South Sudan and the elusive unity.

“Can the badly needed unity among the South Sudanese be brought about by mere talking? “

South Sudanese have in many cases complained of lack of unity within their ranks. But is the issue of unity only a problem of South Sudan as such or is it the problem of the whole Sudan if not the entire continent of Africa?

Unity, that magic word, remains in the very centre of any society’s existence. However, the way to achieve it stands as one of the greatest challenges that mankind has battled with since the beginning of Creation. So, would it not be a wise thing to find out why people tend to live in disunity when it should have been better for them the other way round?

However, it is now centuries passed since man recognised the central fact that the unity of the people, in fact, simply lies in the confidence and trust they have amongst themselves. If so, it means that to build unity, we actually need first to build confidence and trust among ourselves before we ever expect to be a united people. Unity does not just come about as mere human wish. It is one of those things that you actually have to work for as opposed to only talking about it and, may be, hoping one morning to wake up and find the people united.  Many have so far used it no different to any of the many empty slogans raised by governments who feel immuned to opposition tabled reforms.

Again, is it good for all mankind to be united? The simple answer is definitely a big yes, but yet in reality not all mankind is united and as long as the confidence and mutual trust do not exist between people, this noble goal will remain to be pursued but difficult to be attained in the foreseeable future.

Let us not take things too far and we can first start with the most preached unity in the Sudan, between the North and the South. We from the southern perspective have a full house of arguments to give as to why this unity is not workable. There is also the other strategic unity between the Sudan and Egypt. This too, is not working and we also have our explanations for that. The third scenario to look at, is the failed unity between the African counties in their pursue for United States of African, a dream that was considered the noblest by our Pan Africanist Heroes who led the first struggle for the decolonisation of the African continent.

I have put the above examples so that fellow South Sudanese can have a more pragmatic approach to this issue of disunity amongst our ranks given the fact that it is lately starting to give us sleepless nights more than any time before. Despite the fact that we have now come a long way in our struggle for our independence, yet to achieve the remaining bit, we must all come to the true recognition that in the absence of a South Sudanese unity, the task ahead remains as difficult as ever.

To get down to the bottom of issues, we need to be practical and we have so far only done the talking bit. It is time that we in South Sudan face the consequences of our irresponsible actions, behaviours and statements because all of them collectively have led to the loss of confidence and trust between out politicians, intellectuals, and entire communities at large. Whatever number of conferences we would hold in this respect,  will only be putting up of faces while the bitter distrust amongst ourselves remains unaddressed? I do not know why were some people too greedy to assume that they could bulldoze it all on their own in the first place? However, now that it is beginning to turn soar, is it not time that they reconsider their initial ill intensions?

Many beautiful articles and even books have been written addressing this issue. I am not sure whether any of these writings are ever been read and given the deserved attention by those in the decision making positions.  One such work is Dr. P.A Nyaba’s book which shows a clear attempt by a true insider who tries to draw lessons for his colleagues based on how the liberation movement was mismanaged in the period between 1983 -1991 leading to the split. The question here is that, since this inside story of the liberation struggle was written by a prominent member of SPLM/A leadership, how many of his views have actually been taken seriously by his colleagues in their running of the semi-autonomous South Sudan during the past four years or so ? And how many more books and articles still need to be written about the badly needed South Sudanese unity, before those in power could give it the realistic  priority and due consideration.

The role of the dominant National Congress Party (NCP) of President Omer al Bashir in widening the rifts between southerners cannot be underrated, but the initially causes of these rifts which are basically southern in origin should not also be pushed under the carpet. There are people outside there, especially in the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM)  party who need to come out clean before embarking on issues pertaining to salvaging the future of our people, leave alone talking about unity. Many now in office had initially misunderstood the signing of the CPA between the SPLM and the NCP as synonymous to having liberated the South. These are those who more than likely never gave a damn to Dr. P.A. Nyaba’s judgement in his book that liberation is a continuous process and as such we should all appreciate that the players in sustaining our liberation are definitely bound to change as time changes and it shouldn’t, in that sense, surprise anyone when new players appear on the stage, unless of course, we would want to stop the clock so that the honour of liberation is not shared by all.

Is there any South Sudanese who finds it surprisingly enough to see the NIF/NCP dragging its feet on implementing the CPA? If there is one, then that must be the most naïve southerner given the history of the North-South relationship in the Sudan. Even those who were at the talks in Machakos, Nakuru and Naivasha knew very well that the devil lies in the implementation of the agreement. And in a clear attempt to safe guard peace keeping forces in areas of the South as well as the contested Nuba Mountains, Southern Blue Nile and the Abyei. South Sudanese were thus made to believe that, though they never trust the Arabs to implement the agreement, with the huge presence of witnesses as the IGAD, the troika, the US administration and the entire international community, it would be possible to see the CPA through without reverting to war again. So, what do we make of the positions of the above witnesses and in particular the US administration given the way they are responding to how the NCP has chosen to go around putting  hurdles in the whole process ? Is it not our right to question all those involved in brokering the CPA about their expected roles in making sure that the agreement is implemented to the spirit and to the letter?

To be very realistic, most if not all of the South Sudanese political parties are giving their priority to the secession of South Sudan. It is now up to SPLM to revisit its position on the unity of the Sudan given the fact of the issues on the ground.  SPLM’s negotiating position is supported by all sound minded South Sudanese as long as they stick to their current position as opposed to what the NCP is saying. The CPA is clear on that as it states that it will be SPLM to represent the South in the negotiations with the NCP whether at the Presidency or any other specialized groups. With this in mind it is going to be the SPLM’s representatives in the above organs and in particular the Presidency who will finally see the South triumph by negotiating fair and transparent elections and referendum.

Furthermore, though we do not approve of the messy SPLM policies in the Government of South Sudan (GoSS),  and it remains an  issue we would want to address by challenging them (SPLM) in the coming elections, we also assure the South Sudanese masses that our stand  in achieving the Independence of South Sudan through the forth coming referendum will always reflect the aspirations of our people and we are willing to support the SPLM in its negotiations of the referendum laws once  they practically prove to us that they have finally parted with the delusions of the United New Sudan. An end must be brought to this unity that the SPLM leadership wants to pursue at the expense of our people’s revolution. We say no to that and we insist that the whole world must know that our struggle remains as it is, which is explicitly meant to achieve and establish an independent state in South Sudan.

Last but not least, let no mistake be made to mix up between our stand as South Sudanese to support those who are representatives of our people on the formulation of the referendum laws, on the one hand, and how we would want the government of the South to be run, on the other. In as far as the GoSS is concerned; we are hereby putting it here clearly that we are not in any way going to compromise our position in bringing the badly needed change to South Sudan. We are NEVER interested in positions nor the bribery type government hand outs. And with our very humble resources we are determined to fight the rampant corruption and impunity that have dragged South Sudan into the worse ever witnessed misery in the history of mankind.

Like most South Sudanese, we are not happy with the way our people are butchering one another in the name of tribalism, ethnicity, or clan. And as we fight our way towards  independence, the rulers of today’s GoSS and the entirety of the South Sudanese nation must be assured that we are determined to work hard to prepare our people to be productive, self reliant, confident and united which are all the necessary prerequisites if we are to have a viable independent South Sudan .  But as for now, we are not going to be a part to any union that is bent on personal enrichment without the least respect to human life, human dignity, and human rights.

We are confident that our set goals can be achieved and since other people are able to make it, then we can also confidently make it there. We are not going to liberate the people, but we are going to make the people liberate themselves so that no one  comes again to claim and boast for being the liberator of the people. Today’s undignified and unjustifiable state of affairs where some fellow South Sudanese consider themselves being the liberators and the rest the liberated must be brought to an end. Thereafter, we shall all be a united people being both the liberators and liberated at the same time.  This is how we would want our unity to look like and jointly the people shall endeavour to maintain it.

Dr. Justin Ambago Ramba, MB, BCh, DRH, MD. The Secretary General of the United South Sudan Party (USSP). The party that stands for the Independence of South Sudan.. Can be reached at either : or .
Skype name: justinramba.