Isaiah Abraham

371 Pages·2012·10.73 MB·English

by  Makwei Mabioor Deng

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Isaiah Abraham

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Isaiah Abraham in his own
words

AU force extension in Darfur, a victory
to NCP not to SPLM
By Isaiah Abraham*
Mar 14, 2006
The drama that led to the extension of African Peacekeeping Forces in Darfur has
nothing to do with the Sudan as a whole or SPLM as a party as propagated by those
who are against the marginalized people of the Sudan. Darfur is bleeding and should
have been saved. The man at the helm of this ‘victory’ is none other than Dr. Lam
Akol Ajawin, the Sudanese Foreign Minister from the SPLM Party.
Although it is not that easy to satisfy all interests in a coalition the least an astute
politician could do or could have done was to compromise not his/her fall back base,
no matter the enticement or attraction the players in that political scene. The
Minister went out full blast to contradict his boss, President Salva Kiir Mayardit and
his colleague in the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) Mama Rebecca de
Mabior. President Salva was unequivocally pressed that NCP partner is not serious
in its willingness to resolve Darfur crisis.
Did anybody hear the President or other Southern politicians or the Southern public
unease about UN peacekeeping forces intervention in Darfur? Where there
demonstrations in the Southern cities in condemnation of the United States or the
United Nations or Jan Pronk? Certainly there weren’t and there will not be any
protest against presence of UN in any part of the Sudan. Our people saw a sinister in
the tone of NCP and therefore decided to say yes (at least secretly) to UN
peacekeeping forces to any of the marginalized part of the Sudan.
There are questions but our Minister insisted that there is benefit for Sudan because
the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) would be affected. That is shire
rubbish! Our President was humiliated from Paris from the Donor Conference, isn’t
that alone not enough to refute whatever lame excuse the minister wanted to put
across to justify his actions and bad judgment towards our people. Our President has
a short memory!
When our people were butchered at the hands of the Egyptians security forces, the
minister chose to be mum and non-committal until our great Vice President Dr.
Riek Machar Dhorgun came out so fumed with national burden to denounce the
Egyptian security forces act against innocent refugees. The President couldn’t even
bother to underground murmur about performance of this minister. Whenever
Southern consider a case Dr. Lam stands to say the opposite.
Majority of Southerners believe that Dr. Garang de Mabior was assassinated but Dr.
Lam confidently jumped into conclusion that the plane came down on bad weather.
Even the Panel that is investigating/probing the alleged causes of the crush didn’t
come to conclude the same way the minister exuding his finding about the same.
When President Salva raised issues affecting the implementation of the CPA, the
minister defended the NCP in everything by stating that “everything is going on as
planned and hence smoothed partnership”. When Southerners were looking for
alternatives regional relationship, the minister came out offensively to condemn such
a move.
When the minister in the GOSS for Finance and Economic Planning and the
Governor of the Bank of Southern Sudan complained about the oil actually details of
the income and expenditure, the minister chose to praise the NCP position of fairness
in that area. When Southerners were looking for economic opportunities in the
Foreign Ministry, the ministry denied them rights for employment.
He has blocked Mr. Nhial Deng Nhial from exercising his duties at the regional level.
The list is long. Here it goes without saying that the minister from the SPLM has
technically abandoned the party that sponsored him to that position. But he is a
calculative politician. He knows well that his boss has no teeth to bite him bye at his
stage, given their newly formed relationship from Yei situation when the later was
almost losing his position to Mr. Nhial Deng Nhial.
No wonder the substantive freedom fighters in the likes of Mr. Pagan Amum
Oketch, Mr. Nhial Deng Nhial, John Koang Nyuon and Edward Lino Abyei are left
in the cold. What a setback for the people of the South and the marginalized areas
when national matters are personalized and socialized. The minister ought to know
that the relationship between the NCP and the SPLM/GOSS is ephemeral and
therefore based on the mutual understanding if the former breaks from the past. The
NCP should have capitalized on the CPA and makes unity attractive. It has not and
it wouldn’t be made attractive and hence futile to trust them now.
The NCP still violates human rights of the Sudanese, still failing to uphold the rule
of law, still practice instigation and bribery, still treat our people as second class
citizen in the national capital etc, what is that new from the NCP that could attract
our minister to believe them at this time? So, any surprise about the minister move?
No!
The minister relentless campaign against his own people is dated and therefore a
continuation of the same trend he has taken by choice! The President in my opinion
needs to give this minister another portfolio other than the Foreign Ministry because
we have a lot of stake in this docket.
* Isaiah Abraham is based in southern Sudan; he can be reached
at [email protected]
SPLM must do the right thing
By Isaiah Abraham*
July 17, 2006
Whether you are an SPLM supporter or not, the fact of the matter is that we have
the duty and obligation to watch closely what our ruling political party is doing or
not doing-failure and successes; that we should give credit where it is due and to
admonish or criticize when it is necessary. That is the basic core value of relationship
between the governed and the government. In our case the party has attempted to
bring about positive change in our country, something any political party before it
didn’t do or tried to do. This party deserves our honest appreciation and applause.
The party has clearly demonstrated their willingness to move this country forward on
new basis where rights of our marginalized people of the Sudan are guaranteed and
they feel for the first time stakeholders in the running of their political and socio-
economical affairs. That is an important achievement.
Therefore any leveled headed Sudanese in general and Southern Sudanese in
particular must as of necessity protect the image of this organization (SPLM). There
are indications that the SPLM intent to governed wisely and democratically. There
are further signs that the SPLM would deliver in its promises to make our people
choose their own destiny come year 2011. Why? Because the party enjoys strong
middle and grass roots support. It has formidable military presence over all Southern
Sudan with strong conviction of liberation. They have majority members in the
cabinet at the national, regional and state levels. Anything that can bring out good
governance is embodied in the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan and that of
the National. If the Interim National Constitution is anything to go by, the country
would changed from monolithic state under few individuals or clans to pluralistic
state for all of us for the first time. There is going to be general election where
possible non-Arab can descend into top job in the land if elections are taking place.
That is as far as Sudan as a whole is concerned in its relations to what SPLM has
done.
The South of course has it’s own unfulfilled promised they made in 1947 that could
be tested come 2011! No doubt that the country is concurrently run by two systems of
governments opposite to each other.
All of the above came about therefore because of an effort by SPLM Leadership
Council and the delegation to the talks in Kenya that produced the Comprehensive
Peace Agreement known as the CPA under great hero Dr. John Garang de Mabior.
Hence the party is our production and custodian of our national interests. We must
not allow it to die prematurely before it completes the work it has started in Kenya.
We should all play our part individually first and then collectively to make sure that
our land is build on sound principles of freedom, justice and equality.
There are areas however this party need to put more energy if they intent to stay on
top and win our unreserved support. This is mainly in the area of policies and
structure. Policies here mean that the Party should have been articulate enough to
stand behind its concept or policy statements. There is need for the GOSS/SPLM to
speak one voice throughout and at all times, whether at the Government of National
Unity (GNU) level, Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) or States. This is very
important because different messages translate mixed messages to our people. It has
to be one but on different tone by different people. This if done will stop our people
from guessing and gossip and by large sharpens the desire to know and question the
capabilities and competency of our Chief Executive. For examples when the sensitive
issues of Abyei, oil, border demarcation were raised the leaders at different levels
spoke different messages, which is not healthy at all.
There are questions hanging that could have been cleared by just one voice. Until
today nobody knows what action really took place to address such mishaps in the
Government in Juba. The issues in questions include the disappearance of money in
Juba; corruption at higher levels (stashed away of millions of dollars), Deng Macham
An’gui saga, appointments to key positions abroad, the acrimonious exit of Mr. Abdal
Aziz Adam El Hilu and Mr. Nhial Deng Nhial, the uncheck utterances and
unannounced defection of Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Lam Akol Ajawin, the
awarding of contracts to questionable foreign agencies, the regrouping or resurfacing
of former South Sudan Defense Forces (SSDF)- Malakal training near the airport for
example, the Fangak Commissionership fiasco, etc. These issues require leadership
policies that could be easily adopted by the populace and subsequently reduce
hearsays and misinterpretation.
The structure on the other hand stands for who is holding what at the SPLM
Political Bureau echelon. How is this body SPLM structured, what are there for
membership enlistment? What party tenents/policies, slogans and principles. The
NCP has two or three key principles. What regulations and guidelines that governs
the appointment of the Chairman, his deputy and other key officers? How does
relationship between the SPLM and the SPLA look like? This is very important! The
SPLM must be prepared for bigger things at other levels. Why is it actually crucial at
this time? Because it minimizes chances for nepotism and tribalism since everyone
will subject him/herself to public scrutiny at least to lead. It further entrenches
SPLM democratically and creates discipline in the systems. It legitimizes authority
and thereby enhances confidence. It spells out duties and roles for each section of the
system and enlarges check and balances. Hon. Justine Yaach Arop wouldn’t have
frustrated Hon. Nhial Deng Nhial on controversial $1 Million offer to Kenya and
inauguration of President Y. K. Museveni. That simple omission has cost us a great
deal.
There would have been durable chances for succession in the SPLM leadership
incase the replacement is necessitated, whether through elections or by
circumstances. The situation at the moment is blurred and uncertain. History will
judge SPLM harshly if they don’t move quickly and address themselves to these
situations and eventualities. Am concerned somehow that the other parties are taking
advantage of SPLM transition from Military Organization to Political one. The other
parties think their several degrees and PhDs they acquired during the war, when
SPLA/M members were fighting would give them license to penetrate Southern
Sudanese spectrum for sole reason to capture power. Shame on them! I have heard
and seen these gentlemen especially the so-called Democratic Forum strategizing
and politicizing against the SPLM. Oh no, they are toying with people wrath. They
have democratic rights like any other SPLM member by the way!
So what is the story anyway? The SPLM is a popular political organization that has
political & historical cause at its disposal. The leadership of this party must not rest
on its laurels and assume that everything is all right after several appointments and
establishments. The road ahead of them is purely political and any other thing is just
subsidiary or by product of this environment. Kwame Nkarume was right when he
said, "take first the political helm and everything else would just follow". What
happen if they don’t? The party will disintegrate into tiny political units for the
advantage of the NCP. The blood of our great icon Dr. Garang and others would
have been shed in vain.
There is no time to talk about dark albeit grim details on the killing of Dr. John
Garang de Mabior. The GoSS took it easily to go by that superficial report meant to
draw attention away from what actually happened inside Uganda before the crash.
Though technical Report is yet to come out some key GoSS official have already fell
on the song that it was an "accident". That wasn’t. The truth is there and will surely
come however distant! In relationship to this, there is growing tension within GoSS
whether they can nationalize Garang’s death or leave it altogether. Majority sees the
latter as an honor to his skills and contributions to our cause while minority with
other ulterior motives see it otherwise. All the same history can’t be written but it
writes and rewrites itself alone. Whether there would be that day or not Dr. Garang
stands out unique as champion for war and for peace, may his soul rest in eternal
peace!
Little things sum up this argument. One, the house of the SPLM has been
penetrated by those who were sitting at the fence or outside the fence! When the
going need their contribution, they opted to aid, support, conspire and execute
together with Southern enemies in Khartoum in an attempt to neutralize the
SPLA/M. That was a grave act of betrayal that is unforgettable. Two, the house
needs to steer clear anything to do with petty politics of regionalism, sectionalism,
tribalism and whatever that divides us as Southern Sudanese. It has to develop
political manifesto that would give constituents trust and hope to own up this party
right from the grass root levels. Three, there are serious issues where the Chief
Executive must not talk sense alone but talk tough and invite or mobilize his cards
for alternatives plans that could back up his position.
Talking in rallies and in military parades about inconsistence of the NCP doesn’t
offer solution but breed and exposes hopelessness and incompetency of the President
and his authority. Fourth, SPLM ought to call for Second Convention to
democratize its structures. Parliament in Juba should look at Garang Report and
hammer out those omissions and questions surrounding the investigation and allow
the technical committee to quickly wind up its work. The truth will always be the
truth no matter what. That Report doesn’t give anything as was expected it is just
faulty and full of divisionary trends and flaws. The so-called final Report only started
where the plane got crashed and ends thereafter which is not enough to convince
small brains. Several big whys remain in the area of gadgets & apparatus, intention &
peculiars include the kind of damage and explosion surrounding Dr. Garang’s plane.
Fifth, the President’s advisors are by all accounts failed to move us out of our dark
age of who connected where.
Sixth, the President should reshuffle his cabinet and recall others in the Government
of National Unity (GNU). The target should be the Foreign Affairs Minister (GNU),
Finance & National Planning Minister (GOSS), GOSS Cabinet Affairs Minister,
GNU State Minister for Presidential Affairs, GOSS Minister for Education, GOSS
Minister for Health. Seventh, people of Fangak deserves our attention, hence the
President through his State Governor has to appoint their Commissioner. If General
Gabriel Tanginya refused to renounce his SSDF affiliation, then Johnson Kuol Ghai
could be reinstated and Gen. Gabriel Tang to join Gen. Gordon Koang in Malakal.
Eight, the spending of thousands of dollars in tents in Juba by GOSS is an abuse by
the Government. Enough is enough; our Housing Ministry should come up with a
solution! Nineth, commendation should be extended by our President to job well
done by Governor of Unity State, Brig. Taban Deng Ghai on his Primary & High
School Education Program. This an exact thing Hon. Michael Hussien in Juba
would have done. Tenth, President is not necessary obliged to allow himself to be
guarded by pale faces from the North!
* Isaiah Abraham is living in Southern Sudan he can be reached at
[email protected]
Refer Abyei disputes to the 3rd party
By Isaiah Abraham
September 7, 2006
Reading from so-called Joint Political Meetings between the National Congress
Party (NCP) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement led Government in Juba
(GOSS), there is an urgent need for the two parties to swallow their pride and seek
an arbitrator (3rd party). They shouldn’t deceive themselves that one party would
yield to the demands or position of the other. Going by their natter, nebulous and
vague press conferences, anyone lens could just see crisis in their faces and tones.
They simply avoid being antagonistic to each other or put it this way avoid being
sincere to the publicly. SPLM Parliamentary Group Chair Hon. Yasir Saeed Arman
couldn’t just be right but clear when he stated that on one political occasion that his
group (read SPLM) is playing it safe! He may be right or wrong...
For starters, Abyei Protocol calls for among other things the creation of Abyei
Administrative Council composed of handful members but appointed by the
President. That prerogative doesn’t mean that the President has to delay, appoint at
will or refuse to do anything and just get away with it. The Boundary Commission
for Abyei was an exercise to determine which part actually is Abyei’s and which is
Southern Kordofan or Bahr el Ghazal. That Commission was instituted and
supposed to pass the recommendations to the President and Presidency. What
happened there escaped no one’s attention. No implementation of the Abyei
Protocol.
Before and later after the singing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the
enemies of peace have been up to undo the CPA. This is just a relevant truth & is
supported given the disappearance of our great leader Dr. John Garang de Mabior
from that scene-elimination. NCP party is interested in peace but not in the
agreement. The SPLM on the other hand is interested in the later, under which it
has committed and subjected itself to humiliation all along since the agreement was
signed last year in January. Khartoum unfortunately is mistreating its faithful,
genuine and only reasonable partner that could do business with. They will live to
regret if SPLM pulls out it partnership license!
But any query about much hyped and highly overrated Amum, the SPLM Secretary
General? Probable not. He represents voice of reason in that Government. When the
National Energy Ministry negotiations were at highest tempo last year in September,
his voice was vocal, clear and untuned! Still upholds political future in our nation,
Southern Sudan. How could my dear brother smiled away our beloved land of Abyei
and allowed the NCP to hoodwinked him and his team that the Abyei issue is
subsidiary like any other items in disputes and therefore has to be discussed in the
committees and party headquarters? If the Abyei problem not an issue what is that
issue anyway? Where is the man who stands out tall among his equal colleagues in
the liberation struggle? How would his team allowed any piece of the agreement to
be renegotiated? That is a million dollar question! After 99 years of absence
geographically, Abyei is now part and parcel of Southern Sudan, period! No further
discussions on this, but still no violence or war to claim it, unless necessitated!
After Dr. Garang, Southern Sudan somewhat and somehow banks on Mr. Nhial
Deng Nhial and Mr. Pagan Amum Oketch. Am I alone? Perhaps not! Without any
prejudice to other key leaders at that level, the two gentlemen are promising lot, so to
speak! And the President? Oh yes, He is careful and collected. He is exceptionally
doing his job well! Somebody is charging him that he is doing things behind the
President El Bashir. That is just being malicious of the man. He doesn’t talk behind
the back of President Bashir or his key hawks about failures of the NCP to honor
Abyei Protocol? Our President Kiir I assume has exhausted every bit of diplomacy
and you could read his frustration in all his interviews and press conferences. What
he need though is the assertiveness and plan to counter NCP’s plans that are directed
to delay or scotch the implementation on this Protocol.
Now our people are breathing uncertainty from our ’brothers’ in the North! The likes
of Hon. Dr. Nafie Ali Nafie, the Deputy NCP leader for Political and Organization
Affairs is reminiscences of Dr. Ali El Hag Mohammed who was known for poaching
Southern Sudanese through use of money. He is not using money but brain to
thwart anything to do with Abyei Implementation. The Area to Hon. Nafia is "Ya
Abi" meaning literally ’oh my father’. Therefore, Any talk we could expect would
only be chicanery and a nightmare. GOSS are to brace themselves for tough road
ahead from the NCP tactics for any solution as far as Abyei dispute is concerned.
Desperate times called for desperate measures the saying goes. International Court of
Justice (ICJ) and Inter Governmental Authority and Development (IGAD) are some
few venues that could be sought to remedy an eventual deadlock and conflict.
Nigerian and Cameroun were on the verge of full-scale war should it not ICJ ruling
that diffused that conflict in 2003. IGAD though a non-legal entity is increasingly
been touted as a force to reckoned with, probably due to its closeness and association
with troika countries of USA, Britain and Norway. Internally, our Federal Appeal
Court in Khartoum can’t be trusted to sit over such a case without being partisan;
this matter is so complicated and needs impartial body to thrush out socio- judicial &
political matters attached therein. May the Lord bless us all!
The author could be reached at [email protected]
Bottled water, a lucrative market in
South Sudan
By Isaiah Abraham
Oct 25, 2006
Besides accommodation, the bottled water industry seems to be one of the industries
making an aggressive and loud splash to capture the imagination of the S. Sudanese
consumer.
Both services have been widely successful because they fulfilled a specific consumer
need. In the case of accommodation, S. Sudanese love to put up in clean and smart
places, but for decades, if they were lucky they would find housing services provided
by the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) on cheaper prices over exorbitant
foreign accommodation facilities. Most of the time, they never bothered asking their
fledgling Government to help them out of this crisis.
They therefore learnt to shut up, but when push comes to shove, they will start
asking. This city population in the next two years or so would swell up to a million
from its current estimated 500,000 people.
Similarly, the bottled water industry found a consumer base that had been thirst
from clean and safe water from the Nile in centuries. In 1990 when one of the
northern Sudan companies in Omdurman started bottling water from White Nile,
this was seen a major innovation though few businesses ventured to engage in taking
this product. Now it has started a trend where S. Sudanese would longer trust their
tap water (if any) and – though the revenue in this sector has not been made public.
Statistic shows that over 50% of Juba residence use bottled water. It’s a rare and
expensive commodity in town that someone would rather spare some dinars for it- a
multibillion potentially multibillion dinars industry.
In the accommodation sector, just like the bottled water industry, the fight for the
consumer is a gruesome battle that consumes hundreds of millions dinars if not
dollars in market budgets. A tent rent accommodation soared up to $150 a day!
In a field where a functional use of a product- quenching thirst- is similar, foreign or
national bottled water industry (mainly from the North) has only one choice of
making an impression in the eyes of the consumer: branding
In a country like ours that has no classified Bureau of Standard everything could go
awkward. Branding as part of this market tool is becoming unobserved in the
battleground among industry top tier players. Though there is a belief that water is
water and there are no nutritious ones, there is like hood that somehow spoilers could
use water to disseminate our people. If the said body could have been there, it would
have established regulatory measures where it would publish list of products that are
consistently meet its stringent production specifications. This equally could be
applied to all other commodities that stuffed the city market.
While the top bottled water brands in Juba now may not have the intention of going
to the trouble of producing a technically sound product or show the public the exact
merit of its product, they are offering real competition with pricing as the main
weapon. Small players with low overheads and products of indifferent quality now
dominate the lower end of the market, especially the urban slums. This is where
battled gets dirty because water-just like other soft drinks-makes money on volumes.
With the consumer spoilt for choice, there is little that the big players can do to
extract huge margins from the lower end of the market.
Thus, the stakes in the bottled water business are huge and the brand that manages
to win market share will command billions of dinars in revenues in the coming years.
Globally the consumption of the bottled water has been growing so fast such that the
category is expected to take the second place in size after soft drinks in the total
beverage market.
Competition in the bottled water category has never been stiffer-thanks to little
knowledge from the public. Researchers say this while industry the pioneer brands
were selling their water with less marketing efforts, the higher number of new water
consumers and entrants today in Juba is amazing!
Therefore, it is in this paper that GOSS should take every opportunity that avails
itself to taps more taxes and encourage its own corporations (if there be) to take the
lead of producing our own bottled water along the River Nile other than wait for
external industries to siphon out billions of dinars in this market.
The author is based Southern Sudan. He could be reached at
[email protected]