South Sudan And The Shared Struggle

The shared struggle is the forgotten part of the history of South Sudan that has been erased and thrown away from our historical facts and if it was not eradicated, it would have served as an advantage in enlightening the people of South Sudan on the matters of nation building. The shared struggle unveils the richness of our history that South Sudan came into existence as a result of a combined struggle of all the South Sudanese rather than an individual struggle. The shared struggle categorizes the history of South Sudan into three sections which include the following.

• The spark of real struggle 1983
• The signing of the comprehensive peace agreement 2005
• The referendum

• The period of 1983-2005 was indeed a period of heroes and heroines who never at any one point lowered their heads down for the sake of the freedom of the people of South Sudan. It was the period of bloodshed, genuine fight and real suffering in the bushes and villages of South Sudan. It was the period of genuine sacrifices and strong faith and if it wasn’t for the 21 years of this resilient struggle, we would not be witnessing a sovereign state today. Thanks to our great freedom fighters and liberators who stood firm throughout the period of struggle for the freedom of the people of South Sudan. However, the shared struggle unveils something special about the 21 years of the struggle. It reveals the truth to us that it was a combined effort of South Sudanese that led to the success in the 21years period of struggle. The shared struggle narrates  heart touching stories that throughout the 21 years of the struggle, the movement leaders together with the youths willingly took up arms to fight for freedom, the women provided courage, water, food and accommodation for the freedom fighters, the religious leaders gathered the masses and filled them with hope, the doctors treated and saved lives of countless sick and wounded masses and the teachers never left the young ones uneducated and idle and illiterate while our great brothers and sisters in diaspora never kept the international community blind on the struggle of the freedom fighters as they stood firm narrating the suffering and injustices imposed on the South Sudanese . Therefore, the shared struggle reveals that it was through a combined effort of all South Sudanese that made the 21 years of struggle a great success.

• The Signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. According to the shared struggle, the CPA was the most gorgeous gift in the history of Sudan as it put to an end the longest war that left Sudan broken and divided for years. The CPA built in South Sudanese the hope of a sovereign state and the joy that soon the imposed suffering and injustices would come to an end. It was this agreement that brought our freedom fighters home, united families and engulfed the burning fires of anger and suffering. However, the shared struggle narrates to us a special story that we should not forget our allies that helped us throughout the negotiations for peace and those who accommodated our peace negotiators. The shared struggle tells us never to also forget the patience of the masses that strongly stood with the great freedom fighters. Therefore the shared struggle narrates to us that it was through compromises of South Sudanese that made the CPA feasibly implemented.

• The referendum. Based on the shared struggle, the referendum was the voice of the South Sudanese who independently declared the creation of a sovereign state called South Sudan. Therefore the referendum can be described as the genuine work of the masses of South Sudan of putting aside the tribal and other social differences aside and answering the call of freedom and unity. Therefore the shared struggle narrates to us that we must look at South Sudan as a state created by the power of the masses for justice, freedom, equality and development to prevail. According to the power of the shared struggle, it advises us that it is only through the unity that we showed during the referendum that can once more remind us why and for what purpose was South Sudan created.

The shared struggle reminds us that no single individual dominates the history of South Sudan and no single person can solve the challenges that we face today. The shared struggle therefore teaches us that we must rebuild the unity and the courage that we had during the struggle for liberation to the signing of the CPA and the smart walk for the referendum. The shared struggle is a combined struggle that led to the creation of the republic of South Sudan and therefore as the struggle was shared, let us share ideas and power in order to build South Sudan to reflect justice, liberty and prosperity and show the real purpose of the struggle for the 21 years and may God bless South Sudan and Africa.