ANARCHY IN WESTERN BAHR EL GAHZAL STATE: The “Fertit” / “Sudanic” Tribes Marginalized and Abused by the SPLM

By Elias Nyamlell Wakoson

The events of Monday, August 4, 2008, in which the Governor of Western Bahr El Ghazal State, Gen. Mark Nyipouch, ordered the arrest of seven top State members of the SPLM from the Fertit (Sudanic) tribes and Dinka Marial Bai (Wau) is unfortunate, to say the least. The Wau event is the culmination of over three years of anarchy in the State, marginalization, vicious nepotism, and savage tribalistic domination of the Fertit (Sudanic) tribes and Dinka Marial Bai (Wau) by a governor who claims to do all these evil things in the name of “Greater Luo.” Yet Governor Mark Nyipouch is a member of the SPLM, a party that sacrificed millions of lives for the sake of stopping marginalization, a party that claims to bring peace, equality, justice, democracy, and prosperity to the people of the New Sudan. Why has Mark Nyipouch violated all the noble principles of the SPLM with impunity? I think the answer lies with the SPLM, itself. Either the SPLM is not serious, or some SPLM members are more equal than others, and can violate all the tenets of the party with impunity.

The misgovernance and wanton abuses of authority have been going on in Western Bahr El Ghazal State since the inception of the state. The victims of the mismanagement of Western Bahr El Ghazal State have made numerous petitions to the top leadership of the SPLM and GOSS, but to my amazement, no concrete actions were taken to rectify the situation. The patient victims, including myself, of the dirty government in Western Bahr El Ghazal, first adopted the prudent course of action of wait, things will improve, since the SPLM leadership, and GOSS cannot allow one person and his crooked cronies to destroy a state and the SPLM Party.

The Fertit consider me their senior representative in the SPLM hierarchy. They made the same petitions to me. I talked to the top leadership of the SPLM about the problems of Western Bahr El Ghazal State. All I got was, we shall do something about it, but nothing was ever done. I ran out of patience and decided to keep quiet; hoping the leadership of the Party will listen to the agonizing wailing of my people. I was wrong and the perpetrators gained confidence in political and administrative abuse of my people. It is for this reason that I have decided to go public with the case of my people. I can no longer stand aside and see my own Party comrades marginalize my own people without regard to the tenets of the very Party I have dedicated my whole life to serving.

I have gone public to save my political party, the SPLM, from disintegrating, in not only Western Bahr El Ghazal State, but also the whole Sudan. The collapse of the party in one state is a bad signal for all the other states. That is why I have dedicated myself, in Northern Sudan, with the leadership of the SPLM Northern Sector, to build the party

In the north: I traveled to Shendi, Ed Damer, Atbara; traveled by train via Abu Hamad to Old Halfa; traveled for over sixteen (16) hours at night through a roadless mountainous desert terrain to Dongola; (in Dongola I had a near death incident in which my ferry quit working and the boat was floating aimlessly downstream.) ; then to Merowi and to Khartoum through small towns. Our trip also took us to Wad Medani, then Gedaref, and Kassala. I went to Damazine, and I traveled to Kadugli. I went to El Geneina and El Fasher. Numerous rallies in the Khartoum State. Why did I do all these? Basically, for the love of my political party and in fulfillment of Dr. John Garang de Mabior’s dream of building the SPLM from Nimule to Wadi Halfa and from Kassala to El Geneina. In the company of SPLM Deputy Secretary General, Northern Sector, Yassir Said Arman, I fulfilled Garang’s dream. When we arrived Old Halfa and seeing the multitude that received us, I looked at Yassir Saeed Arman, and tears rolled down my cheeks—I said to myself, it should have been Garang, but….This short experiential narrative shows that no body is more SPLM than I am or my people in Western Bahr El Ghazal. It is for this reason that I raise my voice, publicly, so that we all stop SPLM state officials from marginalizing and abusing other SPLM members.

I was once to go to Wau to try to resolve the ongoing problems. For some reasons, my trip was frustrated by people in the Secretary General’s office. I asked for explanation from the Secretary General and never got one till today. In Wau, rumors were circulated that I was going to campaign for the replacement of the governor—not true. The SPLM office gave me a car that stopped on the road. I had to borrow a car from a friend for my trips. The rally I was supposed to make was frustrated and I cancelled it. Now looking back, there was a concerted effort from the Greater Luo group to marginalize me in my own hometown—oh! God help us. Worst was the news from my governor. While I was in Juba, a senior SPLM member asked me why did you not tell the governor you were coming to Wau, and why did you not visit with him? I said, I did both. Mr. James Lual went from Juba to Wau to prepare for my visit. I also sent an advance team, who met with the governor. Yet the governor told the Senior SPLM member that, when I went to Wau I did not see him. Big lie because we went with the Secretary General of the Party for the State, Mr. Effisio Kuanj, and sat and talked for a while. Make your own judgment.

In the pre-convention period, many complaints were launched against the governor. SPLM headquarters responded by sending senior officials to Wau, yet nothing tangible came out of the meetings. The whole situation boiled down to the Fertit and Dinka Marial Bai (Wau) wanted to boycott the National Convention. I pleaded with senior Fertit members not to boycott the convention because it would mean the beginning of the fracturization of the party in Western Bahr El Ghazal State. Working behind the scenes, I succeeded to convince the Fertit group to go to the convention. That may be one of the reasons they elected me to the National Liberation Council, after rebuking me for not paying much attention to my constituency by going there. I said mea culpa three times.

At the end of the convention, in Juba, I called for the meeting of all National Liberation Council members of Western Bahr El Ghazal State, including our governor, and we met in his hotel. I briefed the governor about the complaints against him. I told him in clear terms that he should work on overcoming tribalism and nepotism. I promised the governor I would work with him to overcome his problems with the Fertit. I suggested to him that, he should organize a tour of the state for all the National Liberation Council members of the state to talk to people about peace and reconciliation. Above all, I said it would boost his image when the Fertit see him in the company of high profile Fertit SPLM members. I also told him that he was governor for the whole state and not only the Jur and he should stop picking quarrels with subordinates. These were my goodwill gestures to our governor, and I told him in his face, not behind his back. The governor went to Wau, ignored me, and never changed his old ways.

Governor Mark Nyipouch does not want to be helped. The incident to arrest people without the due process of the law is wrong. Detaining people under house arrest without charges is wrong. Firing people from their jobs without any good reasons is wrong. The list goes on.

People are very angry in Wau, and Wau is at the brink of a violent eruption. I am talking to people to be calm, but without my presence, anything can happen. The steps taken by the SPLM leadership is commendable, but it falls short of taking the issue of the Fertit and Marial Bai Dinka serious. Here I am the most senior member of the Fertit group in the SPLM, and I am not asked to help. My people are already saying, the fact that the leadership has ignored me means that they consider the Fertit are not a political force to reckon with. This is sad and ….

In conclusion, I want to appeal to all SPLM members of goodwill that Western Bahr El Ghazal State needs a change in SPLM leadership. We cannot condone the excesses of one person at the risk of fracturizing the party. I stand commit to the SPLM’s unity, but I cannot forever profess this unity when my people are being senselessly abused. I know the SPLM is not comfortable with public discourse that challenges some of their doing, but when they close the door for internal quiet discourse, I have to take the risk of speaking publicly, come what may come. I love the SPLM, and I love my people, not for tribalistic reasons; I liberated myself from tribalism over fifty years ago, but because I hate and abhor somebody using tribalism to exploit others. This is contrary to all SPLM principles, and I am ready to die for the noble SPLM tenets. The SPLM has noble universal tenets and everybody must defend these tenets even if it may cost one’s life as it has consumed the lives of our martyrs, whom I weep for everyday. Let us all save Western Bahr El Ghazal State from degenerating into anarchy.

To the angry Fertit and Dinka Marial Bai (Wau), be calm and avoid violence against those who mistreat you. Violence breeds violence, so that is not an option for us. Be calm and most importantly, remaining SPLM. Individuals do not equal SPLM, thus the SPLM will resolve our problems, and I hope quite soon.

I have nothing personal against the governor, but there has been too much smoke in the air for one to ignore that there is fire that causes the smoke.