By John Simon Yokwe Keri
Nationalism and patriotism are both qualities that put national interests and objectives ahead of all other interests.
Like a true religious believer, he or she believes in God and God’s existence, and that is the fundamental belief—never change. The person must believe in God’s Will and do things according to God’s will. In the Book of Psalms 1:3, it describes such a person as a tree that is planted on the side of a river. Its leaves never dry, and it bears its fruits in season.
Nationalist, who is this?
The history of the South Sudan struggle dates from as early as 1947 at the Juba Conference when the South Sudanese were asked to send their representatives to the Assembly in Khartoum. This conference was not expected by Southerners; they just called them and asked them to send their representatives to Khartoum. South Sudan was treated as a close region, and the movement of northern traders was on passports. As if going to a different country, which was right because the governor in South Sudan was directed by British authority to attend the general governors’ conference of East Africa. So, 1920–1930 was the first close regional policy, 1931–1946 was to annex South Sudan to the East African Region, and 1947–1955 was to keep South Sudan as part of Sudan.
Those nationalists in the Juba Conference stood firm not to go to Khartoum to join that setoff assembly. Instead, they presented their petition to the Governor General of Sudan, saying that they Southerners should have their own autonomous government with their own assembly, with supervision from the British themselves, as South Sudan is backward in many things, such as administration, legislation, and the conduct of other political decisions, and that was actually the demand for a federal system of government.
Mr. Shingetti, by then a senior judge, put it clear and authoritatively: since Sudan will get independent, and of course, with the South as part of Sudan, the British want Southerners to go and solve their issues as Sudanese in the Assembly.
Most Southerners did not make it to Khartoum but worked for Plan B—the Anyanya movement, and their products are the Ministries Complex, including the National Assembly Building, J1, the President’s and Vice President’s Villas, the National Ministers’ Villas, the University of Juba, and many others.
Nationalism takes and reminds me of the beautiful and sounding strong and admirable words in the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan 2011 as Amended—the Preamble;
PREAMBLE
We, the people of South Sudan,
Grateful to the Almighty God for giving the people of South Sudan the wisdom and courage to determine their destiny and future through a free, transparent, and peaceful referendum in accordance with the provisions of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, 2005;
Recalling our long and heroic struggle for justice, freedom, equality, and dignity in South Sudan;
Remembering and inspired by the selfless sacrifices of our martyrs, heroes, and heroines;
Dedicated to a genuine national healing process and the building of trust and confidence in our society through dialogue,
Determined to lay the foundation for a united, peaceful, and prosperous society based on justice, equality, respect for human rights, and the rule of law;
Committed to establishing a decentralized democratic multi-party system of governance in which power shall be peacefully transferred and to upholding values of human dignity and equal rights and duties of men and women;
Conscious of the need to manage our natural resources sustainably and efficiently for the benefit of present and future generations and to eradicate poverty and attain the Millennium Development Goals.
I would like to go paragraph by paragraph and meditate and emphasize actionable words as nationalists to have done, should have done, or are waiting to be done. And let me code.
First Paragraph:
“We, the people of South Sudan,
Grateful to the Almighty God for giving the people of South Sudan the wisdom and courage to determine their destiny and future through a free, transparent, and peaceful referendum in accordance with the provisions of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, 2005;”
Article 55(1) of the TCSS 2011,
The National Legislature represents the will of the people of South Sudan and shall foster unity and nationhood, exercise legislative functions, oversee the Executive, and promote the decentralized system of government.
I coded this Constitutional Article because I am just interested in the point: “The National Legislature represents the will of the people of South Sudan.” I am one of them, and my will is represented and must be represented in such a manner as I am. No one is allowed to miss representing me in the National Assembly for his own interests and benefits—the way I saw honorable members fighting over cars—V8 2023, Prados, Hardtops—are you there for these? Where are the national interests?
We, the people of South Sudan, are really grateful to the Almighty God for giving us wisdom and courage.
God’s wisdom and courage are not like any human given; if we really think that the choice, we made was God’s wisdom and courage, then brothers and sisters, we are committing a serious crime against the Giver of wisdom and courage.
Showing gratitude to the Almighty is not the lifestyle we have today. Gratefulness to the Almighty is showing Him respect without borders; we shall not share His holiness with anyone else. Obedience to His words—the Bible.
The Almighty God gave us wisdom and courage to determine our destiny and future. What went wrong after independence—our destiny and future?
Tribalism, wars, wrestling for power, and selfish agreements lead South Sudan to be far away from the wisdom and courage of God.
Second Paragraph:
Recalling our long and heroic struggle for justice, freedom, equality, and dignity in South Sudan;
Is our long struggle as South Sudanese in many aspects from 1947 to 2011 and the blood of our martyrs and our heroes and heroines struggled to fulfill justice in South Sudan? Is there justice? Is there freedom? What kind of freedom? Is there equality among the people of South Sudan? Are we all treated the same, or are there others who are better than others? Are the people’s dignity the same? Others are superior, and others are inferior.
Third Paragraph:
Remembering and inspired by the selfless sacrifices of our martyrs, heroes, and heroines;
Question:
If and only if our martyrs, heroes, and heroines had known the country they died and lost their lives for, could they have chosen to die or lost their limbs?
Fourth Paragraph:
Dedicated to a genuine national healing process and the building of trust and confidence in our society through dialogue,
The national healing process that was done is like comedy; the selection of the members is done in a dramatic way, not reflecting the context of the program. Members of that national healing process should include conflicting individuals. What was the result in 2013 and 2016 and continues rebellions? Funny enough, the healers or moderators themselves are in conflict; although some are religious leaders, most South Sudanese are uncertain.
How, therefore, will a genuine national healing be done?
It was a process, from the national healing to the building of trust and confidence among my comrades.
I want to assure you that there is no trust between South Sudanese, as I am saying now. Check your offices, look at how South Sudanese are sitting, go out there, and look at those sitting under the trees in Juba, down town, Malakia, Mahatta Yei, Customs, etc. Look at who is in each group. People are sitting according to their tribe’s men. People are not open to each other from another region or even village.
South Sudan needs another national healing process and a serious and committed program of building trust and confidence among the people. This may require regular visits to Rwanda to see the mass graves and the pictures of the genocide.
Fifth Paragraph:
Determined to lay the foundation for a united, peaceful, and prosperous society based on justice, equality, respect for human rights, and the rule of law;
Determination is not a mere word; it is putting effort into that cost. A foundation is a base on which something is going to stand. Imagine you have a poor foundation. What will happen to the one who stands on it?
Have the foundations for the unity of the people of South Sudan been concreted? Can the South Sudanese feel this unity?
Is the foundation for a peaceful society concrete? Are our societies peaceful? Is it not a good idea to reaffirm the foundation of a peaceful society?
Prosperous society, where is this? My society is not.
All these foundations of unity, peacefulness, and prosperity are based on justice, equality, respect for human rights, and the rule of law. Waw!
It sounds very nice, and this is the South Sudan we, the people of South Sudan, want. Come on, Justice! Really? Oh, then bye-bye to corruption. How long does it take us to do these?
Not only that, but also based on equality, oh my God, all people will be the same with all rights: equality in services, equality in protection, equality before the law, etc.
Again, this foundation is based on respect for human rights. Who respects human rights? No more violations of another person’s rights, including the including the right to marry someone you love at the right age, not forced marriage. Right of settlement: if I want to settle in Bor, I am supposed to be provided services such as land and freedom from discrimination; I shall not get a job because I am from Bari, or because I am not from the Catholic faith, or because I am not so dark-skinned, or because I speak English like a British. No, no, no discrimination.
The Republic of South Sudan Transitional Constitution 2011, as amended in Part 2 of the Bill of Rights The nature of the Bill of Rights