A leading member of South Sudan’s ruling party has spoken out against unnamed party hardliners who have not accepted peace, urging them to examine their hearts and consider the suffering of their people.
Daniel Awet Akot, SPLM Political Bureau member and former Lakes state governor, spoke on Friday at SPLM House at a function organized for the swearing-in of a new deputy secretary-general.
The veteran politician spoke forcefully if somewhat cryptically during his speech, stressing that the government has signed peace while accusing unnamed members of not accepting “peace in your hearts”. He was speaking in the presence of party secretariat members, National Liberation Council members, presidency officials, the party chairman and deputy chairman, among others.
“We must know that there are problems in the SPLM, very big problems: power struggle, mistrust, and again, those who are still carrying out the policies of the former government in Khartoum. This divisive way was not the policy of the SPLM when we were struggling. We were always one. And this spirit has harmed the party,” he said.
Awet continued: “And I need you all… to focus on what is in our heart and our mind and the suffering of our people. We know they have suffered a lot during the past wars. Why are we not learning from all these mistakes?”
“We have the peace in our hands. Is the peace in your hearts? Is it in your heart the peace we have been longing, and we have signed it?”
Although the veteran politician did not identify those whom he said have not accepted this peace, he implied that some members of his audience were among them.
“Is it in your heart, is it in your feeling, that our people will continue to suffer? Why for? Why for? Most of the people know this and still we are repeating the mistake of mistrust.”
‘You should not hate others’
Awet went on to question whether all of the party leaders are true to the principles for which the party stands for: “Many people come and say ‘I am SPLM’. But inside there they are not really SPLM. Wearing different clothes inside there.”
The former governor pointed out that opposition politicians are supposed to return to Juba as part of the recently signed peace agreement. He said that Jemma Nunu Kumba will remain acting as deputy secretary-general “until our brothers [in SPLM-G10 and SPLM-IO] come here. And I think they need to come. They should come with a white heart, not a black heart.”
In concluding remarks, Awet called for more trust and called on members to examine their conscience. “It is written in the Bible: trust and obey. And what is trust? Trust and obey. You trust yourself first that I am a Southerner, I must work something that will save the Southerners. If you have that, to have confidence in yourself, you should not hate others.”
He asked members of the audience to consult “a quiet space in you,” stressing, “please know that the suffering of our people is the first for you to deal with.”
Daniel Awet holds no cabinet position but within the party he is formally senior to some cabinet members who are not Political Bureau members, for example, Michael Makuei Lueth and Barnaba Marial Benjamin. He has also served as deputy speaker of the national assembly.
File photo/Eye Radio
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