The Statistical Facts of Domination in Kiir’s New Government
By: Gordon Buay, RSS; AUG. 29/2011, SSN.
Part one: THE COMPOSITION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF
THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH SUDAN
(Announced on 26 August 2011)
No
State/Tribe
Number
Ministries
Minister
D/Minister
Total
1
Warrap
4
5
9
Cabinet Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Labour & Humanitarian Affairs
2
N. B. G
2
-
2
Commerce, Industry and Investment & Telecommunication
3
W.B.G
2
2
4
Health & Education
4
Lakes
2
2
4
Electricity and Dams & Irrigation
5
Unity
-
4
4
-
6
Jonglei
5
6
11
Defence, Justice, Parliamentary Affairs, Information & Roads and Bridges
7
Upper Nile
4
2
6
National Security, Higher Education, Petroleum & Wildlife.
8
C. Equatoria
5
3
8
President’s Office, Transport, Environment, Gender & Animal Resources
9
W. Equatoria
3
1
4
Interior, Finance & Housing
10
E. Equatoria
2
2
4
Agriculture & Culture
TOTAL
29
27
56
1.
Dinka
11
12
23(41%)
2.
Nuer
4
4
8 (14%)
3.
Shilluk
2
1
3
4.
Zande
2
1
3
5.
Bari
2
1
3
TOTAL
21 (72%)
19 (70%)
40(71%)
Part Two: STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE FACTS
>From the above table, the following facts are clear:
1. The government is huge! Many ministries would have been
combined together. For example, the Ministry of Electricity and Dams
was unnecessary. The electricity would have been part of the Ministry
of Energy and Mining (presently, Petroleum and Mining), and the dams
part of the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation. Also, the
Ministry of Environment would have included Forestry and Wildlife
Conservation. Again, Transport, Roads and Bridges should have been one
ministry.
2. At this initial stage, there was no need for Deputy Ministers.
If some were needed, it would have been TWO only; each in the
ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs.
3. The same faces are kept in the Cabinet; some maintain their
previous portfolios and some are moved to other ministries. Only a few
left the Cabinet altogether.
4. The discrepancy in allocating ministerial positions according
to States is unmistakeable. The highest getting 11 and the lowest only
2.
5. As there are discrepancies from State to State, the same is
true within regions. In Greater Upper Nile region, Jonglei got
ministerial positions more than the total for the other two States
combined! In Greater Equatoria, Central Equatoria got the same number
as the other two states combined. Whereas the number of ministerial
positions got by Warrap State is only less by one compared to
positions got by the other three States of Greater Bahr El Ghazal
combined (Lakes, Northern Bahr El Ghazal and Western Bahr El Ghazal).
This is amazing!
6. Two States got 5 ministers each (Jonglei and Central
Equatoria); two got 4 each (Warrap and Upper Nile); one got 3 (Western
Equatoria); Unity State has none and the remaining four States got two
ministers each.
7. It is inexplicable why the Unity State was not allocated a
Cabinet Minister.
8. The key ministries (Cabinet Affairs, Defence, Foreign Affairs,
Interior, Justice and Finance) went to only three of the ten States (
Warrap, Western Equatoria and Jonglei), each getting TWO ministries.
These are the same States which got the highest number of ministerial
positions (ministers and deputy ministers).
9. Although Central Equatoria got 5 ministries none of them is a
key ministry.
10. Jonglei came at the top getting 11 ministerial positions. However,
ten of them went to Nuers and Dinkas; 5 each. The Murle got a Deputy
Minister and none went to the Anuaks.
11. Although Warrap State came second by getting 9 ministerial
positions, this is misleading. Because the President hails from there,
as well as the Chief of Internal Security, the Chief Justice and the
Governor of the Central Bank.
12. In Upper Nile State, 4 ministerial positions are from the SPLM
(TWO ministers and a Deputy Minister went to the Shilluks and ONE to
the Dinkas). The SPLM never nominated anybody for a ministerial
position from the Nuers (Jikany) who form the majority population in
the State. Only the minister nominated by UDSF-M is a Nuer.
13. From the ethnic point of view, the following facts emerge: Five
(5) tribes only form 71% of the ministerial positions; of this the
Dinkas form 41% and the Nuers 14%. The Dinkas and the Nuers combined
form 55% (The Dinkas are almost three times more than the Nuers).
These facts show that it is a long way to inclusiveness.
14. Except for the Ministry of Justice, any key ministry not occupied
by a Dinka has a Deputy Minister from the Dinka tribe. The ministries
are: Defence, Interior and Finance.
Part Three: CONCLUSION
The people of South Sudan should not be fooled that the government
announced on August, 26, was a government of national unity as some
quarters would want us to believe. The facts above speak for
themselves and the conclusion is obvious; domination and
marginalization of the worst kind. Furthermore, what appears like a
semblance of regional balance in the allocation of key ministries is
deceptive if we look deep beyond the surface. It is a well calculated
move to take us for a ride. For those who are not aware of political
games behind the formation of the post-independent government, it is
important for them to know that it was designed at the residence of
Salva Mathok Gengdit on August, 23rd.
In the meeting at Salva Mathok’s residence, the military and
political elites of Warrap State agreed that Warrap would dominate the
government to protect itself from people who want to hijack their
leadership. They identified three enemies of Warrap’s leadership in
South Sudan. The first group of enemies is composed of non-Dinka; the
second group is political elites of Dinka Bor and the third group is
composed of Aweil’s political and military elites who are disappointed
with the way Aweil is marginalized under Salva Kiir’s regime.
The elites of Warrap identified Dinka Bor as the second group of
enemies of Salva Kiir`s regime. People can see that despite the
appointment of Michael Makwei Lueth, Majak Agot and Atem Yak, Dinka
Bor are marginalized in this new cabinet. The best educated Dinka Bor
are left out of this government because they cannot support the
continuation of corruption. One could argue that Dr. Majak Agot is
demoted to become the deputy minister as a way to keep him close
because the Warrap`s elites accused him long time ago of allegedly
having plans to overthrow Kiir`s government.
If qualification matters, Dr. Majak Agot could have been appointed as
a Minister of Finance given the fact that his PhD dissertation was on
banking. In terms of economic thinking, there is no comparison between
Dr. Majak Agot and Costi Manibe who is a theologian all his life.
One should not go far to realize the Warrap`s conspiracy against Dinka
Bor other than the removal of Elijah Malok Aleng, who was replaced by
Kornelio Koryom whom he once dismissed because of corruption. Most
importantly, Koryom is a retiree who retired from Sudan’s central Bank
in 2005. He was brought to South Sudan to become the Deputy of Elijah
Malok Aleng to facilitate corruption. He personally clashed with Malok
many times because he allegedly facilitated transactions which
violated rules of the Bank in order to embezzle the money of the
people of South Sudan.
Allegedly, most people in Juba know how corrupt Koryom is but he was
retained as the Chairman of South Sudan Bank to safeguard the
interests of Warrap`s elites. Salva Kiir does not want somebody other
than a Dinka from Warrap as the Chairman of the Bank in order to hide
corruption from public scrutiny. It is preferable if Elijah Malok
should have been the Chairman of the Bank of South Sudan because he is
a straightforward man who doesn’t like corruption just like most Bor
elites don't.
As we all know, all people of the South from different areas
contributed to the liberation of our country. However, it is fair to
conclude that Aweil’s contribution surpassed that of Warrap in terms
of population. Nobody could deny the sacrifice of the people of Warrap
in our liberation struggle. But the point here is that a place like
Aweil (Northern Bhar-el-Ghazal) cannot be represented by only two
ministers while Warrap has nine full and deputy ministers. This is an
insult to our intelligence and commonsense.
On the issue of handling the Equatorian, Nuer and Shilluk’s opposition
to Salva Kiir’s rule, Salva Mathok Gengdit came up with a brilliant
idea of how to deceive the world that there is a fair representation.
The Warrap’s elites decided to give the Minister of National Security
to Gen. Oyai Deng Ajak because he is the right person to deal with the
Shilluks.
As many people may remember, Gen. Oyai Deng was disappointed with
Shilluks after losing election in April, 2010. Soon after election, he
declared publicly that “the tanks will roll in the Shilluk land”
because they didn’t vote for him. It was reported by reliable sources
that after losing election, Oyai Deng Ajak allegedly persuaded his
friends in the SPLA army to punish the entire Shilluk Kingdom as he
promised. Indeed, not long after, the Shilluk Kingdom was on fire that
created untold suffering to the innocent population and all living
things in the Kingdom. As the head of National Security, his job would
be to arrest, on the basis of concocted “security reports”, any
Shilluk deemed as an opponent of Warrap’s regime. We all know the
first victims on his list.
On the case of Gen. John Kong Nyuon, he was brought to become the
Minister of Defence so that he will be used to fight the Nuer as he
did in 1980s when he fought Anyanya II, and Abdalla Chuol in
particular who hails from the same area as himself.
In the meeting at Salva Mathok’s residence, the Warrap’s elites agreed
that Lt. Gen. James Hoth Mai would be replaced by Lt. Gen. Pieng Deng
Majok as the Chief-of-Staff to consolidate Warrap’s dominance in the
army. In this scenario, John Kong Nyuon would be used as a rubber
stamp to fight the Nuer’s rebels in Unity, Jonglei and Upper Nile
states. His appointment, as Warrap’s elites strategized, would divide
the Nuer because John Kong is expected to neutralise Greater Fangak
Nuer to support Warrap’s government and fight the rest.
The people of Greater Upper Nile should be aware that the appointments
of both John Kong Nyuon and Oyay Deng Ajak is a Machiavellian
fulfilment of the Arab’s practice well known in the Sudan which states
that “Adhrub al Abid bil Abid”, that is, “fight a slave with a slave”.
On the appointment of Alison Magaya as a Minister of Interior, those
who are well-versed in politics know that he was appointed to be used.
As people should remember, Alison Magaya was part of the National
Islamic Front’s Military Council which staged a coup against a
democratically elected government in 1989. After the 1989 coup, the
NIF appointed him as the military Governor of Greater Equatoria and
was allegedly responsible for arming the LRA which is now devastating
Western Equatoria State. He remained a loyal member of NIF for 21
years when he declared in June, 2011 to have defected to the SPLM
simply because he was for the first time dropped from the NCP’s
Cabinet. He is not a man who will stay out of government position!
The Warrap’s elites are aware that Alison Magaya is a man of
self-interest and doesn’t care about the welfare of his people. He was
indeed appointed to be used against Equatorians for he wouldn’t care a
damn about land grabbing in Greater Equatoria. To be used effectively,
the Warrap’s elites decided to deputize him with Salva Mathok himself.
Based on the mindset of SPLM/A commanders, he could not have been
appointed as a Minister of Interior if Warrap’s elites were not
convinced that he was a good tool to use. There are many reasons for
them to conclude that way. As so many Equatorians are aware, Magaya is
a man who prefers his self-interest to the welfare of the nation.
As a member of NIF’s Military Command Council, he actively
participated in the meetings where policies to torture South Sudanese
were designed. In his current capacity as a Minister of Interior, he
will not have any problem to execute dirty policies of Salva Mathok
Gengdit to punish any Equatorian who dares to question land grabbing
by Warrap’s elites.
As to Kosti Manibe, he is just an errand boy who will do anything the
cabal tells him to do. Having lost the April 2010 elections to Dr
Richard K. Mulla, he owes a lot to the Gogrial elite. Therefore,
anybody who thinks there will be a change in the Ministry of Finance
is a day-dreamer.
Another thing the people of South Sudan should know is that the main
objective of forming the new government is to perpetuate corruption,
dictatorship and ethnic domination. To do that, the Warrap`s elites
utilized Machiavellian politics of aligning themselves with the devil.
One crucial example is the accommodation of NCP in the new cabinet.
Agnes Lukudu, who is the Deputy Chairperson of NCP Party in the South,
is given the Ministry of Transport because the NCP agreed to work with
SPLM to consolidate dictatorship in South Sudan. Seventeen South Sudan
political parties which rejected the interim transitional constitution
are not included in the new cabinet because they refused to exchange
the rights of the people of the South with positions.
The Warrap`s elites want parties which are submissive to SPLM`s
dictatorship and cannot question centralization and corruption taking
place in South Sudan.
If politics of principle were to govern Warrap`s elites, they couldn’t
have accommodated NCP in the new government. It is an insult to the
intelligence of the people of South Sudan that Salva Kiir could prefer
working with NCP to accommodating South Sudan parties whose loyalties
are towards the South. Agnes Lukudu voted for unity in January
referendum and she is now the darling of Salva Kiir Mayardit because
she agreed to serve a new master that replaced Omer Bashir.
With the accommodation of NCP in this government, the people of South
Sudan are convinced beyond reasonable doubt that Warrap`s elites are
bent towards forming a permanent dictatorship and corruption in South
Sudan.
To sum up, there is no doubt that this government announced on 26th
instant does not deviate from the former ones. Certainly, we have
replaced Arab’s domination by Warrap’s.
In addition, the Warrap`s elites under Salva Mathok have inherited the
colonial “divide-and-rule” policy which they are bent on applying with
rigour on any dissenting voice in the South. I hope I am wrong but I
fear I am right!
God save South Sudan.
The author is a former Secretary General of South Sudan Democratic
Front (SSDF). He can be reached at [email protected]
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