Friday, April 12, 2019

The Pope Francis that Juba Now Knows...





12 April 2019




 “Let us not forget that God has entrusted to us, as political and religious leaders, the task of being guides for his people. He has entrusted much to us, and for this reason will require from us much more! He will demand an account of our service and our administration..." (Pope Francis Statement to S. Sudan Leaders at Vatican, 11 April 2019)


I am overwhelmed with shame, surprise and feel I am so under-skilled for the task of helping recovering the honor and justice required for my sisters and brothers murdered in South Sudan when juxtaposed with Pope Francis of Rome.

       Who am I, so...human, so ineffectual:

I feel acutely ashamed not achieving more during nearly three years now — in comparison to The One Single Act by Pope Francis yesterday at the Vatican. See here

Am I worthy to even witness this unassailable plea, I must force my eyes to gaze upon this truth  this indelible act for Peace — forgive me God for my failings; my turning away from your gift of Love!!!3


I imagine now – those S. Sudan leaders as the Pope slowly took his timeworn body to the floor to kiss their feet...Those Leaders, 

Those Responsibles of...mass murder...mass rape...assassins (Unknown Gunmen) — how ashamed those leaders were I saw — only able to stare, to reach out, as if to try to prevent His Holiness The Pope from putting God's gaze upon their treacherous deeds during the two recent civil wars.

                             His Holiness kisses the feet of General/1st VP Taban Deng Gai (AP)


See AP's superb photos of this Vatican  event:

https://apnews.com/3a555cfc36ca4acdb0a5eeaad49ebe14/gallery/media:c810ea33f5814987be16014ce3569193



Amen Your Holiness...

Your singular act 'singed' even my subconscious, forcing upon me a cyclonic review of my life, making me cry momentarily, though in the end I felt relief for I have tried to live right/redress my failings...am I done...

Now Heartless, homeless, family-less, loveless...my contribution and repentance to the suffering caused.

Indeed Pope Francis, anger is still there!


How can I proceed onto the history of atrocities in South Sudan — Your Holiness — knowing you have put it all on the line, in one small yet glorious act.

Pope Francis, I must confess that I had misgivings about your papal diplomacy and now I see: how could the establishment of the new South Sudan government survive without your blessing!

I stand down on cataloging the known atrocities of the leaders of South Sudan to His Holiness, yet if he or others wish to know more on the conflict read my last blog entry here.

But I must say to these Leaders you are on notice, here — above — you will get no personal or Spiritual Peace without resolving your responsibilities for this government and the past death of hundreds of thousands of citizens and the decimation of a once promising new nation built on the blood of deceased millions since 1969 and home to the descendants of a biblical people.

President Salvatore Kiir...General Taban Gai (2016-imposed FVP) who [via R2P, SR] I hold responsible for the rape and murder of 1000s of women...know

R2P - Responsibility to Protect

SR - State Responsibility

God's vicar (the earthly representative of Christ) — Kissed your feet — You are now beholden to the spirit and morals of something greater than yourself, fail to be responsible or resolve your sins or crimes or whatever you call them and I have no doubt you will be cursed here and beyond...or wherever evil seeps to, after mortal life ends.

To South Sudan Civil War Perpetrators/ ENABLERS (like certain IGAD members such as Uganda and Kenyan Banks like KCB and Nations like China):

After darkness comes the light.”

 — Cornelius Nepos (1st Century BCE biographer)



humbly we go,

 Abu Deng (AD)


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Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Abu Deng's Letter to Friends of South Sudan — excluding Africa (IGAD)





Letter to Friends of S. Sudan — excluding Africa


Why IGAD won't Resolve the South Sudan conflict!


Dear Friends of South Sudan, minus Africa and particularly the East Africa region known as IGAD. As you begin the Third Round of the High Level Revitalization Forum, I penned this communication for your conscience and remembrance - well, actually my goal is to ensure all from East Africa end up on the global List of Shame for the impunity allowed in South Sudan. As this 2016 interview snippet from the July war start illustrates:

“One soldier came and he turned the gun to us. He said, ‘If I kill you now, you Nuer woman, do you think there is anything that can happen to me?’”
(Dozens of women raped by South Sudan soldiers near UN camp: witnesses, 27 July 2016 by Jason Patinkin, AP)

A region lost in its own skewed reality as its young sovereign republic is allowed to wreak havoc on its citizens (and the region ignores its "aggravated state responsibility" obligations).

However, in time IGAD's pandering to Juba; its numerous delay tactics impeding the peace efforts and B grade Hollywood movie "Diplomatic theatrics" like yesterday's visit with the legitimate First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar in Pretoria, South Africa will be taught in history, political science and democracy courses in the future when discussing how failed Nation-States lead to failed regions.

This anguished letter is really the last resort, a final plea to Nations and people who really care about South Sudan, from a tortured and damaged soul deeply committed to the survival of this nascent land — but as well deeply and utterly disappointed by its leaders and Head of State President Salva Kiir Mayardit.

As well this means I have special disdain for Juba's neighbors: Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and others like Egypt who look on as the death toll rises daily while life slowly drains from South Sudan's corrupt and diseased mismanaged body as IGAD members reach into S. Sudan's pockets to get as much as possible before it implodes into 'Somalia 2', an unrecognizable sovereign heap of geopolitical waste.

The elephant on the wall, besides securing Peace, is obviously Dr. Riek Machar being held unconstitutionally, illegally against his will (contra most UN conventions: social, civil, political, human rights!) by the South African government under the auspices of a botched Obama-Kerry US/IGAD foreign policy all because Ugandan-S. Sudanese-other forces, paid mercenaries, could not assassinate the First Vice President.

Dr. Machar somehow survived this 800 mile, 40 day odyssey through bush, savannah and forests with an estimated 20,000 troops in pursuit under then Army General Chief of Staff-now-turned-rebel Paul Malong who had drones, attack helicopters, spy planes and other advanced tracking/ surveillance technology for the capture and killing of the 800 person team of the juridical 1st VP Dr. Riek Machar, his wife Angelina, staff and soldiers. But alas, no head of Machar whom Malong says now to VOA's SSIF this week he was ordered to chase, kill and obtain.

Due to Juba's incompetence, Plan B was activated: threaten to submission high ranking members of the SPLM-IO to join a new SPLM-IO-light faction of Taban Gai, facing death or worst which ultimately worked, for on 23 July Kiir replaced Dr. Machar with Gai. With this photo Taban heralded a new level of skullduggery with this supposed quorum in 2016 of the SPLM-IO.




A New Level of Machiavellian Tactics!

How did Taban Deng Gai (TDG) elevate himself to the first vice presidency? Brutal, horrific violence, including threats, torture, beating and sexual assault used on men and women officials — video recording some to ensure their submission to TDG's will, see pics!







UGANDA

Where is IGAD in all this, its members serve several roles, Peace guarantors, bankers or combat soldiers,


It is clear what is Uganda's agenda: money, markets and asset management:

But the situation in Nimule changed about three weeks ago. The merchants have disappeared and the truck drivers no longer transport goods. Instead, they are shuttling refugees and military equipment [AD: Uganda's cash crops!] back and forth across the border.
Trucks loaded with battle tanks inch forward. The route from Uganda's capital, Kampala, to the border town of Nimule has only just been paved. The convoys of tanks and containers holding military equipment have been on the road for days now in order to reach the South Sudan border. 
But on Friday (10.01.2014), the Ugandan government officially confirmed the large-scale deployment of its troops in South Sudan to "guarantee the peaceful course of negotiations," as a government spokesman said.

[AD: really!]

    Quote Cont'd...


Defending economic interests 
Securing the trade route to Juba might be one of the Ugandan government's main concerns. For the Ugandan economy South Sudan is the largest market beyond its own borders. Almost every tomato, potato, bean and egg that is consumed in South Sudan comes from Uganda.
The Ugandan government earns over 2 million dollars (1.4 million euros) in tax revenue from exports to South Sudan every day. An estimated 20,000 Ugandan migrant workers work in Juba and send money home regularly. The Ugandan elite has invested in real estate and businesses in Juba. . . .
As a reward for backing its partner, Uganda gained lucrative access to markets in South Sudan when it became an independent state in 2011. But those economic ties are now in jeopardy as a result of the emerging civil war. 

Uganda sends troops into South Sudan


ETHIOPIA

I was reminded today by a Tweet of Aly Verjee to me regarding how lawless and corrupt it was in the region, when I found a long-searched-for document exposing the long-standing penholder of African Affairs for the World (55 years), Ethiopia, as an arms dealer to the homicidal regime of South Sudan.





So instead of discouraging its young neighbor from war, the continent's Peace arbiter profits secretly from it. This host nation for the African Union headquarters has also signed a military cooperation agreement with Juba in October 2016 and for the record Ethiopia has been a covert source of arms for the SPLA since the 2000s - the struggle (this is SPLM/SPLA common knowledge).


KENYA

Kenya provides arms as well serving as the depository for stolen money from Juba and its corrupt officials. In order to keep their connection strong many of Kenya's MPs visit Juba as it was in the 2016 election season, with reports noting Kiir's treasury was open to them for funding their campaigns AND the suppression of opposition members in Kenya: James Gatdet; Aggrey Idris and Dong Samuel Luak taken — the former now sits in a national security prison in Juba with a death sentence while the latter two men's location is unknown nor whether they are dead or alive!

[Experience in Kenya says if they didn't deliver (Idris & Luak) to Juba as planned due to publicity of their January 2017 trial - Kenyans will 'remove' them to prevent exposure of their international crimes of kidnapping (international-protected legal) refugees and residents].

But such an international crime will hit the Kenyan pocketbook for a decade if such deaths are true, Southerners will not forget such treachery I can tell President Kenyatta this much. Particularly given even a governor, Marko Lokidor Lochapio, was abducted from Kakuma UN camp in late December 2017 (a legitimate internationally-recognized refugee) who is believed to be dead from his treatment in Juba's security prison.

                                               Gov. Marko Lochapio
                                               
                                         Gov. Marko Lochapio, chained
                                      

Kenyans MPs campaigning to ban South Sudanese opposition conclude visit in Juba, here 

     

Note: if one of the Kenyan MPs who visited Juba in 2016 promised to ban Juba's critics and opposition in Kenya (on Juba's bucket list) is now the new secretary in the Foreign Minister's office who just happened to represent IGAD in its S. African visit to Dr. Riek Machar on 14 May WHERE the group tried to push the 1st VP to relocate instead of releasing him as their 26 March 2018 communique, here, stated:

is that man, Ababu Namwamba (on right with glasses in above photo) - Chief Administrative Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs — impartial — or will he be — as his country is a supposed "neutral" Peace guarantor?  

[AD: My experience in Kenya is money rules over all, including principles]



So Dear Friends, for the citizens of South Sudan and those who try to help them — only suffering and loss. Last weekend in Juba's Gudele area a pastor and his wife were shot dead trying to rescue a troubled family on Saturday, 13 May while unfortunately another pastor attempting to help was critically wounded as well. 



RAPE - JUBA'S WEAPON of WAR


If Juba's oppressive political violence is not enough, sexual assault is such a standard state tool — all ignore it, whether government or UN or embassies - during the 2016 war start, on 11 July, soldiers set on foreign aid workers in the Terrain Hotel complex. After several hours most women rescued had been gang-raped (RSS’s deputy justice minister, Martison Oturomoi, told reporters one woman had been raped by 15 men) - the AP described the heart-wrenching encounter of this woman:

The soldier pointed his AK-47 at the female aid worker and gave her a choice: "Either you have sex with me, or we make every man here rape you and then we shoot you in the head . . ." (Rampaging South Sudan troops raped foreigners, killed local - AP, 16 August 2016)

The shameless part was the response from the UN and embassies of the women, including the United States...no one came, even peacekeepers refused to go out and save the at risk residents. See,

UN peacekeepers in South Sudan 'ignored rape and assault of aid workers'


U.S. Kept Quiet After Americans Were Attacked by Soldiers in South Sudan 

A few who were left overnight at the destroyed complex and were rescued by South Sudan security forces the next morning, after being assaulted into the night.

Rape and other forms of Gender based violence (GBV) practiced by all sides in the civil war has become so widespread that even a 2-year-old child was among the victims of this war, according to the U.N. special representative on sexual violence in armed conflict speaking at a briefing to reporters concerning her trip to the northern town of Bentiu in October 2014:

“In my 30 years of experience, I’ve never witnessed anything like what I saw in Bentiu,” said Zainab Hawa Bangura.
(South Sudan sexual violence 'rampant,' two-year-old raped: U.N - Reuters)

The five year war in South Sudan has had a devastating impact on the citizens, with death estimates provided to AFP in late 2016 by aid workers and government officials from 50,000 to 300,000 persons. Plus, millions (4 million plus) had to abandon their homes seeking safety from murder, rape, assassination and torture, mass destruction on a scale unseen since Rwanda, Bosnia. 

A UN Development Programme national survey based on over 1,500 interviews indicated that 63% of participants said a close family member was killed during the war.

With the untold suffering faced by a nation that survived an earlier 21 year war ending in 2005, its agony was extended with this current five year conflict — resulting in possibly a lost generation warned the UNICEF executive director in January 2018 after visiting areas devastated by war:

“70 percent of the children are out of school, that is highest in the world. There is too much violence,” the UNICEF head Henrietta H. Fore said. 


This is the context which informs this first article I pen since leaving South Sudan. 

Now, we must ask a simple question: can the neighbors of South Sudan who serve as guarantors for the 2015 peace agreement be trusted to ensure the resolution of this war?

As Abu Deng, one experienced in the practices, culture and nuances of the ruling class - only one answer comes to mind,

No...

Here is why!


On 26 August 2015 Salva Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar signed a peace accord giving hope to millions that the long-awaited chance for progress and economic prosperity was possible but it took until April 2016 before this dream was manifested in an actual transitional government. 

Yet problem after problem surfaced, conflicts over selection of offices, over resources — with parliamentary allocations and assignments, led to tense cabinet meetings and so by July tensions were high and so with the 2 July 2016 killing of an IO member of national security by government soldiers and then a clash on 7 July resulting in the killing of five soldiers from Kiir's side the atmosphere in the capital saw anger near boiling.

So by Friday, 8 July, the date of the J1 fight at the Presidential Palace which saw over 400 dead on both sides, the air on Sunday was filled with foreboding, death was coming and so it did on 10 July 2016...sending people scurrying to the bush, UN camps or airport if they had influence and money.

In Juba, just under 800 soldiers and innocent civilians were killed and buried in mass graves by the Red Cross over the 3 days of fighting.

After 10 July 2016, sides began to set, Uganda started by sending troops initially to protect its citizens as they were evacuated back home but Museveni realized his nation's economic success was tied to the survival of a Kiir government (which could be more easily manipulated than a Machar one). Combat troops and military equipment began to pour into the conflict and South Sudan, which already had a military cooperation agreement with Uganda from October 2014.


EGYPT

Egypt signed as well a military cooperation agreement in March 2014 and since the 2016 war started it has been assisting South Sudan in humanitarian efforts plus with training and equipment.

Reports and photos of large Egyptian cargo planes at Juba's airport have surfaced too since 2016, with the UN Panel of Experts in April 2017 accusing Egypt of providing arms to South Sudan, see  http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/2017/326

The Arab Republic has obviously ulterior motives with a South Sudanese "partnership" - partly economics (investments) but more significantly using its geopolitical influence initially to lobby African nations to convince the AU to lift the suspension imposed on it when former president Mohamed Morsi was overthrow in 2013.

As well Egypt wants to wield power over Sudan and Ethiopia in regards to Nile water usage and specifically over Addis and its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project which they believe will steal too much water from their metropolitan capital and its 20 million inhabitants.


KENYA II

Additionally, Kenya has been supplying arms and ammunition to the Juba government since the interim period, SIPRI data shows that from 2005 to 2009 Kenya was the largest recipient of Ukrainian arms imports in Sub-Saharan Africa, further analysis showed the final destination for much of these weapons was South Sudan.

Meaning while Kenya was serving as the principal peace facilitator for the first CPA — it was moonlighting as an arms transit point for Juba's shipments, likely pocketing a handsome profit while maintaining a shiny reputation as a Peace arbiter. See, update of the SIPRI Arms Transfers Database (15 March 2011). 

Even after the civil war started again in 2013, Ukrainian heavy machine guns and grenade launchers originally slated for Kenya by purchase were found in 2014 within South Sudan borders. An analysis showed that Kenya colluded with Ukraine to keep its arms transfers covert according to the UN Panel of Experts in 2015, see http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/N1524056.pdf


SOUTH AFRICA

Joining this group is South Africa which signed a military cooperation with Juba in January 2018, which involve conducting joint military exercises, training and capacity building. Responding to a Parliamentary question on the cooperation agreement with South Sudan, the defence minister revealed the deal also includes procurement of defence equipment (yes, buying arms for Juba!)


Note: this MOU apparently has more political importance then the trial and subsequent execution order by hanging of a retired SADF officer convicted of terrorism and conspiracy in South Sudan. A commentator in South Africa's Mail & Guardian newspaper on 2 March 2018 had this below to say about what he calls the kangaroo court in Juba and his nation's actions. He believed the opposition and its leader should be treated equal given RSA supposed peace-making (neutrality) mandate:

Mediators are not supposed to play favourites.

It also fuels speculation about what South Africa’s motives really are for involving itself so deeply in South Sudan. If it’s really born of a genuine desire to bring peace to South Sudan, this hardly seems the way to go about it.
(South Africa takes sides in South Sudan, March 2018)

The commentator is correct - the self-interest quotient for South Africa is strong and smells of economic interests manifested in the April 2018 announcement by the Johannesburg-based Telecom company MTN that it plans to expand its network in South Sudan.


KENYA III

The self-interest of Kenya and its elites can be seen clearly too with the announcement that President Uhuru's family bank group, CBA, will be expanding into South Sudan. Yes, IGAD we in the West call this 'conflict of interest', See,


Kenya's banks in South Sudan have added greatly to parent banking group's profits likes KCB, which was identified as laundering billions of dollars for South Sudan elites and corrupt government officials according to the 2016 Sentry Report, War Crimes Shouldn't Pay

And if integrity mattered, the murder/torture of the Kenyan voting head some days before the election would be questioned. The top official was in
charge of electronic voter identification and vote counting seen as crucial to avoid rigging, and was the second in command in the election commission's IT department. See, 

OR

the revelation by Cambridge Analytica's managing director that his firm engineered the entire election process for President Uhuru's win - if justice and accountability matters. See, 

Here's how Cambridge Analytica played a dominant role in Kenya's chaotic 2017 elections

Note: The firm has now shut down after the revelations of its malfeasance.

MASSIVE COLLUSION AND CORRUPTION

By now, words like cooperation, collusion, partnership should take on a sinister tone when mentioning members of the IGAD...but quit any skepticism their collaboration, i.e., collusion is real:

Did Al-Sisi, Kiir, and Museveni Form a Tripartite Alliance against Ethiopia and Sudan? 

And the South Sudan government of Salva Kiir is maximising all opportunities to consolidate its power. On 16 November 2017 after several consecutive meetings with the concerned parties (SPLM, FDs), the Cairo ”Declaration of Unification” of Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) was signed at the headquarters of the Egyptian General Intelligence under the auspices of Egypt’s  al-Sisi and President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni.

But this is not just collaboration for fun and friendship, it's one steeped in public treachery, a regional and intercontinental effort to drain all the resources from South Sudan to foreign bank accounts or to investment/luxury homes.

Uganda has come under fire for it new found status as a serious gold producer, having gone from official gold exports of 11kg (24.2lbs) worth $237,000 in 2014 to 8.8 tons (19,400lbs) in 2016 worth $340m without a commercial mine in the country; making it the second largest export after coffee. A June 2017 report by Global Witness called Uganda: Undermined revealed that minerals from the DRC and South Sudan were coming through Uganda on the way to Dubai to global markets. The gold is being refined at East Africa's only refinery near Entebbe, called African Gold Refinery, and it was inaugurated by President Museveni himself, who has connection with the refinery through an in-law. See, here



Uganda gold refinery raises alarm over conflict minerals

So gold for the people of South Sudan's future is exiting via Nimule to Ugandan pockets and beyond while Museveni hosts 1 million plus refugees for the sake of publicity and squeezing money out of the international community through fraudulent accounting of refugees which has resulted in millions of international aid money stolen. See, here

UN verification found 7,000 refugees where Uganda govt had claimed 26,000



Malong says $100m given to Kiir Family in Nairobi while Hunger in S. Sudan

In an interview last week the former South Sudan Army Chief of Staff Paul Malong revealed that President Kiir ordered $300 million transported to Nairobi after some consignment (exact unknown, yet oil, gold or diamonds I suggest) was sold.

There in Kenya's capital he had $100m delivered to his family in the exclusive residential area of Lavington (possibly via the Sentry-ID'd corrupt financial institution KCB).

He had a $100m delivered to his Presidential Office in Juba and a $100m distributed among enablers and activities (i.e., operations against opposition, critics) listen here at minute 58:00 — https://t.co/zVjrcVLg2q


But the story gets darker, as the new nation falls deeper into debt and despair; currently 400 of 1900 health clinics/hospitals (Watchlist) left; 70 percent of South Sudanese lacked access to adequate health care; 4.5 million displaced from home (2.5m in five neighboring countries); 7 million citizens hungry, many bordering on famine with some unpaid government employee salaries for one year; embassies closed in London, Italy and the Democratic Republic of Congo.


President Kiir's Official Shadow Banker and Money Launderer

Yet the inner circle of Salva Kiir, Akol Koor, Taban Deng Gai, Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth and supporters (Martin Elia Lomuro, Riak Gai Kok, Makur Koriom) is getting rich, fat on oil sales via connections like Sudanese investor and quasi-Khartoum "persona-non-grata" Dr. Ashraf Sidahamed Al Hussein Al Cardinal and the Nigerian-owned/Dubai-based Sahara Energy Resource DMCC (given a 600,000 barrel allotment of oil for May 2018) with Mr. Al Cardinal authorised 300,000 barrels per month until May 2019, which is worth $200m USD at current oil prices.

Yes, indeed Dr. Ashraf Sidahamed Al Hussein Al Cardinal is Kiir's personal money launderer "enabling" the South Sudanese President and his inner circle to transfer the People's money from government accounts and turn national resources into cash then hide the funds in overseas banks. The Sudanese businessman has been at this 'disservice' since independence and is said by sources to be involved in similar Illicit activities in Iran.

Sources tell me Mr Al Cardinal has property in the UK, including a luxurious home in Surrey, Kent - 4 apartments in Chelsea Harbor; 4 apartments in the Kensington Road area and some ten apartments purchased from a Dubai property developer named Damac.

As well, he has one billion US dollars secured...secreted away in a Dutch bank along with this $30 million he will pick for this May oil sale from Juba. He is the ultimate enabler I would say if these discoveries confirm to be true. 

Mr. Cardinal is the official launderer-Shadow Banker for the President (who uses Martin Elia Lomoro & Makur Koriom as well for such purposes) which then allows Kiir to pay off his neighbors; buy weapons; suppress any opposition; detain any opponent or eliminate any critic in the region with his IGAD Club members' assistance...

Please USA and EU, here are suggestions for Abu Deng's 2018 Sanctions List:

1) Salva Kiir
2) Taban Deng Gai
3) Akol Koor
4) Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth
5) Ashraf Sidahamed Al Hussein Al Cardinal

Time for tougher Trump Administration action, since impunity is the norm there in Africa it seems Mr. President!!!

Finally Dear True Friends of South Sudan, even You dear Africa Leaders of conscience!? MFM, maybe PK... are you listening  what incentive does President Salva Kiir have to bring Peace, as he noted last month:

“What is my incentive if it is peace that I will bring and then step aside? Nobody can do it,” (President Kiir, Dr. Garang Memorial, 25 April 2018)

The End


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Tuesday, November 7, 2017

South Sudan's Murderer-in-Chief President Salva Kiir and Friends - A View




Why South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and IGAD Must be Sidelined



I dedicate this to my dear Cousin Dr. Ding Col Dau Ding, a brilliant caring Neurosurgeon and Medical Doctor/humanitarian — taken from us too early. Somehow his death I see connected to this sick, murderous regime and President, ruling by the gun and lust for power, money...see his eulogy


Table of Contents:

TRIBALLY INCLINED  
RUTHLESS 
DEFIANT W/ INTENT 
IRRATIONAL 
DENIAL OF FACTS and REALITY 
WHOSE FAULT IS THE WAR?
The Second Civil War – July 2016 
ARREST, SEARCH AND SEIZURE POWERS TO SPIES? 
— Inadequate Accountability
— Oversight

JUBA’S ANTI-FOREIGNER CAMPAIGN OVER THE YEARS 
WHY SOUTH SUDAN THEN? AND WHO IS SALVA KIIR? 
WHY THE REGIME OF SALVA KIIR IS DEAD! 

SPECIAL SECTION: SALVA KIIR - THE MURDERER-IN-CHIEF 
— Executive Vice President Assassination Attempt led by Juba


WHY THE END OF THE WAR SEEMS SO FAR AND PEACE SO ELUSIVE

                                           —  
                       

The fact that (INU) South Sudan broke away from Sudan was not really the most choice of everybody, but (INU) the majority what they decide in a democratic situation, people have to go with it.” 

(INU is an interjection word like "Umm")
(AUDIO EXCERPT – S. SUDAN PRESIDENT KIIR ON 1 NOVEMBER 2017 IN KHARTOUM ON THE 98.83% VOTE FOR SELF DETERMINATION IN JANUARY 2011 BY HIS COUNTRY) — listen at 0:47 seconds here

The above quote in my view finds President Kiir regretting the vote for democracy by the people that costs them war – virtually since the 1956 Independence of Sudan — and the death of over 2 million Southern Sudanese, the enslavement of thousands and destruction of one of Africa’s most promising and fertile areas. A revealing point of sadness, bathed in the blood of millions.

And so, my premise in this piece is to reveal the true nature of President Kiir and his Transitional Government which I believe is: 1) to wage a war of annihilation against long-time opponents  2) the ethnic cleansing of Nuer, Shilluk, Bari and all other tribes from Equatoria  3) to consolidate and enhance his influence, as well to extend his Dinka tribe’s power — based on an ethnic doctrine of supremacy. I note a deep-seated motive is a long-held revenge for the Bor Massacre).

The African Union Obasanjo Final Report of 2015 confirms that secret preparations for War were under way by Kiir and his supporters; recruitment of a private army from the region of the President and then Bahr al Ghazal Governor (later Army Chief of Staff) Paul Malong. Of note, the report asserts through interviews with the President himself and other military officials that those recruits were outside of normal military command and funded via ‘private sources’ (Para 54, 55, p. 22) with an exact number not known, but credible sources say around 15,000 troops.

A focal point for the ICC and accountability in this civil war is in one sense simple and clear, for in South Sudan, Command Responsibility of Government forces falls solely to Salva Kiir Mayardit as both the Head of State and the Commander-in-Chief of SPLA (the Army/military).

Mr. Kiir holds the active military rank of General and is formally the highest military commander in South Sudan; with his SPLA Chief of General Staff, at the time being General Paul Malong, now removed; his Minister of Defense and Veterans’ Affairs is Kuol Manyang; and the Minister of National Security, Obuto Mamur (whose office is part of the Presidency), all these men report directly to President Kiir.

So to further stress the point regarding the military chain of command hierarchy, one finds President Kiir — not his chief of staff or his minister of defense — issues decrees to appoint and promote senior military officers or demote them. As well, there is clear evidence, according to the UN Panel of Experts, see the January 2016 report, that President Kiir also has de facto command responsibility over the different armed groups/militias used by the Government to execute the war in the various areas of the country.

Add the powers given to him or outright taken by the President from the 2011 Transitional Constitution, namely the power to appoint/remove governors, legislators, diplomats (yes, he appoints/rejects Ambassadors too!) and all public ministry officials, judges. President Kiir firmly and absolutely controls the military, political/diplomatic and judiciary spheres of late with the aid of a 2015 draconian national security law, opposed by many international organizations like Amnesty International because it gives national security officers broad authority to: search and seize; arrest and detain (without a warrant). See Sections 12 and 51of the law — contradicting the 2011 Transitional Constitution which only allows “information gathering, analysis and giving advice to relevant authorities.”

Yet, despite the visible and absolute military command line going straight to the top, there is a supporting cast mixed into the South Sudan List of Warmongering Actors which include public and private persons who assists and advise President Kiir, namely, the Minister of Information Michael Makuei Lueth ((US-sanctioned); General Paul Malong (US-sanctioned and UN Expert Panel-confirmed co-architect of the 2013 and 2016 wars); imposed 1st VP Taban Gai (2016 Co-plotter, his influence came post-2016 war); Minister of Defense Kuol Manyang (long-time Kiir ally and former Jonglei State governor); Minister of Petroleum Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth (a 2016 War Co-plotter, a one-time devoted Machar intimate) said by IO sources to have primarily orchestrated the VP coup d’état with Gen. Taban Gai and near assassination of First VP Dr. Riek Machar.

Key as well is a little known Presidential adviser for Security Affairs named Tut Kew Gatluak, said to wield great influence and trust from President Kiir in security matters and the former SPLM National Secretary for External Relations Susan Jambo (served as diaspora focal point and principal SPLM party crusader/inciter — Plus,

a troublesome body called the Jieng (Dinka) Council of Elders (JCE) mentioned as a “self-identified tribal group” by the UN Panel of Experts in their January 2016 report, which the panel says has become influential, unofficial advisers to President Kiir (the US equivalent of having the KKK as presidential advisers, visiting the White House and all!). See below the list of names representing the various Dinka communities across the country (Dinka sub-clan representatives) published in one of the regional newspapers. Click here for published list, which includes Chicago Bulls NBA Superstar Luol Deng’s father Aldo Ajou Deng who has written articles and interviewed on the JCE and his involvement, see here,

The UN Panel of Experts' report of September 2016 (S/2016/793) confirms my view about the principals prosecuting this war. It indicates that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the President confirmed the members of the “national security council”, those with primary responsibility for security decisions and planning military operations.

It consisted of the following individuals: the President, Kiir; the Minister of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs, Kuol Manyang; the SPLA Chief of General Staff, Malong; the Minister of Information, Michael Makuei Lueth; the then Minister of Finance, Deng Athorbi (whom Kiir replaced with Stephen Dhieu Dau, currently the Finance Minister, in July); the Minister for National Security, Obutu Mamur; the Director of the Internal Security Bureau of the National Security Service, Akol Koor; the Director of the External Security Bureau of the National Security Service, Thomas Duoth; and the Presidential Adviser for Security Affairs, Tut Kew Gatluak. No members of the Machar’s SPLM-Opposition or Former Detainees (FDs) were involved.

Special note: the former ruling party SPLM National Secretary for External Relations Ms. Suzanne Jambo should be linke in as a key person who carried out grassroot and diaspora mobilization of support for President Kiir's policies and actions. The saddest part here is Ms. Jambo, a lawyer and women/human rights activist, had been considered a national female role model for women before the war; and her emails (2014-2016) and diaspora and grassroot work supporting the state policies of President Kiir — A policy using of rape and sexual assault as a weapon of war. See some of her public emails sent to South Sudanese in the diaspora here.

Tribally inclined


On August, 26, 2011, President Kiir formed his post-independence cabinet which was made up of 42% from his Dinka tribe while giving all the strategic posts (oil, defense, finance) to his “Dinka Rek” tribal clan.

He awarded his home state, Warrap, ten ministerial posts plus added the National Chief of Security, the Chief Justice of South Sudan Supreme Court and the Governor of the Central Bank of South Sudan. The Greater Bahr al Ghazal region was awarded twenty ministerial posts of a total 29, in which ten of them went to Warrap State alone. On 9 March 2012, President Kiir appointed ambassadors, giving the majority share to his tribe, which meant 53% of the nation’s ambassadors were Dinka.

The President's tribe which was only about 25% of the population yet controlled 55% of national power at the start of Independence in 2011 while the other 63 tribes had to share whatever was left. The following two must-read paragraphs below as well as the statistics in this section come from one of the most controversial South Sudanese, Gordon Buay, a once-hated rebel official later made a South Sudan Army General and in 2014, an ambassador, currently serving as the Deputy Head of Mission at the Washington, DC South Sudan Embassy. Of late, His Excellency has been mentioned as a social media inciter by the UN Panel of Experts in their November 2016 report, p. 20. Yet Ambassador Buay’s earlier insight and analysis is quite accurate in this March 2012 Sudan Tribune article (here) about the dangers of Dinka domination in South Sudan:

Since the independence of South Sudan last July, we have been witnessing a very dangerous form of ethnic domination which would surely lead the South to become a failed state. Prior to July, 2011, Dinka elite controlling power began to practise ethnic discrimination and marginalization within the Government of South Sudan (GoSS) that was formed after the conclusion of the CPA on January 9, 2005. But so many people didn’t notice the gravity of the situation thinking that the practice would be addressed after the independence of the South. Many South Sudanese focused on the implementation of the CPA and the exercise of the right of self-determination and ignored the glaring practice of tribalism in each ministry of the GoSS.

When the ministries were set up in 2005, there were practices of tribal exclusions that made a lot of people to question the underlying policies and vision of Dinka elite. For instance, the Ministry of Legal Affairs and Constitutional Development which was under the guidance of Michael Makuei Lueth employed mostly Dinka Bor. Majority of employees of the Ministry were from Dinka tribe. The same thing to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development which was also dominated by Dinka tribe. Filling ministries with one’s tribe—a practice mostly demonstrated by Dinka ministers—continued up to now and many ministries in Juba are dominated either by one tribe or a clan depending on where the Ministers who set them up in 2005 came from. Majority of employees in the Ministry of Finance are from Dinka Bhar-el-Ghazal because Arthur Akuein Chol, who was the GoSS Minister of Finance and Economic Development in 2005, hailed from that region.

I agree with Ambassador Buay, His Excellency has pinpointed a major agitating factor in the diverse ethnic society contained within South Sudan. This was the beginning of the problem, which festered into a bruising heinous war, again, when it was ignored.

Ruthless


No one in South Sudan is allowed to criticize — whether a friend of President Kiir or supporter of his government, even his family is not left unscathed. On 1 April 2015, unidentified gunmen abducted the President’s relative Peter Mayen, leader of the People’s Liberal Party (PLP) at his home in Juba. The perpetrators held him in 2 locations blindfolded, repeatedly beating him brutally with their fists — and kicking him. He was released days later on April 8. Mr. Mayen had earlier criticized the government some weeks before his abduction.

A reporter in 2011 wrote an opinion article about the marriage of a daughter of President Kiir in his publication, and then the Destiny newspaper had its office shut down. The reporter and his editor were arrested by national security officers but the editor was beaten and tortured, then he was forced to go dine with the President at his house so the Head of State could improve his public image. They were released without charges after two weeks in custoy. See here

DEFIANT W/ INTENT


The quote in the beginning of this blog shows the nature of President Kiir, accommodating to a fault, manipulative to a tribal vision, rigid and brutal to all who dare to oppose his myopic view. This is a view from which he will not move. Recall, the IGAD Plus peace deal or ARCSS was agreed to by all, including President Kiir grudgingly; SPLM-IO leader Dr. Riek Machar and Former Detainees leader Pagan Amum both signing the peace agreement unconditionally in Addis Ababa on 15 September 2016. President Kiir declined to sign the peace accord that day and was given 15 days to consult on the peace deal before signing.

United States National Security Advisor Susan Rice asked President Kiir to sign the peace agreement before IGAD's 15 day deadline without reservation or condition. However, President Kiir did sign 9 days later, but added 16 reservations showing his displeasure (intent) at the beginning to not implement the peace accord, see his below comments from the signing ceremony. So we see from Day 1 until now a lack of will on his part and the entire government to truly bring peace to the country, just revenge and power consolidation. See reservations here:

 "With all those reservations that we have, we will sign this document."


 "The current peace we are signing today has so many things we have to reject."

"It is showing [supposed recent rebel attacks] that what we are doing here is not accepted by the other side," Kiir said. He added that he believed negotiations on the deal should continue. "It is not a Bible, it not the Koran, why should it not be revisited?"

IRRATIONAL


2013: President Kiir dissolves the national cabinet and all South Sudan’s ruling party’s SPLM structures (except his office!) on 15 July 2013 [that is, Disbands the party and Government, one with 97% dependence on oil]
See: South Sudan president sacks cabinet in power struggle 

2012: South Sudan oil field seizure in Sudan ‘illegal’ says AU, urges both sides to avert war, see:

https://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/04/13/207434.html


DENIAL OF FACTS AND REALITY


The October 2015 AU Obasanjo report, the African Union report of its commission of enquiry into South Sudan, revealed human rights abuses and war crimes by the parties to the conflict. It found no evidence of a coup attempt and concluded that fighting within the Presidential Guards triggered the violence, resulting in a state policy involving acts of violence, and gross human rights abuses orchestrated against civilians. On 28 October 2015, the Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mawien Makol denied the report conclusions.

In April 2017, U.S. Senator Chris Coons and his colleague Senator Bob Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee visited the world’s largest refugee settlement in northern Uganda which houses thousands of South Sudanese, then Senator Coons visited Juba and met with President Salva Kiir. Here is the transcript of key parts of a United States Institute of Peace (USIP) event audio he spoke at:

Coons: . . . why should the U.S. continue to try so hard to deliver humanitarian assistance through many partners and NGOs when your Govt and your forces are blocking access using hunger as a weapon of war (listen at minute 6:34).

He [Museveni] has not been constructive in pushing Kiir to take responsibility for his country and lead a Peace process that is real (on audio, listen at minute 7).

When I meet with President Salva Kiir and initially pressed him hard on what was going, in the country, on the violence, he initially denied there was anything going on, he said there's really no conflict - what are you talking about - this is all propaganda. It is some man in S. Africa, sitting in a hotel calling people and telling them, Umm,

Kiir: you need to tell the press...

Coons: I said Mr. President, with all due respect, I was in a refugee camp in Uganda and saw thousands of people - women who had lost their husbands or brothers or fathers who had been raped who had been beaten this is not the result of a few phone calls from men sitting in hotels in other countries - this is deep conflict that is affecting your whole country (listen at minute 12:08).

I said I thought there was no problem...he said well there may be a problem, but it's being exaggerated, it's a fiction (listen at minute 13:00).

That is the, I think, potential tragedy here. A slow rolling tragedy is the mistaken perception of the president of a young nation that he's not responsible for finding a path towards peace, towards opening an effective national dialogue and towards welcoming the opposition into a process that will actually reconcile the country (listen at minute 13:34).


Senator Coons shared his frustration in June 2017 with Slate columnist/ freelance AP journalist Justin in an interview about his April 2017 interaction with President Kiir:

“That level of fantasy, or willful denial of really hard circumstances, it’s pretty hard to take [Kiir].”

Since the war start high ranking party members helped to spread propaganda and stir hatred among the populace and diaspora such as President Kiir’s party appointee, the SPLM National Secretary for External Relations Susan Jambo. Here is one of dozens of public forum emails the SPLM Party Secretary sent to South Sudanese worldwide which show a dangerous element: provocative content and the fact it came from a senior party official which could ignite racial hatred at one tribe, the Nuer in this case:

To:SPLA_VET-Diaspora@yahoogroups.com; splm-global-network@googlegroups.com
From: suzannejambo@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2014 12:01:02 +0300
Subject: [SPLA_VET-Diaspora] Fwd: [sudans-john-ashworth] Embracing victimhood to celebrate victimisation

FYI.

Suzanne Jambo

Begin forwarded message:

From: John Ashworth <ashworth.john@gmail.com>
Date: April 22, 2014 at 10:42:11 AM GMT+3

To:Group<sudans-john-ashworth@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [sudans-john-ashworth] Embracing victimhood to celebrate victimisation
Reply-To:sudans-john-ashworth+owners@googlegroups.com

Embracing victimhood to celebrate victimisation

By Juliana Bol

April 21, 2014 - It was a bit disturbing to hear news of our citizens in the IDP camps (where they are seeking protection and shelter)celebrating the recapture of Bentiu -in light of what this recapture actually occasioned.

200 civilians [allegedly] killed in a mosque. Non-Nuer civilians and foreign nationals targeted and killed. Nuer men and women in a hospital killed for not being supportive or rather celebratory over the rebel forces ‘success’. Hate speech broadcast on a local radio station, calling for the rape of women . . .

(this is an excerpt, for the rest of email exchange, see the emails of Secretary Jambo in a separate document here)

Whose Fault is the War?


Besides the armed Principals and their armies, the Obasanjo Report points fingers at the United States, Britain and Norway (the Troika) for creating “a politically unchallenged armed power” and also blamed the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the eight-country East Africa trading bloc known as IGAD, saying that these formal bodies “ushered in an unaccountable political class” that ruled by the gun. One cannot argue with this point given the number of displaced persons and believed dead, estimated over 300,000 according to the African Union.

Later UN reports (January 2016) make it clear the reins of power were contained in a small inner circle including President Kiir, Army General Paul Malong and Akol Koor of National Security and select others, who waged an aggressive war targeting civilians and destruction of whole communities, a different picture painted by the SPLM Secretary Jambo of a peace loving, forward thinking and well-meaning SPLM leadership.

The Second Civil War – July 2016


The UN Panel of Experts (September 2016) were able to piece together the events surrounding the start of the war through interviews with first-hand witnesses and other sources. It was clear from the large scale of the hostilities, which saw the deployment of Mi-24 attack helicopters, coordinated with ground troops and reinforced by armored units — that the war was directed at the highest level of the SPLA command structure, i.e., President Kiir and General Malong! As well, several senior Army officers confirmed that only the President and the Army Chief of Chief General Paul Malong had the authority to order the deployment of the attack helicopters. General Malong was specifically mentioned by several military and political leaders as having commanded the start of the war on the 10th and 11th of July 2016, with President Kiir’s full knowledge.

ARREST, SEARCH AND SEIZURE POWERS TO SPIES?


While the 2011 Transitional Constitution of South Sudan provides a mandate of the National Security Service (NSS) for “information gathering, analysis and advice to relevant authorities,” the now approved 2015 statute gives the NSS broad authority in regard to search and seizure, arrest and detention (Sections 12 and 51). The law was controversial during its passage through Parliament in 2014 (see my blog then). At one point it was passed without a quorum present, and due to public pressure the President had to send it back to the Legislature for further review before in 2015 it became law due to technicalities. Amnesty International described the bill as such:

The NSS Act of 2014 grants the NSS sweeping powers to arrest and detain, without ensuring adequate judicial oversight or safeguards against abuse. Despite the obligations of South Sudan under international law, the Act does not provide for basic human rights, such as detainees being held in official places of detention, the right to counsel or the right to be tried within a reasonable period of time. The law effectively gives a carte blanche to the NSS to continue and extend its longstanding pattern of arbitrary detentions with total impunity (AI, April 2016, AFR 65/3844/2016).

Inadequate Accountability


The law states a National Security Service member can only be removed for misconduct for offenses that would land them the death penalty or life imprisonment!! Really, so they can do virtually anything and get away with any crime that doesn't lead to a death/life sentence. Torture, beatings and other human rights abuses are acceptable in this strict authoritarian regime.

Oversight


The law says that complaints against the National Security Service must be given to body to resolve, which is inappropriate in my view, for why would an organization which has a grievance registered against it resolve a complaint that makes it look bad? Does one expect an offending agency to punish itself, particularly one that has a history of abuse? As well, the law says if a complaint is given to another government institution, it has to be forwarded to the National Security Service for settling. In such a climate, whistleblowers will have a hard time, possible harassment, threats and risk much to reveal problems within an organization.


JUBA’S ANTI-FOREIGNER CAMPAIGN OVER THE YEARS


Banned foreign journalists — June 2017

Increased foreigner visa fees to $10,000 — March 2017

Harassed/threated foreign UN staff — September 2016 (Confidential UN report 8 September)

Expel foreign workers’ order published in newspapers — September 2014

Banned foreign (taxi drivers) or to own/ride motorbikes — September 2013

WHY SOUTH SUDAN THEN? AND WHO IS SALVA KIIR?


It is a sense of duty which pushed nations like the United States, Norway toward involvement in South Sudan. Me, it was marriage to one of its citizens in 2002 — and over the years I have learned much about the culture, people and leaders. Using my post-graduate education in policy-making; advising and engineering experience from the military and government — I helped to develop policies, structures and foundational frameworks before South Sudan’s Statehood, and afterwards — so I know much of its customs and laws and flaws — And their leaders!!!

The imposition of Salva Kiir as president was indeed accidental, for the global plan or hope was that the general and chairman of the ruling SPLM party, a Iowa Phd graduate in Agricultural Economics — John Garang de Mabior — would steer the aspiring nation through the minefield of state-building and development challenges – but instead the world got a middle school-educated long-time Army intelligence officer called Salva Kiir with weak social skills and feeble proficiency in politics/global affairs.

So, upon the tragic death of Dr. John Garang, Salva Kiir was chosen by proxy to be the next party leader, ergo, Vice President of Sudan and President of the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) now the Republic of South Sudan (with unlimited powers <to abuse, kill, mismanage> his devoted officials believe).

Once Mr. Kiir’S entrance onto the seat of power the country plummeted to the bottom of State performance due to poor policy, economic and military decisions, most tinged with a tribal/ethnic bias. If you had visited any ministry pre-Independence, you would have noted the entire staff was the same ethnicity/tribe as that minister; if he were Dinka, all the employees were Dinka which was the case at the Ministry of Justice under the notorious Michael Makuei Lueth (now US-sanctioned as a peace obstructer and inciter), who served earlier as the top lawyer for both the provisional government and ruling party since the 1990s.

The current South Sudan Minister of Information Michael Makuei Lueth (now-sanctioned and quieted) believed his nation was the epicenter of the new cold war, between USA and China, with his advanced conspiracy theory that the U.S. was planning to remove President Kiir and replace him with Dr. Riek Machar.

While Mr. Makuei was patently wrong on regime change, he had it right that South Sudan was strategically important to both global powers for varied reasons: Security, economics and geopolitics for USA and for China, growth via infrastructure construction, markets and raw materials. An example is found right before the 2013 War started, China exported 77% of South Sudan's crude oil (around 14 million barrels) double what it took from Nigeria during that period.

At the time before the start of the conflict, the Export-Import Bank of China was to offer $2 billion dollars in loans and credit to South Sudan for building six roads, including a 1500-mile modern highway that connected Juba, the capital, with Sudan’s main port plus build bridges across the Nile River. As well, it was going to build schools and hospitals in every county of the young nation; a national stadium, government conference center and hydropower plant.

But instead of accepting such positive historical development, Juba preferred to War again, to kill, rape, burn villages and its people. The international community gave South Sudan around $20 billion dollars in gifts and assistance (the USA gave over 8 billion dollars) while the regime received $10 billion dollars in oil revenue. Now it bottoms every major global indices in nation building, quality of live, corruption, education and health.

Since the start of the December 2013 civil war, what has transpired by all accounts one of the most heinous and brutal wars in modern history with sexual violence on an unseen scale according to Ken Scott, a war crime prosecutor who worked on Lebanon and Bosnia tribunals. The casualties in this latest war range between 50,000 to 300,000 victims according to the African Union. Though many believe the figure is higher, even saying 50,000 Nuer tribesmen and women were killed in the first week of the war. I was told by persons who were hidden inside Juba during the chaos that they saw huge dump trucks leaving the capital city of Juba full of bodies.

The hypocrisy rings loudest when applied to President Obama administration’s blind eye to the Kiir government violating citizens’ rights unceasingly. So while the former US ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, who became prominent arguing for intervention in nations to avert genocide (says New York Times on 4 January 2014) yet despite her hearing privately first-hand of the heinous assaults on several women at UN Juba's PoC 3 camp during a 3 September 2016 visit (she even cried those women told me as she listened to their stories). Still Ambassador Power and the Obama Administration allowed tremendous abuses by Kiir forces (culminating in massive sexual violence and ethnic murders as noted in the July 2017 Amnesty report).

In Jan 2014, roughly 180,000 South Sudanese were driven from their homes by fighting and an estimated 45,000 internally displaced Persons (IDPs) held up at U.N. compounds.

However in November 2017, roughly 4 million South Sudanese have been driven from their homes, including 2.1 million located in the five neighboring countries with 1 million just in Uganda while we have 1.9 million IDPs in South Sudan and over 200,000 living in United Nations protection camps across the country (mainly Nuer tribesmen and women and people of the Equatoria region).


WHY THE REGIME OF SALVA KIIR IS DEAD!


The problem of South Sudan has been long known among the global community, particularly the United Nations. In May 2014, a UN Mission in South Sudan report summed up the troubles of the nascent republic:

35. The SPLA has dominated every critical aspect of life in South Sudan beside the military establishment, notably the Government and the SPLM. This has seriously undermined governance and state institutions, making it difficult to establish the rule of law. Further, a lack of professionalism and proper training in the SPLA, coupled with weakness in command and control, has made accountability difficult. By contrast, other governance institutions have been much weaker, with little ability to demand accountability of the SPLA. The national law enforcement and justice systems suffer from a serious lack of capacity and South Sudan has a long history of impunity for past crimes.

36. Maintaining social cohesion among the more than 60 ethnic groups in South Sudan has also been an immense challenge. Ethnicity has often been manipulated to foster discord when it served political interests. Unresolved discord among numerous groups has assisted this, and indeed, many communities have a long history of conflict. Of note, ethnically-targeted killings between the Nuer and Dinka in the current conflict have revived memories of the ‘Bor massacre’ of 15 November 1991, when an estimated 2,000 Dinka civilians in Bor were killed by Nuer fighters from Mr. Machar’s SPLA-Nasir faction with the help of armed Nuer youth known as the ‘White Army’.

37. As the national elections scheduled for 2015 appeared on the horizon, political rivalries and ethnic grievances put pressure on the SPLM senior leadership, which largely depend on ethnic-based constituencies. In March 2013, Vice-President Machar disclosed his ambition to replace President Kiir as Chairman of the party.

It is evident by his actions since attaining the presidency that President Kiir has only wanted to be a leader-for-life. He has never wanted reform, bore out by his 2008 declarations against party restructuring at the SPLM National Convention; his 2011 fight with VP Machar over a more egalitarian transitional constitution; his dismantling of the party and government in July 2013; his wars (2013, 2016) and objection/written reservations to the 2015 peace Agreement.

The level of corruption and mismanagement is such that South Sudan’s designation as a sovereign state is made invalid. No global or regional body should further validate this current government as legitimate, nor listen to Juba or its neighbors’ justification for its continuance. The principle of Aggravated State Responsibility forces the global community of nations to take action against a nation void of concern for its citizenry; and a President with no respect for the Rule of Law and morality.

Let me list the Regime’s most infamous actions and those of its corrupt IGAD friends’ too. The Kiir Regime is a malignant cancer that infects all, including its neighbors with a toxic poison that causes them to emulate its heinous actions and State policies of assassination, sexual assault, torture, scorched earth tactics (burn homes, crops, livestock) to retain power:


1) The murder/torture of the head of Kenya's electronic voting system — days before the August 2017 Vote.

1a) South Sudan’s role model and Peace Agreement Guarantor: Kenya — is no bastion of Justice (Rule of Law). Note election violence in October and mob lynching in northwestern town of Kakuma of a suspect, see
Election protest, students gassed, here 

Burning the suspect, here 
(In the video, the smoke you see rising is from the suspect’s burning body in the police compound)

2) The looting of US taxpayers’ funds for personal use amounting to billions of US dollars. Since the start of the December 2013 war around 2 to 3 billion has been spent on humanitarian assistance. The USA has given $11 billion to this country to help it, yet no development, roads, education or healthcare.

3) Target American citizens for torture, murder, rape such as NJ Congressman Chris Smith’s constituent who was gang-raped by Kiir soldiers on 10 July 2017. Washington kept silent about the incident for more than a month until it was revealed by the AP’s report.  


>>>>>See BBC interviews at<<<<<<  goo.gl/Ds6s1v

NPR (All Things Considered) < Caution – these are emotional to hear> :




Interviews with Jesse Bunch, American male shot in the leg:


Bunch describes Anti-American sentiment; drunkenness of South Sudan soldiers


4) Shot over 100 rounds at the two SUVs of 7 US diplomats (including the Deputy Head of Mission James Donegan) in their highly identifiable diplomatic cars with widely known  “number 11” plates (with the US flag posted on the front windshield) on 7 July 2017.

4a) Shot the car of US Ambassador Charles Twining, putting two large holes in his car window on 14 November 2014.


5) Threatened, robbed and beat a US citizen on 28 May 2016. Two Juba policemen threatened to kill a former US soldier if he did not give up his media tablet, mobile phone and cash.


6) USA Failed to Prevent Ethnic Cleansing in Yei, South Sudan | burning homes, slaughtering of men, women and children. The AP investigation is based on more than 30 internal or confidential documents from the U.N., Obama White House or State Department and dozens of interviews with current or former officials and civilians.



7) Uganda is suspected of smuggling gold from war zones in Congo and South Sudan in contravention of the 2010 Lusaka Declaration as a signatory to the agreement. The accord helps to manage and restrict the spread of conflict minerals. In a 5 June 2017 report by Global Witness called "Uganda: Undermined" it quotes gold dealers who reveal they're obtaining conflict minerals (gold) from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

An investigation of eighteen months based on interviews with industry experts, miners, executives and government officials portrays a grim picture of the sector. George Boden of Global Witness, told CNN in June 2016:

"Our investigations show that Uganda's mining sector is characterized by corruption, mismanagement and high level political influence . . . "Impunity is endemic and attempts at reform have all failed in the face of entrenched interests."

The country had gold exports of $340 million in 2016, Between 2009 - 2015 Uganda's gold exports went from 0 (zero) to $40 million according to Reuters via the country's central bank yet it has only small mines and no commercial ones but produces around 1.1 to 1.5 tons of gold each month — So where did all this gold come from? South Sudan is a highly likely source I believe.

What is problematic for the recently opened African Gold Refinery (AGR) and Uganda is the revelation that its first gold refinery is partially owned by a Belgian expatriate, a former minister with connections to President Museveni who inaugurated the refinery on 20 February 2017. Its establishment was negotiated to obtain millions in tax relief and incentives by Musenveni's relative, the brother-in-law to President Museveni's younger brother General Salim Saleh who worked for AGR earlier. Saleh was sacked by his brother, President Museveni, as the commander of the Army, suspected of corruption. So Mr. Saleh’s involvement in this corruption-filled cesspool of mining is not surprising while taking advantage of conflicts.

“It’s a very high compliance [gold] refinery. We do due diligence for every customer who comes in,” Alain Goetz, the chief executive officer of Africa Gold Refinery (AGR), said to Reuters.

Goetz said that AGR would carefully select its customers, comply with the law and label their gold accordingly.

“Of course we want to sell to American companies, we will sell to American companies. With the compliance and the third party auditing, we’ll comply with all the regulations . . . including labeling,” Goetz said.


8) The Letters of credit (LC) Scandal as well as the infamous Dura Saga Scandal were some of the largest and most costly corruption scandals in South Sudan history. In the Dura Saga the South Sudan government paid the equivalent of nearly a million dollars (other reports by Sudan Tribune say the figure is several billion dollars and former Cultural Minister Dr. Jok M. Jok said the amount is $4 million) were given to domestic contractors to supply state governments with food to head off a projected famine in 2008 yet the food was never delivered.

For example, $2,177,226 was paid to Hamco Ltd for transport of 40,000 bags of sorghum grains for which no record of delivery exists.

In the LC case, high government officials lost 15 million USD and embezzled millions of hard-to-obtain dollars and likely transferred by officials to private businesses and interests instead of allowing the money to go to appropriate businesses buying food, medical supplies and fuel for the needy.


8a) One of the areas where senior officials and elites took great advantage of their positions and access was the foreign exchange market or currency speculation. When economic problems arose after the January 2012 oil shutdown and subsequent civil war in December 2013, restrictions were put in place to control dollar availability. The elites (politicians and businessmen) had virtually unfettered access to Central Bank dollars which allowed them to make money via arbitrage since the exchange rate officially was 3.16 while the black market rate in 2015 was as high as 15 South Sudanese pounds.

Given the dire lack of foreign currency, dollars mainly, the Central Bank of South Sudan would project to release $1.3 million weekly, but in reality only about $450,000 USD was released —the rest taken by elites, sold by them on the black market and exchanged back for dollars at the Central Bank for a significant profit,

For example for every one dollar an official sold on the black market, that elite could get 15 South Sudanese pounds in return, then exchange it back at the Bank’s official rate of 3.16 making a profit of 400 percent. This area was so lucrative in South Sudan the IMF reported in 2013 that there were 79 private FOREX bureaus which was nearly equal to its neighbor Kenya, which had an economy five times larger than South Sudan.


9) A July 2012 audit of government accounts from 2005 to 2006 by Auditor General Steven Wondu revealed $1.5 billion was unaccounted for, it disappeared without any records.


10) Between 2006 and 2012, the country spent $1.7 billion on road construction, but only 75 kilometres of roads had been built or paved. Yet the USAID built in 1 ½ years the 192 kilometers Juba-Nimule highway (the country’s first paved road) for only $229 million dollars.


11) 6 December 6, 2016 — South Sudanese expulsed U.S. journalist Justin Lynch, a freelancer for The Associated Press. South Sudan National Security Service officers repeatedly said to him that his reporting was too critical of the South Sudan government.

12) Murder of U.S. journalist Christopher Allen by govt forces, said he was a white rebel, article here.


Special section: Salva Kiir - The Murderer-in-Chief


A Dinka militia, the Mathiang Anyoor, according to the African Union’s 2015 Obasanjo report, was recruited by President Kiir and General Paul Malong, committed atrocities in Juba and elsewhere with the start of the war in December 2013 (it is believed 50,000 were killed in Juba).

Executive Vice President Assassination Attempt led by Juba

The SPLA Chief of General Staff, Paul Malong, was a central figure in the perpetuation and expansion of the war, including the conflict in greater Equatoria. After the fighting in Juba in July 2016, he oversaw the operation to hunt down 1st VP Machar and the SPLM/A-Opposition cadre and forces in Central Equatoria.

The extension of the war is a grave threat to neighboring countries. For example, after a long series of skirmishes at the 2016 war start between SPLA and SPLM/A in Opposition in Central and Western Equatoria after 1st VP Machar fled from Juba, he and some 750 soldiers and civilians entered the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Panel of Experts confirmed that, on 13 August, the Army launched an incursion into the Democratic Republic of the Congo. An estimated 800 to 900 South Sudan troops from Division VI crossed the border and engaged in a battle with SPLM/A-Opposition. On 17 August, two MI-24 helicopters also crossed the border, travelling nearly 6 km into Congolese territory and again attacking SPLM/A-Opposition positions. As the Panel noted in its report of September 2016 (S/2016/793), while the helicopters were under Malong’s direct command, it is unlikely that they were deployed without President Kiir’s full knowledge and approval given the gravity of an operation that encroached into the territory and airspace of another nation (November 2017  Panel of Experts Report)

In January 2017 the former U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan Donald Booth spoke to a USIP audience about his efforts to end violence in The Sudans. He noted emphatically the central role of President Kiir in the civil war that started in December 2013, adding Kiir’s removal of the National Cabinet and Vice President in July 2013 helped in sparking the war. Of serious note is Ambassador Booth’s comment about President Kiir’s hunger for power and his inability to accept differing viewpoints. The Envoy says:

So too was the eagerness of Salva Kiir to eliminate alterative points of view and consolidate his own power.


The is available at minute 9:36, here

In a speech to SPLM party members on 19 October 2016, President Kiir alluded to the predominantly Dinka character of his Army by asking rhetorically that, if “Nuers have left with Riek Machar and Equatorians have refused to join the army, how should I get other people to join the army?” He also railed against Equatorians, whom he blamed for instigating instability in an attempt to encourage United Nations’ intervention in the country and, saying “we will not just sit in Juba, we will go out”. President Kiir threatened go in the field to take personal command of the counter-insurgency campaign in Yei, Central Equatoria against the ‘Equatorian’ militia forces.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein expressed concern at the 19 October 2016 statement made by President Kiir, widely interpreted as ethnically driven. Around 100 staff members of several humanitarian organizations originally from the Equatoria region (members of the targeted ethnic group) had to be evacuated to safety.

On 16 August 2015, Kiir was quoted by media gathered at the airport in Juba as he was departing for peace talks in Ethiopia as saying “freedom of press does not mean that you work against your country. And if anybody among them [journalists] does not know this country has killed people, we will demonstrate it one day on them”. Four days later, a journalist, Peter Moi, was killed in Juba; the perpetrators remain unidentified. See, here


WHY THE END OF THE WAR SEEMS SO FAR AND PEACE SO ELUSIVE


The former Deputy Chief of General Staff for Logistics Lieutenant General Thomas Cirillo Swaka accused President Kiir of weakening the military by “tactically and systematically transform[ing] the Army into a partisan and tribal army”. He added that “it is a militia loyal only to its tribal leadership in the person of President Salva Kiir Mayardit and then Chief of General Staff Paul Malong Awan” who recruited them and that “it has truly become a tribal militia establishment”. See UN Panel of Experts Report (April 2017)

The path to peace is so challenging in South Sudan because the way is filled with obstacles placed in the way by President Salva Kiir. The UN Panel of Experts put the problem succinctly in its report:

Kiir’s co-optation of the Agreement by placing his proxies in most positions reserved for SPLM/A in Opposition members within the Transitional Government of National Unity has foreclosed a meaningful political and reconciliation process, further dividing the country along tribal lines, given that many non-Dinka communities — and Dinka alienated by the regime — see no viable forum to express political dissent, pursue reform or ensure their basic security. Provocative policy initiatives, such as Kiir’s order of October 2015 to increase the number of states from 10 to 28, proposed by the Jieng Council of Elders and supported and defended by political figures such as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Michael Makuei, are exacerbating these divisions.

If you wish to fix the problem, one must undo the damage the Obama Administration and its biased vassals Senator John Kerry, NSA Susan Rice and Ambassador Donald Booth did with the UN, AU and IGAD’s support. A recent investigation by the Associated Press (AP) reveals the West and African allies knew what was happening in South Sudan, atrocities like the 2016 ethnic cleansing in Yei, eastern Equatoria — but did nothing. The previous administration somehow preferred to have a barbaric dictator whose soldiers shoot at our ambassador/diplomats; gang-raped our American humanitarian workers; kill our journalist like 26-year-old Christopher Allen rather then seek a more conscientious leader. “UN, US failed to prevent ‘ethnic cleansing’ in South Sudan” – click for AP report here

Enough is enough, only drastic measures will persuade a war-crazed Army of undisciplined brutes. The Syrian example comes to mind. If generals/genocidal maniacs and supporters see strong action, that would change minds! But I leave the details to a U.S. President who does not play around with tyrants like Kiir and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un who are seeking a military cooperation as well, see S/2017/150 - Final report of the Panel of Experts, 27 February 2017 – p. 46.

South Sudan regime, your day of reckoning is coming…!



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