Malong’s group says ‘bad start’ in governance resulted in state failure

NAIROBI – South Sudan’s holdout opposition group, South Sudan United Front (SSUF/A), led by General Paul Malong Awan Anei has said in its newly launched Manifesto that bad start in governance in the world’s youngest country is to blame for the current state failure.

Malong, a former army chief and a strong opposition figure, formed the SSUF/A in April 2018, a few months after fleeing the country for Kenya following disagreement with President Salva Kiir after his dismissal as the country’s army chief.

Since then, the opposition group has not launched its Manifesto until last week.

“South Sudan is in an anarchic situation of a failed state that is partly a continuation of the lawless conditions then created by the 21 years war of liberation, and partly due to a bad start in governance and absence of good leadership in the country,” the Manifesto said.

The document said one of the problems  facing the world’s youngest country is the possession of firearms by the civil population, saying those weapons were taken into the civilians’ hands by those it identify as pro-enemy movements.

“For the rampant availability of fire arms in the hands of almost every man in the civil population, it is admissible that it was those conditions of the liberation struggle that permitted the possession of the fire arms by almost every man in the rural countryside,” it said.

“Guns, instead of the traditional war implements previously used by rural men folk, were allowed by the SPLM/SPLA and by pro-enemy Movements to be purchased and possessed, by the civil communities for self-defense against armed lawlessness created by the regime in Khartoum. That split caused a situation of militarised society prone to destructive intra and inter-communal violence,” it added.

It said failure by the government to control weapons follow to civilians’ hands following the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005 led to lawlessness in the now Republic of South Sudan.

“That situation of intra and inter- communal insecurity across the country escalated after the CPA due to the system’s failure to impose the rule of law and order. It failed to prioritise vigorous and total removal of the guns from the civil society,” it said.

“Instead, the government went in to emphasize its military nature than political, public, academic and technical competency requisite for development and service delivery to the people. Right at the six-year interim period, the government failed to address three difficult internal challenges which demanded strong statesmanship,” it added.

It further said that “There was a challenge of the Transition from war to Peace, Transition from being a colonalised and underdeveloped region by Northern Sudan to that of an independent and free sovereign nation, and apart from the two; was the then expected hostility from Northern Sudan, coupled with the fact that the beginning system allowed itself to be engrossed in an uncalled-for mismanagement, inefficiency and colossal corruption.

“The new nation was shamelessly plunged into a senseless power struggle war (2013 to date) that brought a renewed suffering, destruction, and death! The ruling clique diverted the country’s resources to individual self-enrichment. They wasted the country valuable time and finally divided into three groups: The SPLM ruling clique remained in the country to continue to devour the country’s wealth in the name of war and peace also making high- handed violence done in the most indiscriminate manner. These are the Kiir’s regime.

“After the group led the founding of the nation with the help of all of us in this country including the regional and international community, the ruling clique failed to provide the necessary conditions for stability, peace and good governance. It allowed widespread: moral decay, insecurity and lawlessness in the society. Except for Juba, our historical towns now stand in ruins.

“As the war of power struggle continue, a group of patriotic nationalists decided to come together in the form of this revolutionary movement which we have called South Sudan United Front/Army(SSUF/A). With the aim of changing this situation and replace it with a government that is going to unite the peoples of South Sudan to restore the nation’s hope for progress. The objectives of this movement are explained in our vision, mission, goals and principles.”