Political Struggle in the Republic of South Sudan (RoSS) (1-3)

Introduction

The nature of political life in the RoSS is a dependent variable of many independent variables such as tribalism; social and economic development and some cultural ones. It is also discernible that, the polity; politics; and policies in the RoSS are very raw and sore at the same time to the extent that, an objective political bystander would be puzzled as to how the peoples of the nascent RoSS carry on with such chaotic fashion of governance.
It is for example commonplace to see a package of tribal, personal, group, and ethnic shenanigans being presented as national political programmes and forced on others to accept without proper debate. This in fact curtail any notion of constructive political participation in the running of the affairs of the RoSS by all interested social, cultural, political and linguistic groups in the RoSS. It is also discernible that, the reason why the current political rulers of the RoSS get away with political murder as it were; is due to the fact that; the populace is extremely socially underdeveloped to the extent that; they lack individual and group capacities to interrogate the various political paradigms that inform positive political participation or political evaluation of their rulers.

Critical survey of the political and other landscapes in the RoSS indicate that; the peoples therein; are sitting on myriads of volcanoes that are bound to explode any moment with catastrophic consequences for the RoSS; as land and human persons. It is also discernible that; the explosive atoms of these volcanoes are housed in multiples of variables that mostly originate from within the RoSS. It is also obvious that; it is only the people of the RoSS, represented in their various political parties, and other socio-cultural groups and institutions that have the capacity to create and nurture instruments for gradual release of the dangerous political lava in these threatening political volcanoes in the RoSS; via socio-political safety valves that can only be controlled by the peoples therein.

Therefore, these types of mechanism/instruments for control can only be produced via genuine processes of political dialogue, whereby, the peoples of the RoSS open up their minds and hearts; while controlling their varied emotions, to openly discuss the issues and identify the pillars/foundations of comprehensive instability in the RoSS, and an instability that has started in earnest as can be seen on various grounds in the RoSS. Therefore; the notion and practice of political dialogue is the only surest and safest fashion of bringing together the peoples of the RoSS, into a functional solid human society that can achieve positive socio-economic and political targets, while existing in harmony with themselves in the RoSS.

When one looks around oneself in the RoSS, one discovers that,  the peoples therein as political parties and such like, are very busy pulling the abstract ropes of the so-called united peoples of the RoSS in various antagonistic opposite socio-political and economic/financial directions to the extent that, an objective socio-political and economic/financial bystander can easily see that, the people pulling these ropes have no any semblance of a united purpose; let alone a purpose for a united existence as a functional human society. On this premise alone, one can strongly argue that; there is a need to identify the variables of a united purpose and which variables can then inform the foundations of democracy, whatever that means at this juncture in the RoSS.

Therefore; what are the variants of purposes that have common ingredients that have synergies for linkages as regards the various socio-cultural and political groups in the RoSS? One would suppose that; these purposes ought to be those purposes in which all socio-cultural groups in the RoSS can identify with, and which they can claim ownership of, and for which they can sacrifice their various values and values' systems, for their realisation. If these propositions are lacking in the purported purposes within the RoSS, then it is just impossible to speak about unity of purpose.

ROSS

The unity in the purposes emanate from the commonality of purposes which are supposed to be saturated in reciprocity as between the peoples of the RoSS. However, if the purposes meant here are those purposes which are premised on values of segregation and discrimination whatever the procedures for these segregations and discriminations are, then; the RoSS is doomed.

The Concept and Practice of Social Development

(a) The Concept of Social Development

The concept of social development (CSD) is a multidimensional notion which includes legal; political; moral; philosophical; logical/pragmatic; human; religious; and psychological dimensions. The main focus of the CSD is the human person (HP)(the HP hereinafter means both a man and a woman; and the use of "he" throughout this paper shall mean both a man and a woman) who is the basic unit of analyses, and in terms of whom all indices of the CSD are developed, monitored, measured, compared, and evaluated.

The various said indices carry the aggregate impacts of the various dimensions mentioned above, and the synergies of these dimensions in the HP produce various characteristics that can be used to rank the said HP, and the society he lives in, and which society is the aggregate of the individual HP. Therefore, the sum total of characteristics as per the dimensions mentioned above reflects the society in question, and the total outlook of such a society. This simple argument is applicable on the people of the RoSS.

This being the case, the total outlook of the human society in the RoSS is the aggregate of individual characteristics of the peoples therein, and various units of the dimensions mentioned above, found in these peoples, indicate what kind of individuals they are in the RoSS, and how they relate to themselves politically for example. Therefore, the CSD is premised on the foundation that, the HP is the catalyst, the dynamo, and determiner of various occurrences in the RoSS. The HP must therefore be perfected so that, he benefits from himself; and at the same time; he makes others to benefit from his acts and omissions. This therefore means that; if the various acts and omissions of such a HP are generally negative; it follows that neither him nor others are better-off relative to his acts and omissions.

The perfection of the HP for the purposes of being a positively functional member of human society in the RoSS means that; such a HP ought to carry in him those values that promote the existence and sustenance of a functionally positive human society. It also means that, such a HP ought to be able to be relied upon vis-à-vis society as a whole and the members of such a society. It also means that, such a HP shall be able to effectively; efficaciously; honestly; transparently; and responsibly manage various assets and various societal endowments, for the purposes of universal societal harmony, and positive general societal progress.


(b) The Practice of Social Development

Kiir

The practice of social development (PSD) entails the operationalisation or the putting into operation all the dimensions mentioned above, so that, the entire positive values in them are imparted onto the HP throughout the households in society and in the RoSS for that matter. The putting into practice of such value systems means the availability of viable political institutions and human resources to carry out the daunting task within the remit of the PSD.  The main evils that the PSD endeavour to overcome are morbidity; illiteracy; innumeracy; superstitions; laziness; recklessness/carelessness; racism; tribalism; fanaticism; intolerance; unreasonableness; corruption; greed; dishonesty; aggression/aggressiveness;  and all types of deviant conducts. This by no means is an exhaustive list of issues that need to be interrogated within the remit of PSD. This list is just a working list for the purposes of this paper only.

Any society that does not pay attention to all of the above issues and other issues not covered by this paper exposes itself to dangers of becoming a politically dysfunctional society on the verge of collapse. Such dangers of social collapse can also be considered as potential elements of comprehensive disintegration of the RoSS (CDRoSS). The CDRoSS can also be considered as a multi-dimensional process within the remit of PSD; however; one thinks that, the majority of the peoples in the RoSS appear to be either oblivious to, or just plainly naïve about it.

For example, it can be strongly argued that; the collective inherent inability, to self correct; in the RoSS as regards all apparent mistakes that are ruining the many life chances of many peoples in the RoSS, is the main and sole factor that shall destroy the land and peoples of the RoSS. This inability/unwillingness to self-correct is due to disabling absence of nuances of social development in the RoSS. It appears that; the various levels of governance in the RoSS are not imbued with such nuances of social development and as a result; they find it very difficult to produce practicable political programmes that can be translated into projects for amicable political participation by all in the RoSS.

For example, the ubiquitous inability in the RoSS whereby, the peoples there find it extremely difficult if not offensive to accept ownership of mistakes, in order to discover the causes of such mistakes, so that reforms are made via corrective measures for perfecting the system, is the Achilles heel in the political governance of the RoSS.   It is extremely counterproductive for the peoples of the RoSS; as a people and economy to always blame some exogenous and amorphous enemies; for their appalling political performances; and equally for their appalling standard of living in the RoSS.

South Sudan Peoples

On the other hand, the appalling state of political affairs in the RoSS has convinced many national and international observers that; the RoSS as peoples and land is heading for a definite catastrophe; unless some unforeseeable political miracle happens quickly. Unfortunately, there is no going to be some political miracle happening, and the peoples of the RoSS must take control of their lives and reshape these lives towards some general positive directions. The suffocating political difficulties in the RoSS is generally because, the level of social development in the RoSS is extremely low to the extent that; many peoples therein do not have the ability to question those charged with the responsibility of managing society in the RoSS. Issues of illiteracy; innumeracy; tribalism and such like come into play here.

On the other hand, due to extremely low levels of social development, the peoples of the RoSS are fighting themselves to extinction via this senseless and rather primitive tribal warfare; which is kept alive by primitive socio-cultural notions of bravery; and the lust for political robbery; within the psychic of some of the peoples in the RoSS. All these brutal killing episodes are recurring due to the fact that, in the RoSS, there is a comprehensive absence of social development, and the human persons therein, are left to exist in state of nature, and therefore, their political expectations of a decent and harmonious co-existence is like building castles in the air unless all of them come together in political good faith and for the good of themselves; and then change many of evil political variables that sustain and fuel these negative units of social values, that shall always politically destroy the RoSS.



The ubiquitous absence of social development has in fact, turned the RoSS into one massive infrastructure for socio-cultural and political instability, as opposed to stability, and this has invariably undermined the very fundamental prerequisite for a positively and harmoniously developing the RoSS, and which the peoples therein  deserve. Socio-cultural and political tranquility saturated in refined civility, and which is the outcome of social development, is almost nonexistent in the psychics of many political actors and rulers in the RoSS due to the fact that, the political socialisation templates on which the peoples of the RoSS depended, are negatively so stratified and dissimilar to the extent that; the production of a common socio-cultural and political denominator, for the evolution of a politically functional society in the RoSS is becoming an insurmountable task, unless; the thinkers and rulers of the peoples of the RoSS become genuinely concerned for the present and future of their sons and daughters and posterity, and then start to think selflessly; to positively mould socio-cultural and political  infrastructures in order to build socio-cultural and political formations that can sustain the type of human society that they yearn for, and which in fact the peoples of the RoSS deserve.