GORDON BUOY: THE RULE OF LAW DEFEATED DR. PETER ADWOK NYABA’S OPINION – A LEGITIMATE RESPONSE

The article above first appeared on the www.pachodo.org a week or so ago and I promised Mr. Buoy that I would come back to him in spite of my busy schedule which involved attending a conference on higher education in Southern Sudan convened in Juba and a visit to Wau.I thought the discussion of the electronic websites would remain where it is essentially restricted to the computer literates. And indeed I didn’t come back on the issue because there are more important things to attend to. But since Mr. Buoy ventured to publish the same article on The Citizen daily, then I am duty bound to respond.

Yes, Mr. Gordon Buoy, the rule of law defeated Dr. Peter Adwok Nyaba’s opinion; but which rule of law? I presume you meant the decision of the Minister of Legal Affairs and Constitutional Development (GOSS) to overturn the lifting the immunity of the four SPLM-DC Members of the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly and their release from detention. If that is the case then GOSS is the principal culprit of which the Minister is a part by the doctrine of collective responsibility. That decision of the Minister of Interior and Law Enforcement to have the four honourable members arrested could have been challenged in the Council of Ministers and the ensuing rancour would have been avoided.

The rule of law in theory and practice presupposes that all and sunder abide by the law; whether or not in government and private citizens must respect the law and in return the law protects them. This means that when somebody or a political party subscribes to the rule of law e.g. after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) the SPLM/A returned to legality and practised within the precincts of the law. The SPLM-DC was established and registered as a political party in accordance with the Political Parties Act 2009 which grounded in the Interim National Constitution (INC) 2005. The PPA is clear about and prohibits political parties from operating own armies, militia, etc, because that is illegal.

If you agree with this line of thoughts then I will take you through the events in the Shilluk Kingdom from March to June 2010 which prompted the writing and my hypothesis of ‘delegitimisation of SPLM-DC’, which was the gist of your long article. The month of March was the zenith of the election campaign all over the Sudan. In some parts of Southern Sudan including the Shilluk Kingdom it coincide with the SPLA campaign for disarmament and removal of illegal arms from the hands of the civil population.

I had nominated myself for the position of the Governor of Upper Nile and therefore had opportunity to go around in the Shilluk villages to gauge the political landscape. The situation I found contributed to my withdrawal from the race. Let me quote a few words from the gun trotting young men I met in one of my trips to Northern Shilluk.

“The SPLM-DC is going to win all the seats in the Shilluk Kingdom and Dr. Lam Akol will be the next President of the Government of Southern Sudan.”

“Wad nyajago says he will built brick houses for us in Kenana, so we are going to drive everybody here to Kenana; the war will break out in May because the Dinka are bent on taking our land – what do you want here you traitors, those who have been bought by Salva Kiir with ministerial positions.”

These are a few provocative words I was subjected to and there was little I could my ministerial position notwithstanding. The atmosphere was completely poisoned because it seems the election was a determinant and losing it was a limit situation in which hell would break loose.

Mr. Gordon Buoy I want you to be patient because I want to inform you that I have in my possession a document authored in Arabic language. It is a report of the Chairman of SPLM-DC to the Party Central Committee following consultation with other political parties and individuals in the SPLM. I believe this was in preparation for the General Elections. I will quote some points which obviously support my hypothesis of delegitimisation of SPLM-DC. I will quote the numbering of these points for reference in case you may have the opportunity to lay your hands on that document. I want to add that this must be one of the documents the SPLM got from the defectors from the SPLM-DC and therefore is credible.

“Point (3) Agreement has been reached between your glorious party and the other Southern Political forces in order to unify the political vision (goal) and to create a military body capable of protecting/defending the political vision (goal) for change.”

The document goes on informing the members of the Central Committee of the individuals within the SPLM and some Equatorians who are said to be against the political and economic hegemony of the Dinka tribe and what should be undertaken in the coming period. These included and I want to quote the three important and relevant points:

“First – in case the alliance fails to win the elections against GOSS there shall be coordination to launch military action in all the Southern States to topple by force GOSS.

Secondly – work to mobilise the minority tribes against the Dinka tribe.

Thirdly – work to support the unity option in order to solicit moral and financial support from the National Congress Party.”

Yes Mr. Gordon Buoy, these are bare facts upon which I based by hypothesis of the SPLM-DC delegitimisation. This is because in May Kwanyireth Peter Oyath the paramount chief of Nyiyar was assassinated in a manner unprecedented in the Shilluk history. This was premeditated murder and was carried out in implementation of strict military order. The group acted under orders from Khartoum and coordinated by telephone in Malakal by Mr. Y (name withheld). There were arrests in Malakal and some elements (11 in number) were captured in the battle field fighting the SPLA. They made statements and have attested they were members of the SPLM-DC. They said they were under orders to fight the SPLA (Dinka army of occupation) in the Shilluk land.

In view of the glaring evidence it is now beyond reasonable doubt that the SPLM-DC runs clandestine military activity against GOSS in the Shilluk Kingdom. It is not enough to deny in the press. Everybody who was affected by the recent fighting in the Shilluk Kingdom knows who was behind this debacle.

The rule of law dictates that any crime committed must be punished. Something must have terribly gone wrong with the system that four months on the assassins have not been taken to court. It may suggest incompetence on the part of the law enforcement agents. But I think otherwise and I want to link it to the drama going on in the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly (SSLA) and the wider internal problems within GOSS.

So let me ask you; where is the rule of law you are bragging about when the crime – the assassination of Kwanyireth Peter Oyath and his entourage - has not been put to rest? What is preventing the Hon. Minister of Legal Affairs and Constitutional Development from starting the investigation in order to build the case? Can the Government that has all the moral and political authority and responsibility for establishing the facts about crime like that, fold its arms without commissioning action? What kind of rule of law can make one run away with crime as enormous as homicide?

In all honesty all that is going on in the corridors of power in Juba is not about the rule of law. It is a very complex and complicated high level back stabbing, vengeance and counter vengeance. The drama in the SSLA these demonstrate in day light clarity about these intrigues. The Hon Speaker has flouted all Parliamentary procedures to manufacture an opposition in the name of the four SPLM-DC members and shamelessly requests the August House to clap for the leader of Opposition. The case un-lifting the immunity of these members was debated and defeated in July. Therefore it should have not been re-introduced into the agenda of the same parliamentary session from which it was thrown out. Therefore Mr. Gordon Buoy you have to reframe your article to read that in-fighting and political re-alignments in the GOSS is defeating the rule of law. Indeed the recent development will bring to the surface many SPLM-DC members who clandestinely operated in the SPLM making it difficult to term it the ruling party in Southern Sudan.