The Complexity of Tribalism and Politico-ethnic South Sudan!

But where are all these values – pride, democracy, nationalism and console of being South Sudanese in the new nation? People fought for decades in order to be free, yet another prophet of doom within and power hungry politicians in the country have had opted to rebellion after they confused themselves within their party. These leaders promised us a prosperity and democratic South Sudan but where is it now? Republic of Coup Attempts where innocently people are easily killed based on their ethnicities? We decided to secede from Sudan due to injustice, bad governance and marginalization done by Arabs and Khartoum regime. Are we able to live peacefully as South Sudanese? How do you feel as leaders when ordinary citizens escaped brutality in Malakal, Bor and Bentiu, and ran to Kenya or Uganda for safety?

There is very little hope for peace in the new nation. If our leaders can't give their pathetic political styles of handling problems a pause, it will cause and cause us lives and time to be peaceful and democrats in our country. On the contrary, politics in South Sudan is seemingly rooted on ethnic dimension and military which make it difficult and challenging for warring parties to table their differences. When the conflict is centered on the ethnicities, it is difficult to internalize or externalize the issue for lasting solution. You see, people are fighting, while mediators are willingly trying to end the conflict. In war, there is a loser and winner but the innocent people are the sufferers. Our people need food, clean water, good schools and health facilities, not war.

With the mess this country is in, I think the only way to turn things to normal is an interim government with President Kiir as the head of the state. The formation of interim government, reconciliation within the SPLM, national healing and reformation of the SPLM, with fair political participation of its members, among others shall end the war in the country, believe me, comrades. South Sudan is a country of generational credit. We shouldn't allow it to be ethicized by the likes of Dr Machar, Lado Gore and Taban Deng.

In the midst of poverty, South Sudanese ruling class, or the elite group who were/are powerful, have enriched themselves and began power-mongering game in the same room. As one of the contending elites mobilized his ethnic group to fight against the government, it is clear that he needs political change in some case to alleviate demands for power laddering which is the issue of his rebellion. Will Dr Machar make it a president in South Sudan?

There is no need for war. Many people lost lives and homes. Who will pay for the destroyed homes? Who will pay for lives lost? It's time for community leaders to take their country back by persuading the youths on the rebels' side to put down guns. This country has become weaker and weaker, and all of us are part of the problem.

After sunset, millions of South Sudanese sit down in front of television sets or grabbed radios to witness how politicians mix up things on SSTV in order to recuperate politically after Dr Machar's failed coup attempt. It's not Juba politicians who are the only ones jumbling, our youths with tribal mindsets, who are fighting tribal war and jobless intellectuals – mostly in the West are among those contributing to the failure of the new nation.

Call me a liar if Dinka people weren't kill in Malakal, Bor and Bentiu … if Nuers weren't kill in Juba where the violence started in the first days of a failed coup attempt. If you are among those affected by war directly or indirectly, then I mourned with you. War is bad and we shouldn't support those killing our people on both sides. Millions of lives were lost in the decades of civil war. We should stop killing each other now.

Everyone is afraid of offending anyone but can we stop correcting our wrong deeds? If we stop correcting ourselves, we may not change at all. We may not find solution to our problems. The greater Upper Nile's Nuers thought they are fighting Dinka government which is a mere deception. There is no Dinka government or tribal government in the world. Their ethnocentric is what made political crises so difficult to be solved. Tribal implication and individualistic loyalty can kill a nation. The youths should unite as South Sudanese and denounce a senseless war caused by Dr Machar. There is no need to die for no cause! As those who fight fire with fire end up with ashes, the government should find amicable solution to end the war for the sake of South Sudanese. Who wants to go to The Hague?

Tribalism carries pessimistic implications in contemporary South Sudan or refers to serious national problems associated with ethnic divisions, but days of tribalism are gone. It's time for change. The Nuer shouldn't be targeted by the government if one of their sons wages war against the government of South Sudan. Likewise, Dinka as a tribe shouldn't be hated because of few people in Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Warrap, Lakes and Jonglei states. The Bari land shouldn't be grabbed or Bari shouldn't tribalize their land. It's time for South Sudanese to avoid tribal thinking. Ethnicity is a disease of the elites, and the citizens should denounce it, since they are the ones dying in huge number.

South Sudan is the young nation in Africa, known to the world for its natural resources, rich cultures, but politics, governance have been bedeviled by corruption and bitter ethnic rivalries, often exploding into widespread sadism since a failed coup attempt in December 15th, 2013. In a country where the youth unemployment rate is alarming, citizens are suffering, there are many beggars, lack of health care facilities and poverty has become a 'tradition', high crime rate and burglars and while national resources privatized, tribalized for the benefit of individuals, then problems may emerge from the blues. For instance, Juba has been rocked by criminals who killed and looted resources from people at night. So our security should strategize to fight crime rate in the country.

Or better still, what then is tribalism and ethnicity? These two enemies are different but share very close sphere. According to the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary 7th edition, Tribalism is defined as behavior, attitudes, etc. that are based on being loyal to a tribe or other social group, while Ethnicity is defined as belonging to a particular race, group of people with the same cultural tradition. These two have long been harmonizing themselves to cause disputes among ourselves, and of course, political, economic and social problems.

And with these tribal and ethnic mindsets, South Sudan shall be relegated to the position of 'no growth with limited freedom'. In other countries around the world, people hardly identify themselves by their tribes or ethnicity, but their countries. For instance, an American when asked of his country will not give such a wrong answer as 'I am from Ohio or Philadelphia', but the answer will be that 'I am an American'. The same thing with British, French and many more and these are signals that the leaders, even if they are conscious of their ethnic or tribal affiliations, embrace first the national values than ethnicities. Can we cease from old doings and start fresh again? Bad beginning makes happy ending.

These enemies called tribalism and ethnicity have been dispossessing South Sudan for years, at the national prospect and must be discouraged, if not, the country will continue to sink, while smaller countries in Africa will appear consistently on the flags of sustainable development. All in all, Dr Machar became the father of politico-ethnic and tribalism in South Sudan

The coexistence of some ethnic groups is gloomed to be easily repaired in the country. This doesn't mean that people can't live together but memories of violence are inevitable issues that need attention and collective thoughts, neutral voices to repair broken hearts. The National Crises Management Committee {NCMC} should conceptualize social interactions, individualistic counseling to people whose loved ones, friends were lost in the crises from any ethnic group. The committee members are urged to educate people on the importance of peace and ethnical coexistence, in relation to politico-ethnic characters within the crises. With the aforementioned of conflict management and peace building, NCMC's approaches and strategies should mainly focus on great Upper Nile and Bahr el Ghazal regions. These regions are inhabited by the two major ethnic groups alleged to have been involved in the political crises, especially the Nuers with Ngundeng prophesy and ethnocentrism.

A major cause of African conflicts has been ethnicity, and it has continued to be so. The creation of new nation-states at the time of independence was accompanied urgent calls for nation-building by the new African leaders who were well aware of the difficulty in transcending African ethnic and regional loyalties. The European concept of a nation was exported to Africa. Stephen McCarthy's definition of a nation as 'a complex web of common cultural, social and economic interests among people, leading to a sense that what they share in common is greater than their regional, tribal or other differences' simply reflects features which many African states did not encompass.

Deng Mangok Ayuel lives in Aweil, South Sudan and blogs at theshoeshinereyes.wordpress.com. He is also reachable via [email protected]