Where does lakes state belong?
Where does lakes state
belong?
By:
Abraham Daljang Maker, Kampala Uganda.
KAMPALA: It has been a while without writing any piece
because the situation in South Sudan is not favoring us journalists. However, the dire situation in Lakes state
has forced me to break the silent at last so that I can speak up and see if my
opinion can make some sense in the minds of the readers, the politicians and
policy makers.
The question as to where
does the lakes state belong can be answered in various ways by different people
in walks of life, but to me; lakes state does not only belong to Lakers alone
as you may think. It belongs to all the ten states of South Sudan, to you and
me; amazingly, it also belongs to Kenyans, Ugandans, Tanzanians and Congolese.
Ask why and I can tell you that all those people that I have mentioned reside
in that state and anything that affects it also affects all of them as well. As
the saying goes, “what affects eyes also affects nose.” That means, any slight
effect in one of the ten states in South Sudan is affecting the entire country.
We should therefore be careful so that if anything goes wrong in one state; we
should raise our voices and efforts to reach in to the solution to that
problem.
The event which unfolded on
Friday 18 January 2013 in Rumbek town has prompted me to open my mouth and tell
everyone that something is wrong in the entire country not only in Lakes state,
it should be addressed before it leads
to incurable cancer. The gun battle between the two clans in Rumbek center was
not a minor problem as one can imagine. Women, children and elderly were
horrified and alarmed, they were running helplessly as the so called cattle
keepers were shooting themselves among these vulnerable people. The whole
atmosphere was engulfed with fear anxiety and insecurity; it was not at all
different from those days when we were still in the war.
As a journalist who loves
the career and who does not want to talk of what I have not witnessed, I
personally followed the soldiers to the battle field where they were separating
the warring factions. That was a dreadful risk I have ever taken because I
would have been caught up by cross fire; but I had to see it so that I can tell
it all. I could not believe that these
men were not even scared to see soldiers
as it is supposed to be, instead they were determined to pursued their fighting
despite the efforts of the soldiers to separate them, they were totally wild
These armed cattle keepers are very dangerous
not only to themselves but also to the national army. Some soldiers were
wounded by them, a few days before the fighting in Rumbek; there was a report
that seven soldiers were killed in Cueibet County of lakes state by the armed
youth. A report on Sudan tribune stated that unidentified gunmen lurk in teak
plantation in Rumbek east and attacked soldiers leading to the loss of lives.
Having seen all these, I would suggest that both the state authority and
national government should take this as a great concern to curb such crime in
the country. Seeing it as a state crisis or an issue that can be addressed by
the state government alone is a terrible mistake. Comprehensive disarmament
should be done with a collective effort form the two governments, I believe
that disarmament was done long time but surprisingly, they are still having
guns, meaning that there is a loophole somewhere where they get these machines,
AK47 are not manufactured in cattle camps, not even in the whole country but
you find that they [youths] still have them despite the disarmament. This
therefore calls for a serious investigation to find out who sales these guns back
to them. There is also a need for the government and the NGOs to give these
youth sensitization messages after they are all disarmed not only in lakes
state but in other states where such vices are done, changing their mindset to
developmental program will reduce such criminal acts.
There are always a lot of
accusing fingers pointing toward the state government when such things occur,
but I think we all have a role to play in order to stop these activities, the
youth organizations like lakes state youth union and Rumbek youth union have to
regularly talk with these idle youths and remind them that fighting is not good
for development. Paramount chiefs and council of elders plus the state
government and national government should work hard to make sure that there is
a peace and tranquility in all the ten sates of South Sudan. Our main aim as a
new nation is to have a constructive development but not destructive.
We have a lot of things to
do as a country but if we keep on killing, thieving, corrupting, and divided
then we shall not achieve what we target. Let’s not prove to “our brothers” who
were saying that South Sudanese cannot govern themselves, if they are be granted
their autonomy. Let’s show to the whole world that we value the freedom that we
fought for; by focusing on developmental programs. Let’s not forget God who
gave us freedom because God is love and if we love ourselves and support each
other in times of happiness and crisis, then we shall thrive on well. United,
we stand, divided we fall.
The writer holds
Bachelor of Science in journalism from Nkumba University and he is pursuing
Master of Arts in development studies from the same University.
You are right, Abraham. What affects the people of Lakes State also affects their friends who stay with them. And to find a solution to this needs collective effords as you have mentioned. See my response to the same incident below:
ReplyDelete"I think starting with disarming one state will not solve any problem. This approach has terribly failed before. This is because when one state is disarmed, it becomes vulnerable to attacks and cattle-rustling by the neighbouring states, leaving the disarmed state with no choice but to acquire illegal arms again to defend and protect themselves. Army authorities have their share of the blame. They re-sell the same arms which are collected from the civilians. This has been the cycle and will continue unabated if a creative approach is not devised. If at all disarmament is done, it needs to be comprehensive. It should cover all the states of South Sudan. This should be after putting in place an arms control policy/system. Laws governing carrying of arms should be harshly and ruthlessly enforced. Those who sell arms should be heavily fined and made to spend a good 10 years behind bars doing heavy work. Those who buy and carry unlicensed arms should be heavily fined and sent to jail for a good number of years. A fine of 15 to 30 cows, for instance, and the equivalent for non-cattle-keeping communities, should be paid to the government for carrying/owning unlicensed gun. If a person kills another person with a gun, he has to pay his life for it. A person who starts a fight should be heavily fined and sent to jail for 10 years or so. Laws should become harsher as our people have become ungovernable as a result of the rampant miscarriage of justice and lack of law-enforcement. I am not a lawyer, though, I am just thinking of how this cancer of inter- and intra-clan and inter- and intra-tribal conflicts can be stopped once and for all."