dysfunctional ethnicity as the root.

The political supremacy battle between the country’s President Salva Kirr who is from the Dinka tribe and his estranged deputy Riek Machar from Neur has torn the nation’s Arms Forces along ethnic line.

Experts regrets that, amongst many factors, one major sore point that have thwarted the attainment of peace and social order in the African continent, in its endless search for self-realization, is ethnic convulsion?

Nonetheless, other school of thought denounced the ethnicity theory, insisting that the maggot that is eating up Africa’s destiny is external to it. They blame the world super powers, who for economic and social adventure has turned Africa countries into their theater of war experiment.

They explained that, where the social and economic interests of global ‘influence mongers’ is threatened, they resort to the use of support for local elites and other internal forces to destabilize the stubborn regime/administration.

But those who argue in favour of dysfunctional ethnic cleavages insisted that ethnicity has caused more harm to peaceful and stable social order than every other things put together.

They averred that the fire raging in South Sudan is nothing but ethnic champion, Kirr, working hard to sustain his regime by crippling the political captain from the rival Nuer ethnic group. They contended that this scenario is not new as examples are abound all over Africa.

They said, it has held Nigeria in constant state of tension, even before it attained independence in 1960. And, has also put it through bitter and needless 30 months of wanting blood-letting (civil war). By so doing they say, the supposed ‘giant of Africa’, Nigeria, was reduced to a giant with a clay feet.

The rapidly prospering tiny East African country, Rwanda, had to learn in a bitter way with the 1994 genocide, in a conflict between Tutsi and Hutus. Côte d’Ivoire, Africa’s cocoa and coffee hub has remained visibly unstable.

In fact, Congo Democratic Republic, the most endowed country in the continent has remained in limbo, since crisis broke out in 1962, following the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, allegedly by foreign intelligence agents. These instances are by no means exhaustive. In fact, it is a tips of an iceberg in an unending twist of fate of African continent.

A time-tested aphorism says, if the person before you falls into a ditch. You take precaution not to fall into it too. Ironically, in Africa, lessons are never learnt and as such the continent kept repeating old mistakes.

During the almost five decades struggle for the independence of South Sudan from Sudan, the expectation were rife that, the glory days will automatically return, the moment the South and North Sudan part ways.

That expectation began to find fulfilment, when on 9 July, 2011, South Sudan was declared an independent nation. Hardly had the wounds of the bitter and bloody independence war healed that ethnic rivalry began to rear its ugly head.

The South Sudan conflict is coming at a high human cost. Half a million people fled the country and another half a million internally displaced because of the fighting which escalated famine.

The UN verdict that the South Sudan edging towards genocide. There have been accusations of atrocity by soldiers on both sides. UN Human Right Commissioner for South Sudan, Yasmin Sooka said since December, the conflict has spread to the equatorial and to other parts of South Sudan. And many of the reported incidences of human right violation is taking ethnic dimension.

The conflict is no longer just a skirmishes between parties but between Armies of SPLA and the militias seen to have link to the group opposed to the government. This is no longer differences in political views but ethnic cleansing is already taking place.

The long presence of the UN in South Sudan while the conflict is escalating at the same time has been questioned by observers. But Sooka said, if not for the UN, the conflict would have gone worse and the catastrophic human disaster would have been tremendous.

She said Political solution is important to the resolution of the conflict in South Sudan. This poses huge challenge to the UN. The regional players, inform of IGAD and of course, the African Union has the primary task of dealing with the political situation and also the question of accountability.

The African Union would have to seat up in order to deal with those that are responsible for gross human right violation.

The AU through its Ambassador, Mr Conary has re-enforced the importance of national dialogue which he said cannot be supervised by the current leadership in South Sudan, if there must be any modicum of credibility.

Ms Sooka has also made case for sanctions on some of the most gross violators and arms embargo.

Trouble began in 2013, two years after South Sudan became an independent state from Sudan through the January, 2011, referendum in which the people voted overwhelmingly to secede from the Sudan. The two regions of the Sudan; the Christian and animist black African south and the Arab dominated Muslim north were involved in 20 years (1975-2005) of bloody and bitter civil war. Until a peace pact was signed in 2005, in Abuja with the active participation of Nigeria.

At the attainment of independence on 9 July, 2011, the leader of Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), Salva Kirr of ethnic Dinka was elected leader while Riek Machar of Nuer tribe was elected the first vice president of the 11 million population country.

However, the differences that has always played out between these two war lords began to rare its ugly head. According to international affairs analysts, the two have never had cordial relationship because of mistrust. The mistrust got to a head in 2013, when the President Salva Kirr, accused his vice, Riek Machar of plotting a coup, an accusation Machar vehemently denied. This accusation and disagreement led to another bloodletting, which forced Machar to abandon Juba, the country’s capital.

Nonetheless, international pressure forced the two men back to negotiating table which heralded in the January agreement between Machar who had returned to his rebel activities as the leader of the Sudan People Liberation Army–IO (SPLA). He returned to Juba in April to continue as the first vice president. After the government agreed to his pre-condition of bringing his fighters and ammunition to the country’s capital for his safety.

All efforts to assure Mr Machar of his safety was always unsuccessful, until on Monday, 11 July, when a brawl broke out in the presidential palace between forces loyal to the president and his deputy. This led to the death of 300 soldiers and civilians, mostly of the president and 37 soldiers of the vice president. MrMachar fled the capital as a result of this altercation and accused the president of trying to kill or arrest him.

Owing to international pressure, the president ordered immediate ceasefire and asked his deputy to return to Juba to assume his duty. With an ultimatum of 48 hours. The expiration of which will lead to his sack and replacement by a member of his faction. The failure of MrMachar to return led to the appointment of the chief negotiator of the Machar faction, Gen Taban Deng as the first vice president.

Most members of Machar faction declared the dismissal of Machar and replacement with Gen Deng as an invitation to an all-out war.

South Sudan, the landlocked oil producing state, has witness the longest war and the accompanied humanitarian disaster.Having attained independence and the challenge of Sudan’s refusal for South Sudan oil to flow through its territory sorted-out, it was expected that the country’s leaders will settle down to accelerate development in the world’s poorest people and underdeveloped region.

Under Sudan,the South had 75% of Sudan’s oil but the region was the most underdeveloped in-terms of infrastructure and human capital development. With poverty, disease and ignorance visible in the life of its people. Ordinarily, by its endowments, South Sudan is not supposed to be poor. Beyond having 75% of Sudan’s oil River Nile flows through the country, which is a veritable source of commerce and agriculture. It has the size of Spain and Portugal combined.

Beyond the challenge infrastructural development, decades of conflicts has given millions of South Sudanese a refugees status in their own land. They needed to be resettle. They need succor. They need to be assured that the worst is over.