Not All Revolutionary Leaders Want To Save And Serve South Sudan

South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar (extreme left) and president Salva Kiir (in hat) signing peace agreement (PPU Photo)

(Pachodo.org) - South Sudan teeters on the edge of collapse. Citizens endure grinding poverty, lack basic services, and live under constant insecurity. Yet as the country bleeds, personal ambition is fracturing the opposition and jeopardizing hope for liberation.

For more than a decade, armed and political groups opposing the ruling SPLM have failed to form a cohesive front to rescue the nation from a weak and failed regime. Unity remains a slogan. Most revolutionary leaders prioritize protecting their positions over national unity. Their refusal to surrender leadership posts for the sake of unity exposes not only their lack of commitment to true revolution and democracy, but also their real motives, that is self-interest, rather than national cause.

Let us not be deceived by some of these so-called revolutionary leaders. Their resistance to unification is not about policy differences. It is about selfish political interests and an unwillingness to let others lead. Many leaders view a unified movement as a greater threat to their individual authority than to the government in Juba.

Their discomfort stems from principled leadership that rejects maladministration and corruption and demands accountability. They fear a system where power is earned, not seized, because in such a system they would not survive. This fear exposes their true aim, that's power, but not transformation that would serve and save the people.

Truthful, any leader who resists unity to protect his position will only replicate the failures he claims to oppose. Therefore, Can we as citizens entrust the rescue of our country to those who disguise personal interests as leadership? Can we expect them to uphold democratic systems we are yelling for? Definitely not.

In fact, if today’s revolutionary leaders are genuine, they must demonstrate a shared vision by forging a united front under one command, with one purpose and one commitment to the people’s cause, rather than to personal thrones. This unity must be anchored in sincerity, honesty, integrity, and mutual respect. Without these values, unity is hollow. They will neither defeat the system they oppose nor topple the SPLM regime. They will fail to save and serve the suffering masses of South Sudan.

It is time we recognize a hard truth as citizens that, not all revolutionary leaders in existence want to save and serve us as demonstrated by their difference, and lack of will to unite.

We must urgently isolate such leaders who are rejecting revolutionary unity out of fear of losing power. They are unfit to lead the revolution or the nation.

As of now, the choice for revolutionary leaders is stark: either unite to lead for the nation’s cause, or step aside for those who will. South Sudan cannot be saved by leaders who fear losing power more than they fear losing the country.

*John Sunday Martin*
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