Marriage or intelligence failure?: A case for our president’s daughter. By John Bith Aliap.
Before I can go any further in analysing the marriage of our president’s daughter to an Ethiopian man, I would like to make myself clear to those who may view this opinion piece as an attack on the personal life of our president as has been the case, resulting in the arrest of journalists most recently. The republic of South Sudan is a signatory to the United Nations and has every right to uphold its pledge to the international community in which it is a member state. Freedom of speech is one of the basic fundamental human rights in a democratic system, and I believe that the republic of South Sudan is a democratic country whose citizens should be permitted to express their opinions in public matters without fear of retribution. The republic of South Sudan in this respect is no exception in upholding international fundamental human rights. Freedom of expression and freedom of speech are basic human rights principles that country’s such as the republic of South Sudan is obliged under international law. These principles should inform the basis of our national law to protect all South Sudanese citizens and allow them to express themselves freely. Article 9 (2) of the republic of South Sudan constitution allows me as a citizen of the republic of South Sudan to express my opinion without being hindered. This article states that ‘the rights and freedoms of individuals and groups enshrined in this bill shall be respected, upheld and promoted by all organs and agencies of government and by all persons’. Returning to the point of discussion, many South Sudanese citizens including those that remain in South Sudan prison facilities have written considerably about our president’s daughter marriage to an Ethiopian man using different perspectives. However, I would like to examine this issue from an intelligence perspective where the current and future security of South Sudan’s borders is compromised. Historically, our fifty-year-war with the Arab nation of Northern Sudan has left us to question any body whose background can be seen or understood as similar to our former foes the northern Arabs. The purpose of intelligence is to assist those in decision making through an intelligence projection that might suggest change to bring about a better future and avoid potential dangers (quoted from William, 1981). This definition of intelligence informs us as South Sudanese that our intelligence community needs to be diligent in its role as the eyes and ears of the nation. Our esteemed president himself comes from an intelligence field background; this is a field where a great deal of emphasis is placed on reducing uncertainty. It is somewhat disheartening to accept as people of South Sudan that intelligence failure may be inevitable. In most cases as many of us have seen in the past and in our present time, intelligence failures can result in unimaginable, untold human suffering. The South Sudanese president’s daughter marriage to an Ethiopian man has recently become a major topic of debate in South Sudan that in turn resulted in quite a number of people being arrested by the security agents. Although discussion of our president’s daughter marriage has risked the liberty of individuals’ personal lives, concerned South Sudanese Citizens such as myself can prepare to face the consequences associated with the debate on this topic. As a patriotic South Sudanese citizen, I am most concerned for the safety and protection of the president. According to intelligence theory, the notion of lying outside and telling the truth inside may apply in this situation. It is plausible to propose that we do not know the strategies or tactics of the enemies of the republic of South Sudan. These enemies can make last hour strategies disguised in our sacred traditional marriage in order to dismantle the government of South Sudan and its people into disarray. Foreigners have now made their way up to the presidential palace. According to my view, this provides the imminent possibility of South Sudan’s intelligence secrets being leaked either now or in the future. An intelligence failure in the country can result from cases similar to our president’s daughter being married to a foreigner whose background remains a mystery. The republic of South Sudan national security is an issue that can not be compromised over anything, and South Sudanese citizens have a significant role to ensure that South Sudan intelligence secrets are maintained without being leaked. In the case of the current premise of the president’s daughter wedding to an alien man, South Sudanese citizens are urged to voice their concerns respectfully to their chosen leader and question the rationale of this significant marriage. Surely, this marriage might have been imposed on our president by his daughter. But according to Dinka marriage arrangements and responsibilities, as a Dinka myself, the president may have escaped criticism if he had delegated his brother to govern the marriage procedures. The question now remains as to whether this marriage will continue to be a thorn in the side of the president, a source of pain and mistrust. In conclusion, I must reiterate that my opinion is informed upon two key concerns. Primarily, the president’s safety is our national concern that cannot be compromised by any citizen of South Sudan inclusive of his own family members. Individuals such as the author of this work have a significant role to play whether in our homeland or abroad when it comes to the security of our president. Secondly, the national security of South Sudan especially the retention of intelligence information is of critical value given the challenges our newly born nation has faced throughout its history, and perhaps continue to face currently and in the future. Our security agents must double their efforts to ensure that citizens of South Sudan, including the president and his extended family are adequately protected. The author of this work is a concerned South Sudanese citizen and can be corresponded at [email protected] COMMENTS, PLEASE CLICK HERE Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author(s) and do not represent those of the website. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. 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