Presbyterian Church of South Sudan: Reconciliation of the Top SPLM’s Leadership Ends the War

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he [she] is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the Ministry of Reconciliation; that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf; be reconciled to God". (2Cor 5:17 – 20 NIV)

The heart of this paper is the reconciliation between the top leaders of SPLM, with special reference to the current President Salva Kiir Mayardit, and his former Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar Tenny-Dhurghon, who is now the leader of the rebel groups that is fighting the Government of South Sudan. Dr. Riek was part of the SPLM political party until December 2013. That was the time when the failed coup attempt started. The reconciliation between them is very serious for ending SPLM's war. The restoration of the broken relationships between them is critical; simply because the war that broke out in Juba in December 15th, 2013 was essentially SPLM's war. And the President and his former Vice President are the top leaders of each side of the conflict. If we want the war to end, the top leaders of SPLM in the cities and in the bush must be involved in the process of stopping the war and finding a peaceful solution. They must be reconciled.

The war which is currently taking place in South Sudan, is "meaningless... ulterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!"(Ecc.1:1-2). It will not benefit the people of South Sudan, even the supporters of both leaders. The war has already brought destruction, death, and displacement to the people. These people, who are now suffering , are the people of both leaders, Kiir and Riek. They voted for them at the rate of 97% in last election in 2011. Their destruction, death and displacement must be frustrating and heart bleeding for President Salva Kiir Mayardit, the democratically elected President. What can he do to stop the war which is killing his innocent people? Since he is the elected President and now is in control of the major parts of the country and his party, he can do more for his people. The first thing he can do is to bring peace, unity, and development to the people of South Sudan, who made him President. He needs to gather his courage and have direct reconciliatory talks with his former vice President,Dr. Riek Machar Tenny-Dhurghon who is now in the bush. In my view President Kiir, needs to have reconciliation between him and Riek.Their reconciliation will end the war and save their people, the electorate. What is the nature of this reconciliation? This will be the subject of our discussion.Its defination will be as follows:

Reconciliation Define.

Before proceeding with the discussion, it is useful to define the meaning of reconciliation. This is a matter of clarification because both men, Kiir and Riek, know the meaning of reconciliation from their Christian faith and their African traditional backgrounds. Particularly, there is reconciliation process in Nuer and Dinka traditional way of life. However this may be different from Christian faith. See it from the following statements!

The term reconciliation about which we are discussing is a Biblical term. Its meaning is rooted in the Bible, and especially in the writings of St. Paul. In his letters, there are 12 books/letters with references to reconciliation. Generally, reconciliation means restoration of broken relationships between two or more people who had good and friendly relations. When the broken relations are restored, these people become friendly again. They eat together, they share ideas and life goes on peacefully among and between them. The enmity which existed between them disappeared. Their wives, relatives near and far, and children become friends again. This side of reconciliation is slightly different from the Biblical point of view. It was God who did the reconciliation. Let us now turn to what the Bible says about reconciliation. On the other hand, reconciliation does not walk by its self or in isolation. It is always a company by repentance, forgiveness, peace, prayer and unity. However, let us turn to what the Bible says about restoration of broken relationship.

From the Biblical perspective, restoration of broken relationships between God, Adam, and Eve were restored by God himself through Jesus Christ. A story about how mankind disobeyed God, is found in Genesis 3:1-24. However, it was God against whom humankind sinned that took action to reconcile mankind to himself because man/woman didn't have power to return to God. So, he initiated the steps to reconcile humankind to himself. The action of God is stated clearly by Apostle Paul when he said," Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he [she] is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation"[2Corth5:17-19]. As we see it, the reconciliation between humankind and God is initiated by God, the most powerful one. Seen from the action of God through Christ, reconciliation restores broken relationships between God and humankind. God, the most powerful, carried out restoration of relationships,between himself and mankind.

Hence, the relationship between democratically elected President and his former vice President Dr.Riek Machar, the leader of rebel's side of SPLM, will restore harmonious relationships which existed between them before the tension developed. The creation of harmonious relations between the two top leaders will certainly end the SPLM's war which started after the failed coup attempt against democratically elected President, Salva Kiir Mayardit. It was on December 15, 2013 in Juba at 10:00 pm on Sunday night. On that night it was reported that 500 soldiers were killed and quickly buried. Why? If this is true, this question is beyond this presentation. Maybe some human rights, group will handle it.

However, the war did not stop in Juba. It, with the speed of lightning, swept through Greater Upper Nile [Jonglei, Bentiu, and Upper Nile]. It destroyed everything in its way. This war will not end with military victory, sanctions or peacekeeping forces from UN or IGAD. Even the suggestion of H.E vice President of the ROSS that rebels put down their arms and retured home.It is not within reality. It is in the region of political rhetoric. The rebels will not put down their arms.The only peaceful way of ending the war is through reconciliation between Salva Kiir, the democratically elected President and his former vice President, Dr. Riek Machar Teny- Dhurghon. This will end the war and the killings of innocent people will also end.

If their reconciliation ends the war, I see no reason why President Salva Kiir Mayardit and Dr. Riek Machar Tenny-Dhuhgon, former vice President can reject reconciliation between themselves and their supporters. They themselves are the product of reconciliation between them and late Dr.John Garang ,the founder of SPLA\M. That reconciliation took place in Rumbek,2004. It resulted to the appointment of three Generals as follows: Gen.Kiir was appointed to the position of vice Chair Person of SPLA\M, Gen.James Wani Igga, Gen. Dr.Riek Machar,and Gen.Dr.Lam Akol Ajawin, became governors of the three states namely: Equatoria, Upper Nile and Bhar-al-ghazal. President Kiir and Dr.Riek knows this history very well. If they were not reconciled with Dr. John Garang, CPA would have not been born the day it was born. This is the most impotant thing they shuold remember in their lives.

However , as Christians, Kiir and Riek have experince about what God does in dealing with the problems of the oppressed and suffering people. God always intervenes in their behave.There are two examples that can be given to illustrate God's consernes about the suffering of the oppressed people. This first example, comes from the book of Exodus.This example deals with the question of people of Isreal when they were in Egypt and they were oppressed by the Egyptians. For this reason God said, ''I have indeed seen misery of my poeple. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am conserned about their suffering. So, I have come down to rescue them. [Exodus 3:7-8,NIV]. In the same way, God can rescue people of South Sudan from the suffering inflicted on them by their leaders. He can remove the waring leaders of South Sudan and replace them with honest democractically elected leaders, who can respect human rights and Biblical values, such as justice, equality, freedom ,honesty, and accountability.

The second relevant example of God's concern about the oppresed and suffuring people comes from the book of Prophet Ezekiel. These Shepherds were oppressing the people and God said "I am against the shepherds and I will hold them accountable for my flock {people}.I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can nolonger feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths and it will nolonger be food for them...I will judge between one sheep and another. I will place over them one shepherd, my Servant David and he will tend them and be their shepherd. I the Lord will be their God, and my Servant David will be prince {leader} among them. I the Lord have spoken."{Ezekiel:34:10,22,24}.This is how God, the creator deals with the problems of the oppressed people. He intervenes in their affairs in order to end their suffering.He removes the oppressors and establishes peace,"order and stability". He will do so in the Republic of South Sudan, so that the development programmes can be rejunenated and the people can return to their homes becouse there is peace and stability in the Republic.

In the light of the possible God's intervention in order to save the people of South Sudan, Kiir and Riek need to reconcile as soon as possible. Yet, their reconciliation is not going to be an easy job.It is going to take hard work by South Sudan Council of churches, the IGAD, and the international community to persuade Kiir and Riek to think seriously about peaceful solutions of the conflict. This is going to be done through reconciliation rather than a military way. There will be no military victory for both sides, as it was stated before in this paper.

When completely reconciled, both leaders return to the position they had in 2010 when they were campaigning for election. At that time they were friends of "likeminded" and were one in spirit and purpose. The purpose was to win the election. During the campaign, they visited people in their villages. Both men talked to the people about what they will do for the poeple if they were elected and passed the election and become President and Vice President respectively. Kiir and Riek were happy when they were campaigning together. This is the position they need to return to when they are reconciled. They should be as St. Paul says "be likeminded, having the same love being in one spirit and purpose [and] doing nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others" [Phil 2:2-4 NIV]. This is a long quotation from the Bible, NIV. This was done to save your time in looking up the chapter and the verses. Now we turn to the feeling of President Salva Kiir Mayardit about the suffering of the people who elected him. He must be thinking about the way to bring peace and unity to South Sudan.

I am sure he does have a sleepless night, thinking about the war and the suffering of the people. If he does cogitate about the suffering of his people [demos] who made him the first President of South Sudan, he must gather his strength to stop the war which is destroying the country and bring peace and unity to the nation. That action is to reconcile with Riek Machar, the leader of 'SPLM- in-opposition'.

In the previous discussion, we concentrated on reconciliation of the SPLM's top leadership in general. This is because SPLM's leadership needs to be reconciled because the current war in South Sudan is SPLM's war. Thus, when the top leaders are reconciled, the war will come to an end. In this case, the first ones to be reconciled are the democratically elected President, Kiir and his former Vice President, Dr. Riek now the leader of ''SPLM -in-opposition''. To my imagination, this is correct .It is stronger than other means! But who among the two is going to take the first step or the first "move" for making reconciliation between the two leaders. Who is going to be the initiator of reconciliation? For me, it must be democratically elected President Kiir. He needs to walk to Dr. Riek's camp, carrying in his hands the Bible and carrots, and not " carrots and sticks" and to declare to him that we are now reconciled. No more war and no more killings and destruction .This is in line with Biblical thinking about reconciliation. It is like this:

The first step for reconciliation was taken by God the most powerful one. As for the reconciliation of SPLM's top leaders and their followers, it is proposed that President Salva Kiir Mayardit, the elected President, takes the lead in restoration of relationship between SPLM's groups. This is because the failed coup was carried out against him and his government. He controls the nation. He is concerned about the suffering of his people; the electorate . He is still powerful. Dr. Riek, his former vice President, now the leader of "SPLA\M -in-opposition" is no longer in the country. He is in the bush and control parts of the bushes of South Sudan, and the rebels there. He will not return to Juba, the national capital, until there is reconciliation, peace, and unity within SPLM and in the Republic South Sudan.

However, most people in the country, be them the followers of Dr. Riek or President Kiir have less information and knowledge about democracy. The President who was democratically elected, is not changed by bullet but by ballot. The democratic system is not found in traditional systems of the people of Southern Sudan. It must be learnt, and that takes time. It took the West about 250 years to learn the democratic system which is now being practiced. It has gone deep into there blood and their thinking. In the year 1863, Abraham Lincoln defined democracy as ''the rule of the people, by the people, for the people''. In that definition of democracy everything is people. So, it is the people (demos) by their free and fair voting, without rigging, which change the government. Kiir and Riek know this very well, especially Dr Riek who was educated in one of Britain's universities, and holds a [PHD] .

It was completely wrong to change the democratically elected President by bullet and not by ballot. However, the bullet has been used to change the elected government. Apparently, it did not work. What then, can be done to stop the killings of innocent people and the destruction of property? In this situation, the use of force to clear rebels from the bushes of greater Upper Nile will take years and will prove very expensive, although ROSS has oil money. This oil money without peace will decrease and eventually ROSS's government will run out of money. This could be a very serious problem for the government and the people. The effective and peaceful thing to do, without the use of guns, is reconciliation between President Salva Kiir Mayrdit, and his former Vice President, Dr Riek Machar Teny.

And the preparation for their direct reconciliation, that is between Salva Kiir Mayrdit and Dr Riek Machar be carried out by South Sudan Council of Churches, IGAD, and friends of ROSS. People are suffering and the rains are coming. So let the preparation for helping Kiir and Riek to reconcile be done as quickly as possible.

But what happens if Kiir and Riek refuse to accept reconciliation between themselves and their supporters? Of course, they can refuse to accept reconciliation and the war between them continues, and people, the electorate, continue to suffer. South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC) will, of course, continue to persuade Kiir and Riek to accept reconciliation. But President Kiir and Dr. Riek (PHD) SHOULD KNOW THAT they are not representing their own interests or interests, of their families, immediate and extended, but they represent the interests of the people who elected them. These are the people whom they are going to save, if they accept reconciliation. If people know that Kiir and Riek are their representatives, then people can withdraw their support from them. But as it was stated above not many people know democratic system and values. Never-the-less President Kiir and Riek will be persuaded by SSCC to reconcile and their reconciliation ends the war and killings of innocent people will also stop, and peace and stability will return to the Republic.

Even China will be happy about the prospects of peace in South Sudan. "It has a huge investment in the oil sector" in the republic. For this huge investment to benefit China and South Sudan, peace is needed. China must also contribute to the realization of peace. When it is acheved, the attention of the government and people of South Sudan will be turned to the question of Repatriation, Relief, Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Refugees ( 5 Rs).

At this point, after reconciliation of President Kiir Mayardit with his former Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurghon, there will "be absolute cessation of hostilities" in South Sudan. Now, with "absolute cessation of hostilities", which means there is no more war, and no more killings. What then will be the role of President Salva Kiir Mayardit and this former vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurghon in the peaceful republic of South Sudan?

The Role of President Salva Kiir Mayardit and Dr. Riek Machar-Teny Dhurghon in peaceful South Sudan.

What will be their role in the peaceful Republic of South Sudan after the war ends? Will they return to be President and vice President respectively? That question will be for the people of South Sudan to deal with. However, for me, who is a citizen of South Sudan, President Kiir and Riek will have to spend their time doing the work which they have already done with success. This is the work of reconciliation, and peace, for themselves and for the people of South Sudan. They will move in the country mobilizing the people of the ROSS for reconciliation, peace, and unity. In that way, they will effectively contribute in promoting the concept of "one nation, one people" which most people don't know.

In promoting reconciliation, peace, and unity, they become ambassadors of Christ for the people of South Sudan. This is in line with Biblical statement which says" therefore, if anyone is in Christ he [she] is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ... and committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors." [2Corth5:17-19 NIV] This will be a respectable and honourable job for Kiir and Riek.

Having been reconciled, President Salva Kiir Mayardit, and his former Vice President Dr Riek Machar Teny-Dhurghon, have become new persons in Biblical sense and reality. They have become united after reconciliation, and now ready to become ambassadors for Christ to the people of the Republic of South Sudan. In their roles as ambassadors for Christ, they will spend most of their time visiting people in their states and counties, telling them to reconcile and live in peace and be united. In this important work of national reconciliation, they will be accompanied and supported by South Sudan Council of Churches and other humanitarian organizations in the Republic of South Sudan. This work of reconciliation will take up most, if not all, of their time. There will be no much time left for their executive work in the presidency. But after reconciliation and peaceful settlement of the SPLM/A's conflict, will they continue to be president and vice president again? This question will of course, be dealt with by the people of South Sudan. However, for me it will be better for the two leaders, President Salva Kiir Mayardit and his former vice President, Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurghon to concentrate on the work of mobilizing the people of South Sudan for reconciliation, peace and unity. In that way people will became "one nation one people". This will make poeple to consider them as people of reconciliation, peace and unity, rather than former warlords.

What about the work of the presidency? South Sudan's people can indentify someone to carry on the work of the nation. He / she will be president and will lead the nation to the time of next election. Presumably, in five years time. I think interim president should come from the tribes of equatoria region, rather than from Bhar Al Ghazal and Upper nile regions. Why? Simply becacuse the majority of equatorian tribes are not interested in owning cattle, especially the West and therefore are not cattle raiders. The cattle raiding lead to war and killings. This is the first point. The second point is that the majority of them are litterate and can understand the talks about democracy. Thirdly, a significant number of them are christians, espcialy from Central and Western equatoria and can understand and practise christian"s values, such as equality, justice, honesty, freedom and accountability. These are Biblical values, transalated into democratic values. Fourthly, they are not involved in the current SPLM's war. So they are nuetrual. Hence, the interim president must be a nuetrual person. In that case, he/she must come from equatorial regions which are currently nuetrual regions. This president will of course, be elected by the national assembly in Juba.

This intrim president will face a difficuclt task of unifying the nation after the SPLM's war comes to the end. He/she would have been helped by the president of Uganda who had experienced in unifying his country ( Ndulo, 2006:81). However, it appeared that the president of Uganda, seemed to be interested in using his well trained and well desciplined army in putting down the rebellion in South Sudan. This is not popular in some quaters in South Sudan and in the world at large. This complicated problem of South Sudan which involves some degree of ethinicity, needs reconcilitory support. The Ugandan president would have been known in South Sudan as the "son of encouragement" ( Acts, 4:36), for reconciliation and not the son of military intervention.

In conclusion, reconciliation between SPLM's leadership, especially, between President Kiir Mayardit and his former vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurghon will bring peace and development to the people of the republic of South Sudan. And the killings will also stop.

This is my position and opinion.

By: Rev. Ezekiel Kutjok

Displaced person from Malakal and living in Uganda as a refugee.

Past General Secretary of Sudan Council of Churches and past Moderator of Dolieb Hill Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Sudan.