By Jon Pen de Ngong According to the hot exchange of ‘letters of cancellation and conciliation’ of wrestling between Jonglei and Central Equatoria states, the lead question to indirectly and creatively answer here… Continue reading
By Jon Pen de Ngong Are you missing The SPLA Update? The Sudan Mirror? And those good old days…? When we were enjoying our peace in war? Where the man standing with the… Continue reading
WHAT I TOLD DR. RIEK MACHAR WHEN HE ASKED ME TO ‘GO TO JUBA’… ‘July 10, 2018: Khartoum, Sudan’ After a 2-hour waiting and wading through a long queue of hundreds of ‘meeters’… Continue reading
A Rebuttal For Our History Purification Of 10 Attempts On 20 Points Of Weston Wanjohi By Jon Pen de Ngong ‘Hon.’ Weston Wanjohi, a Kenyan MP-wannabe, who has christened himself ‘Friend of South… Continue reading
At dawn, today, February 11, 2019, somebody dreamt that she saw me with another man (from Nuer community) waving at people behind bars, actually a modern glassy, classy door. Were we in prison?… Continue reading
By Aftaboss Cyber Nomads In July 2016, many wonders that have entered history annals and Hollywood movies took place in the South Sudanese capital of Juba, besides the J1 Dogfight. Triggered by the… Continue reading
And here is the best demonstration for this Khartoum Peace Armistice amnesty: free Peter Biar Ajak, James Gatdet Dak, Dong Samuel Luak, Aggrey Idri, and the like, including that innocent young woman who… Continue reading
By Jon Pen KWAK (as in the picture) is Kiir-Wani-Awet-Kuol conclave, the only top SPLM/A High Command Council members remaining alive and in Juba. The KWAK Conclave has been hijacked by ‘NCPLM’, an… Continue reading
HERE WE GO AGAIN with the best history memories by the SPLA young veteran, Kur Garang Deng. Thank God for some of us, who have survived to tell this story. It is a… Continue reading
Most merciful God, through my shortcomings, I have sinned against you in thoughts, in words, and deeds by what I have done and what I have failed to do.
“Nairobi is hosting toxic big mouth activists as well as political brokers. It isn’t be a surprise to sweat the shit out of you at deportation era like ” James Gatdat” whose ass… Continue reading
“The supposedly said literate quarter of the population of South Sudan will never help the baby republic because of this reason brought about by the independence euphoria. This too much culture of leading… Continue reading
Just imagine the mood of the congregants who were listening to the First Vice President of South Sudan, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, in the Emmanuel (Jieng) Parish (Church) of our Saviour and Prince… Continue reading
I am a shoe shiner. My dream target this year was to shine your presidential shoes this Valentine Day. Unfortunately, I could not even catch sight of your vehicles speeding on Ministry Road. The police and security whisk us away like flies from the roadside.
This is the reason why I want to take this service to your doorstep. There is no business. Those we used to shine shoes for complain of ‘gurus mafi’. That there is no money. They say the prices of oil have dropped. And then all the remaining oil money goes to Khartoum as fees for this and that. They say some people in the government have increased the exchange rate. Yet they are keeping the salaries and prices of commodities normally low.
Adieu legendary uncle, Lual Diing Wol. You are the last of the real SPLM luminaries that have gone! We will miss you like we do Dr. John everyday we make a blunder! Secondly,… Continue reading
To be fair dinkum about this Dinka (JCE)’s trending topic, one has to be sacrificially a daredevil to condemn it. So I have to. Or else somebody out there will do it to… Continue reading
Indeed, if I were a prophetic cynic on this second day of the year, I would caution those Kiiristian celebrants on political and ethnic creation of 28 states to do so (celebrate) within an ecstatically hectic 28 days strictly. By the end of January, methinks, when the JMEC (Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission) of the ARCISS (peace agreement) together with all the oppo groups against the SPLM-IG, namely: SPLM-IO, SPLM-FD, SPLM-DC, SPLM-ETC., including the civil society, the evil society (killer vigilantes on tribal boundaries) and the international community have descended on the Big Man of South Sudan, the tone will change, the dance will fade into demonstrations against the revocation or suspension or debating of the Bantustans by the possibly or forcibly upcoming Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU). Just wait and see.
From the below detailed summary of the session of November 19, 2015, no quorum was arrived at to pass the constitutional amendment motion. This is besides the fact that the numbers given to the speaker to announce, as linked in his voice cue here, were trumped up at the gate when entrants were signing in. Some sources said even body guards of the MPs and other staffers of the parliament were made to sign in so that the final list is submitted to the Speaker.
His conviction of joining the SPLM-IO was not to fight the people of Bor but to help them get the truth about this war and protect them from further massacres. It is worth reminding that Alier on his arrival from Australia witnessed the Bor attacks live in Baidit during that ill-fated Christmas season, only to join the same attackers 6 months later. There must be a big reason behind this decision. He demonstrated this in Pagak in a Bor Community meeting on the IGAD consultation proposal in December 2014. Chaired by Jesus Deng Atem as Bor Community leader in the SPLM-IO, which I attended, the meeting came out with the following demands addressed in writing to Chairman Riek Machar.
Without wasting time on that long letter aimed at creating a scapegoat, I have got what I wanted already in that opening paragraph. Hypocrisy, escapism and threat against the people who tell the truth in South Sudan. Unfortunately, most of such things are done in the collective name of the largest ethnic group in South Sudan by a minority of recyclable politicians who use their innocent communities as pawns in the war of political power maintenance. The most unfortunate part of this story is the way straight talkers like Mac Paul Kuol Awar are being fronted to the community as the villains of the war. Just by telling the truth, which is sworn in an oath before a witness speaks, a certain group that calls itself the name of the whole tribe is misleading the communities to shift from the culprits of the war to the scapegoats like Mac (pronounced ‘mach’) and those named in the report. The method of coercion of support is threefold, as done through allegiance to tribe as seen in Agel Machar’s reason of defection here, bribe, which is offered in terms of cash money, job or other favours, and threats. Threat of use of force is always the last resort as in Agel Machar’s picture here, again.
The system was championed by Gen. Joseph Lagu against Mr. Abel Alier, both of whom ruled the southern region in turns according to the 1972 Addis Ababa Peace Agreement that gave Juba a very loose autonomy, which was tethered in Khartoum. Surprisingly, Gen. Joseph Lagu is currently a presidential adviser to Salva Kiir. The rest of this story of ‘divide-and-ruin’ politics is kept for history here and hereafter.
Here are the the items of the president’s state of the nation address on Wednesday, 18 March 2015, very distant apart like Kiir and Riek, themselves…! But my observation sums up the speech… Continue reading
SPLM and SPLA are known to be identical twins throughout their 3-decade history. But today, they have become un-identical. The one-in-two pair is now a two-in-one duo. What does this mean? As the SPLM… Continue reading
From the negotiators point of view, it is always almost impossible for two or more armies to accept the political armistice and march in their columns into each other’s parades under one C-in-C from the day one of the signatures by the non-military signatories in a political gimmick fanned and funded by foreign dignitaries. So what should be done? It is known. It takes time to mobilize or demobilize, reintegrate or disintegrate the highly tribalized militias and the falsely politicized soldiers into a professional and conventional national army. This time is called ‘pre-interim period’. It is the time during which the troops are wild and resentful to their own political and military leaders, leave alone ‘cross-leaders’ forced on their traumatized ranks and files by the peace documents. Unless we are postponing the war, we should not rush those wild armies like the White Armies, Mathiang-Anyor, etc. into one camp before they are cleansed from PSTD (Post-Trauma Stress Disorder).
The Solutions you are talking about will never come without the truth!
I understand the feelings but telling the truth is the biggest problem in South Sudan today. It is what has caused mama Nyandeeng to be a prey; it is what is causing the pain, arousing silly vilifications of the political detainees (and leaving the SPLM IG untouched even when we know they faked the coup) and any other South Sudanese who condemns the war. Instead of seeing the advantage in the campaign against the war, folks go ahead of the peace advocates and envision how they will be angelic or even become Presidents later on comes peace. Therefore, they start to ambush them and taint them up a little bit so that they will look as dirty as everyone else before peace comes! I get it but the history of our nation will highlight the darkest spots even after we are all dead and gone and the generations after us live on.
Any violation of the cessation of the hostilities by any party will invite the following collective action by the IGAD region against those responsible for such violations, which will include, but are not limited to:
Lesson 1 of this piece of live history must come from the life story of a man whose vision was so much criticized and the mission so much politicized to the extent that he was… Continue reading
What puzzled us was the way the Man used to like minimizing problems, even big ones like this. Imagine him telling Deng Alor who was connected to the accident scene by radio call on the line from Kampala, “Everything is ok. Nuna kweiseen or We’re fine. We won!” he bragged. “Eh, this man, ya jamaana!” We, soldiers, wondered as their jovial conversation went on.
For our government to think they can fund both war and peace projects by the profits they will have made from what the central bank governor describes as “the difference between the official bank rate and the black market” makes it looks like a mason who jumps into a bucket and tries to pull himself up the roof without the help of a pulley.
The South Sudanese peace talks have been dogged with controversies. Big stories have been going round among the delegates and IGAD here. One of them was the fabricated arrest of Mabior Garang de… Continue reading
With my daily difficult experiences of trying to save my fellow media socialites from being bamboozled by politicians and tribal zealots, I had to apply my grandpa’s Dinka wisdom this time: “Never warn a fool on their way to but on their way from” (Raan kuc kang acie joony ke lo, aye joony ke bo). This means to let them first learn from their mistakes since experience is the best teacher. Yes, being at the same venue, I was the first to learn of the ‘For-Immediate-Release’ news but had to let the child feel the fire so that I warn them better next round.
Experiences have shown me that once I try to counter a not-so-proper propaganda such as the ‘Attempted Coup’ and this ‘Attempted Assassination’, all on the life and job of our ‘demokiiratically’ elected president, boot-lickers call me a rebel supporter. Of course, I don’t care if the truth I support tends to benefit a rebel, an IDP or an MP.
‘GREY SMOKE’ AT LEAST: FORCED TO SIGN AT LAST…! At last, at least, some peace has been signed for the people of South Sudan. The skeleton has been built but the flesh is… Continue reading
Nevertheless, with Kiir continuing in power, chances that Riek becomes the next president are limited. It makes it the post-July 23rd scenario–no marked difference nor any new change! Therefore, maintaining the status quo of Kiir’s system (I call it ‘DemoKiiracy’) is no permanent solution to the war. It maintains the mistrust already entrenched and may make Riek’s generals not bring their forces home and lay down their tools. In short, the paper must be subjected to intense negotiation as is now going on. But the bottomline for longer solution is either the two are in the government, and abstain from vying for the next political power, or they are out of the interim administration and wait for the next elections. Any other opinion that gives one an unfair advantage over the other is but a postponement of the past and present massacres for BIGGER ONES!
John, are you a supporter of Nyagat?…is a very naïve question one of the peace negotiators in Addis Ababa asked me on my arrival from Nairobi with the civil society team over a… Continue reading
A BRIEF GLIMPSE INTO THE YESTERYEAR OF OUR LOCAL POLITICS (July 24, 2013 – July 24, 2014) Dear Brethren and sistren in Crisis, This is a personal letter to every member who has… Continue reading
NB: This post was from my “Old Flame” published on December 6, 2013 in reaction to Mandela’s death… (https://www.facebook.com/penndengong) History is a good god of its own. It has the ability to bestow… Continue reading
On April 24, 2014, Kenya lawmakers are debating South Sudan. Unlike the South Sudan National Legislative Assembly (SSNLA, aka: parliament) whose members are now combing the villages with the so-called Crisis Management Committee… Continue reading
Six Presidential Decrees (Decree 16 to 21) were read out on behalf of the Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit, President of South Sudan, on the state-owned SSTV (South Sudan Television) in the evening of… Continue reading
SSTV (Too Rudely African!)’ WEIRD NEWS CAPTIONING: March 13, 2014 PICTURE 1: Mayen Oka (Oka means ‘poison me’ or ‘am I being poisoned?’), a naive Pontius Pilate’s ‘Public Persecutor’ squarely placed on the… Continue reading
The year 2013, unlike 2012, has been a great year of distress — I mean — of great but negative events. The incidences include my plight from the country. In short, it is the year in… Continue reading
THIS WAR CRY IS A WAR CRIME, MR. PRESIDENT! DAY 3 OF ‘THE COUP’ (Dec. 17, 2013). Since independence, there is no month passed without mass killing here and there in the nascent… Continue reading
Your Excellency, The first item on this open letter, written in ‘the Morning of the Mourning’, is condolences to you for the unfortunate loss of the lives of your voters in Jonglei State… Continue reading
It should first be borne in mind of the unknowing youth that this day, July 20, is a World Youth Day. Of course, this has little use to the youth of South Sudan.… Continue reading
Before you read this illustrious piece and its illustrative poems, know that this season in the headlines brings us Garang’s birth, Mandela’s hospitalization, Obama’s visit to Africa, Salva Kiir’s home politics, and so… Continue reading
NATIONAL RECONCILIATION AND HEALING OR PERSONAL RIEK CONCILIATION AND ‘HAILING’? A cartoonist’s impression of the power struggle that ensued between the top two principals of our new nation. This prediction has now come… Continue reading
My boma is called Kolmarek. From now on, at last, at least, I call it CALLmarek, because I can now call up some Col. Marek Makur* (a pseudonym) of the ORP (Operation Restore… Continue reading
Since the assassination of Isaiah Abraham on Decembe 5, 2012, I have been locked up in a Confucius sort of confusion by my leaders and my readders. The former want me to ‘Stop Writing’, the… Continue reading
“WELCOME BACK TO UNITY!” reads the big billboard that greets us at Khartoum International Airport. Thank God, I was going to run mad if that did not turn out to be a dream.… Continue reading
