The article below is written in the form of a letter to President Salva Kiir Mayardit. The author represents a group of South Sudanese-Americans.
Dear Mr. President,
The episode of December 15, 2013 has brought up the question, which was lingering in everyone’s head and mind: whether the President of South Sudan is competent enough to make good judgment considering how he caused the December 15, 2013 catastrophe. Well, Mr. President your response to the current catastrophe proved beyond reasonable doubt that you are not competent enough to run the affairs of the country. Therefore, to give peace and unity a chance and to save lives of civilians especially those of the Dinka and Nuer communities, we are urging and requesting you to resign immediately for following reasons:
1. Mr. President, you lied under oath, which constitutes a violation of the South Sudan Transitional Constitution 2011, Article 99, which states clearly that a president must be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Republic of South Sudan and shall diligently and honestly discharge his/her duties with integrity, but because of your incompetence you created a fake coup in order to eliminate those who are aspiring for chairmanship of SPLM party in the upcoming Party convention.
2. Mr. President, you have already violated Article 53 sub-article (1), by failing to maintain peace and security in the country since July 9, 2011, which is the primary responsibility of the national government, rather on your watch many people were massacred by the SPLA forces, namely, the massacre of hundreds of civilians in Kaldak, Jonglei State on April 23rd 2011; the massacre of Murle civilians in 2012-2013, the massacre of Nuer civilians in Juba which was carried out by the Presidential Guard from December 15th-23rd 2013, in the name of a false coup.
3. Mr. President, you have already violated Article 103 sub-article 2 for high treason and gross violation of the constitution by inviting foreign forces in the country namely the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF); Republic of Sudan rebels such as SPLM/A North and Justice & Equality Movement (JEM) to exterminate the killing of certain ethnic groups in the country without the National Legislature’s approval, which again constitutes ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.
4. Mr. President, using banned cluster bombs and chemical weapons by your close coalition like Uganda UPDF against your own people who are opposing your one-man rule in the country is a clear infringement of human rights. The use of banned cluster bombs is a clear violation of international norms and constitutes a crime against humanity.
5. Mr. President, you failed to uphold your constitutional duty by delaying to carry out elections in Lakes, Unity, and Jonglei States after your illegal removal of elected state governors.
6. Mr. President, your constant tampering with Article 24 of the South Sudan Transitional Constitution 2011, which provides freedom of expression and media, is an obvious violation of the Nation Constitution.
7. Mr. President, holding in detention of your political opponents, namely Mr. Pagan Amum Okec, Mr. Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, Gen. Oyai Deng Ajak and Gen. Majak d’Agot without due process is a violation of the country’s constitution. This has shown your true intolerance and fear of transformation and democratization within the SPLM Political Party in particular and South Sudan in general. This is a clear violation of Article 19, sub-article 1, 2, which guarantee fair trail and equal protection before the law read together with Article 18, which states that “no person shall be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
8. Mr. President, Article 151 sub-article 33 states clearly that no person or persons shall raise any armed or paramilitary force in South Sudan except in accordance with the constitution and the law but you have recruited and raised over 3000 for your own presidential private army from your own clan, who carried out in December 2013 massacre of Nuers in Juba which was nothing to do with your counterfeit coup d’état.
9. Mr. President, you are in violation of Article 152 sub-article (c), by using the national armed forces to kill civilians in Juba.
10. Mr. President, you were unsuccessful to convene the national healing, reconciliation and peace conference for the people of South Sudan to come together. You have failed to organize the SPLM Party platforms and transformation. You have officially declared and dissolved the SPLM Political Party structures starting with Political Bureau (PB) and down to the 10 states and their 79 county party congresses. You have blocked to hold the National SPLM Convention to elect the party candidates for the upcoming 2015 Election.
Finally, Mr. President since you have been claiming that you are the elected president and you are fighting to protect the constitution, and for the sake of constitutionality, can you and your inner circle be honest enough to agree with us that the above-mentioned points are violations of South Sudan Transitional Constitution, and therefore your claiming of being elected president is no longer an issue any more, since you have decided to declare war on your own government unknowingly.
Thank you,
Pay Pathot
The author represents a group of South Sudanese-Americans based in Nebraska, USA.
File photo: The Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan, held aloft on Independence Day, 9 July 2011.
The views expressed in ‘Opinion’ articles published by Radio Tamazuj are solely those of the writer. The veracity of any claims made are the responsibility of the author, not Radio Tamazuj.