- Celebrations underway
The Kenya Red Alliance (KRA) congratulates the people of Southern Sudan following the declaration of the new Republic of Southern Sudan. After more than two decades of liberation war in which millions of Southern Sudanese and Northerners alike lost precious lives, and after ten years of an uncertain Peace accord following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the declaration of independence of Southern Sudan is a monumental achievement which deserves sincere congratulations from all people of good will across the world.
On behalf of members and supporters alike, KRA takes this opportunity to welcome the Republic of Southern Sudan to the world of independent nations and at a critical time when long established nations of the world are undergoing various forms of political, economic and social crises. In many cases, the challenges of national independence have been insurmountable and the new government of Southern Sudan is not entering the scene with any special advantages to cushion it from known crises that have bedeviled previous and new regimes especially in the African continent.
KRA takes this opportunity to warn the new Southern Sudanese government that the concept of independence is complicated and that in a myriad cases, independence and self rule have failed to translate into general progress and radical transformation of society due to political activities of external forces bent on promoting national foreign interests at the expense of the declared domestic agenda.
In many situations, declaration of independence (especially in Africa) was quickly followed by retrogressive developments that saw the rise of: neo-colonialism, bonapartist single party dictatorships, authoritarianism, internal exploitation, imperialist intervention in local politics and progressive re-colonization of the independent states by the imperialist West.
According to Jok Madut Jok, the development of infrastructure in Southern Sudan such as roads and electricity alone is expected to cost 20 billion USD. This is in sharp contrast to the annual revenue of the Southern Sudanese government which stands at 2 billion USD. The challenge that faces the new government is how it will address the critical issue of funding urgent infrastructure without entering into the “Western debt trap” engineered by leading imperialist financial institutions like IMF and World Bank.
Experience from many African countries show that a government that does not have a strategy for exploiting its own resources will easily be sucked into debt by the Western debt machine in a way that is known to make national economic independence impossible. KRA takes this opportunity to warn the new Southern Sudanese government to be weary of imperialist advances especially if such advances are designed to lure the new regime into surrendering fundamental controls of key sectors of the national economy in the sensitive area of human and natural resources.
The real fight is still ahead
Just like in many African countries, the new Southern Sudanese Republic is a conglomeration of different ethnic groups. The new State has a total of 67 different ethnic groups out of which rebellion has already been witnessed in 10 States.
From experiences in other African countries like Kenya with diverse ethnic identities, tribalism seems to thrive in the absence of political ideologies. Under the circumstances, the biggest challenge facing the new government of Southern Sudan is that of evolving or establishing an ideological base in national politics so that ethnic chauvinism is not allowed to fill the vacuum created by ideological bankruptcy.
The message is that without a viable ideology that surpasses ethnicity, the evolution and centralization of tribalism in national politics is inevitable. If tribalism is left to entrench itself in national politics, its eradication might prove difficult with the prospect of “ethnic wars” always looming on the horizon depending on the level of marginalization of the different ethnic groups. KRA hopes that the leadership of the new Southern Sudanese government will remain conscious about the negative potential of ethnic politics especially in the face of ideological bankruptcy.
Despite its novel status, KRA believes that Kenyans have a lot to learn from the new political processes that have and that will continue to be witnessed as the new African state struggles to take its place in the world of nations.
Through SPLA representatives at home and abroad who have been in close collaboration with KRA, our Alliance hopes to maintain a working relationship with the new Southern Sudanese government for the mutual benefit of both the people of Southern Sudan and the people of Kenya. KRA hopes that with the declaration of independence, the new government of Southern Sudan will now embark on the building and consolidation of key institutions especially those concerned with governance, the rule of law, democracy, social services, internal security and foreign relations.
As an Alliance seeking for the liberation of Kenya from neo-colonialism and imperialist domination, KRA will continue to watch events in Southern Sudan with keen interest. Once again, we say congratulations to the people of Southern Sudan. You have fought a good fight but the real fight to ultimate freedom still lies ahead.
Okoth Osewe
Secretary
Kenya Red Alliance (KRA)
About the Author
Congratulation for the people of South Sudan to achieve what they were asking for at last.Put God infront of you to guide in every movement and you will find yourself in happiness, but work hard. There is nothing which will not pass under the Sun. All will pass and you will forgive the passed but not to forget what you went through. God bless the people of South Sudan.
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/07/south_sudan_a_new_nation_rises.html
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/07/south-sudan-the-newest-nation-in-the-world/100103/