An open letter to President Kiir Mayardit: From the Citizens of Tonj South and Apuk-Juwiir Community

By Machiek Akoon Bol, Tonj, South Sudan

Monday, 08 August 2022 (PW) — Dear President Salva Kiir, I hope this letter finds you in good health and spirit. Your Excellency, I am Machiek Akoon Bol, a finalist in agriculture science at the University of Juba, a person of great calibre, great social concern, and a law-abiding citizen. I am presenting to you this receipt of my complaint with great respect on behalf of the majority of citizens in Toni South and Apuk-Juwiir who believe in the diligent intention and desire you have shown in the developmental trial with discerning of one school facility located in my village of Pawel Boma. I would just like to express my simple, yet deepest gratitude for such an acknowledgement you have implemented and promulgated (announced) to have given Warrap state a learning institution, and fortunately, Pawel Boma got a chance to have won a conducive learning institution through the primary. Thank you for taking steps to protect and preserve the beauty of South Sudan.

Concerned, however, by many conditionalities linked to the management of this first grant that should have continued though little, there arrived an enemy of our progress who must have enticed you to drop off whatever help from the leadership, including national seat shares, toward us. and greatly restricts the number and type of organizations that can qualify to manage these funds and deliver other communal needs. We note that the criteria and competencies by which you appoint other communities in your leadership structure are more than doubled by us to also share the same opportunity and lead in your government. Right and justice to political would allow us to thrive, be a driving force in challenging systems of oppression and to co-create the Equality Fund (EF) will drive the cultural, economic, and political togetherness for our mutual coexistence in the state, being unforgettable communities.

Good day! I would like to thank you, as there have been many changes and progress this week in your presidential administration. I also admire that you have been a proactive president in achieving your vision of a new and improved South Sudan according to your 2010 campaign manifesto, which isn’t the case today. However, it’s now disheartening to have suffered with my community called Tonj South under your leadership in dignified silence for far too long since the fall of our founding father (Dr John Garang). I thought all we experienced under the then SPLA leadership, led by Garang himself, as a hosting community of movement may have happened so due to the fact that the leader was from a different community, and hoped for the best should there be changes. Fortunately, you got the chance.

All atrocities committed were counted on the instability caused by the Arabs, and the populace was highly advised to cooperate with SPLA paramilitaries in Liu, giving them equal treatment to their own brothers at home. A reason we managed to comfort the life of many forces at Yinhkuel as Bhar el ghazal headquarters, Padakdit, Wanhalel, Mading Malony where temporary military training was located, Aguath, Mayom Abun, Muoragor as a military prison and Alugo with other miners Barracks. The logistic base wasn’t out of this small community you overlooked today.

It is my contention that all levelled against my community by the agents and our neighbouring enemies are baseless and not true to the best of my knowledge and abilities. It seems to have been realized as propaganda intended for unethical political skinning and pinching to keep our competency lower in fear of protecting your leadership as we are highly known for excellent services. Just as you take seriously your duty to protect the country, communities are earnestly committed to defending themselves and their properties from external attack and deserve to exercise equal rights to all despite their whatsoever discernment. Those executives charging my country negatively must have breached the executive ethics codes by exposing themselves to a situation involving the risks between official responsibilities and their private interests. Acted in a way that is inconsistent with a position deserving protection.

The prerogatives to appoint ministers and other national post-holders fall squarely at the feet of the president, Madeer Sciences. The community back home praises you day and night, hoping with time they are going to be given their deserved rights compared to other states and communities. To my surprise, you wholeheartedly accepted and embraced ill-intended propaganda from our enemies and dumped this innocent country for the rest of your leadership power-sharing. Your executive has been finger-pointing about old adages which happened under colonial powers, saying we had suppressed them in darkness for so many years when we were all under enslavement being ordered by colonial masters to go wherever they wanted us to serve and relocate colonial headquarters according to how they wanted it.

As you became the leader of the country in 2005, we expected you to emphasize who were supposed to get firsthand support from the very opportunities of emancipation in the form of national seat and cake sharing, which we deserved like any other community in national affairs as you did others, having been given full government shares though. The representatives we have from the national level are what you see, with the exception of only one man every now and then. And whose one hand can’t accommodate us all, though he tried so much? We deserve ministerial portfolios, undersecretaries, press secretaries, national commissions, and directorates as intellectuals within this community are also a bridge between the people and the government.

How can you keep them undersized for the rest of your services in the government? We recognize that you were hurt and highly compelled by transitional power-sharing matrixes during the restructuring of today’s transitional government. But today I urge and honourably requested you in the strongest term possible to consider Tonj south and my community Juwiir Malekdit in these unfilled vacancies both in finance and presidency and any other strong positions in the ministerial portfolios. As youths of this society, we cannot imagine the traumatic effect the community has undergone because of the fact that we are held hostage in your leadership by an enemy who got chances through us in your government, which must have had on you a patient since then. We sincerely apologize on behalf of the church and pray for your healing.

Despite this, we believe that in dealing with the Church, as well as our priests, respect should be given to them, as they serve as instruments of Christ. As our president, you must be able to treat and decide what to do by yourself as we are equal and respectfully, despite the doubts that you may have put us under. You are not obligated to follow political levelling but to console whoever suffered with you under the Arab regime and who positively contributed to liberal processes.

To silence the leaders and upcoming potential youths of this country in need of your mentorship by keeping them in your political dustbin would be to demoralize the vast number of equal opportunities deemed necessary for our community. In line with your recent words regarding how you suffered beyond description in the movement, is exactly how Tonj South County felt the pain of taking the risks to support SPLA in the darkness and said to hell with whatever the outcome of the Arab government toward vulnerable communities, not even resilient in terms of strength. We wish to enlighten you on the faith and explain the stands of the shares we deserve.

The first and foremost responsibility of a political priest is to preach togetherness and peaceful power sharing as a reminder of what seems to have been a forgotten principle due to other commitments in discharging your duties. This includes proclaiming what is objectively true, regardless of the risk of persecution and criticism.

Please, I humbly beg your indulgence to understand that youths and communities with their representatives don’t deserve this political hostage for some reason, which you know when you have been with them during SPLA days. They are in no way trying to attack you, as they are only trying to fulfil their moral duty to respond clearly and strongly to erroneous fallacies and actions planned against our will. Just as you take seriously your duty to protect the country, youth are earnestly committed to defending the community’s integrity and opportunities as they are the eyes of each community. Regarding the lobby ongoing now, we deserve a press secretary and ministry and any other directorate, even if you may not have committed. William Deng will not blame us again for keeping quiet to ask whatever we deserve in your leadership, power is rotational and anyone who might have not preached equality will tomorrow experience the same thing done by him when he was in charge of such duties.

We haven’t committed the sin of Adam and Eve to deserve this painful political hostage. All human beings are inherently weak due to their limited powers of reason. This is why faith is needed in order to shed light on the falsehoods created by reason. Furthermore, the creation of original sin was not meant to condemn humanity but to show that from the great evil of sin comes an even greater good in the form of Jesus Christ. It was only through original sin that the history of salvation and the experience of God’s merciful love became possible. We wish that you read this letter with an open mind and heart. We simply want to clarify any misconceptions you or anyone else might be having about considering the Tonj South community at this time.

If you are in doubt about the teachings and beliefs of our ability, please allow us to show you the political credibility and compassion that the faith is truly about. Every citizen has the common goal of changing our country for the better – even us. With that said, we think that it would be best if we all respected one another and worked together to achieve this dream because we are more than willing to do so. You have such great influence over the people of our country, and so we hope that you will be the one to unite us and propel us forward as a nation.

In summary,

1. Tonj South county and Apunkjuwiir in particular humbly asked your leadership to try one of our sons as press secretary this time.
2. Tonj south suffered under political hostage in dignified solidarity over the years.
3. The receipt of this letter presents to you our view of your demands and we would want you to contemplate them thoroughly with respect to us as people who have patiently waited to have them considered by your incumbent government for almost two decades.
4. We wanted 5 national positions inclusive of the press secretary.
5. Your heartfelt response is highly welcome with a view to listen carefully like Kuac Ayok.

To better understand the long-awaited services of your leadership, just take a look at the below-overdosed smallest community.

Kuach community

1. Agak Achuil Lual, former finance minister.
2. Mayen Wol Jong, minister,
3. Mayen Wol Jong, petroleum undersecretary.
4. Akol Ayii Madut, Customs Director.
5. Garang Mabior Wol, former finance minister.

Kuach community size is only two payams (2).

Toni North.

1. Awut Deng Achuil, minister.
   1. Aleu Ayieny Aleu, Governor.
   1. Akol Koor Kuc, national Director.
   1. Mayiik Ayii Deng, minister.
   1. Machar Achiek Adeer, advisor in the national ministry of petroleum.

Tonj south.

1. Nhial Deng Nhial, former minister.
2. Akech Tong Aleu, former state, acting governor.

Payams, (5).

National struggle contributions.

Kuach Ayok.

0.

Tonj south.

1. Smoke meat to the then British army.
2. SPLA general headquarter, Yinhkuel and Mayom Abun during the struggle.
3. Thiet, the first town liberated in the SPLA’s history.
4. SPLA massive hosting community.
5. The centre for SPLM mobilization during the SPLA struggle.
6. Led Bahr El Ghazal in food contribution to SPLA during the struggle.
7. Whistleblowers of Arab marginalization.

The author, Machiek Akoon Bol, is a student of agriculture at the University of Juba and can be reached at his email: machiganbol2020@gmail.com, or mobile: +211922294450.

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