“The sacrifices are justifiedâ€
AS Vice president of Southern Sudan, Dr. Riek Machar Teny is at the centre of nurturing the world’s newest nation. <i>Frederick Womakuyu</i>, caught up with him on what their priorities shall be.
AS Vice president of Southern Sudan, Dr. Riek Machar Teny is at the centre of nurturing the world’s newest nation. Frederick Womakuyu, caught up with him on what their priorities shall be.
Who is Dr. Riek Machar?
I joined the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in 1983 and we have been fighting to change the injustices in the Sudan. I have a degree from the University of Khartoum, a Masters from Straskalite University in Glasgow, Scotland, and a PhD from the Bradford University in the UK. My background is in engineering.
In SPLA, I am a Lt. General and I have been a field commander for a long time. I was born in Leer, Unity State, Upper Nile in 1952. I’m married, with children.
What are some of the most memorable events you recall about the struggle?
A lot. The long walks, battles, the misery the people have gone through, the hunger, the disease that killed our people.
Those difficulties are things that one will never forget but strengthen our resolve to go forward. I was the commander in the upper Nile region and I came face to face with El Omar Bashir. He was the army commander on the side of government in Upper Nile.
We fought bitter battles and now, we recall those incidents when we fought each other but also what made us resolve to have peace.
In 1997, during the split of SPLA, I signed an agreement with him which was to give southern Sudan the exercise of self-determination through a referendum which would move the whole of Sudan to a democratic one. It never happened. I went back to the bush three years later and re-united with the SPLM. We signed the 2005 Navaisha peace talks under the leadership of Dr. John Garang.
How does it feel like, now that you have been given a chance to choose your destiny?
I felt relieved the day I voted. This war has come to an end through the exercise of right of self determination in a referendum. I felt relieved that all the sacrifices we made in terms of lives, resources, the backwardness our people had been subjected to for decades have all been justified. We have lost very dear people, our people have been denied education, health services and development.
With the referendum, do you think you have achieved what you fought for?
We hope we shall establish a democratic state with good governance where justice prevails, where equality is the norm of the day and a state where power moves from one to another through democratic means.
What are the urgent issues to be addressed?
The aspirations of the people are high. The oil, which is the pride of the Sudan is in the south. The people will want us to turn Southern Sudan within a very short time into a developed country.
The state of our roads, schools, health services, agriculture is backward so we need to address them immediately. I believe we shall have a good start because we have the resources. But Government alone does not do things. We will invite foreign direct investment and the private sector to invest, so that we can catch up.
A lot of attention is focused on the natural resources especially oil, which, globally has caused insecurity. How will Southern Sudan prevent this?
Oil became one of the problems during the war. We had wanted to stop its production during the war because we wanted its exploration and production to be done during the peaceful time. However, the government continued.
The oil will give us a good start to develop. As for its management, our laws involve the communities where oil is produced. The state is decentralised like a federal system. A state where oil is produced is given a percentage and the rest is evenly distributed to the non-producing states. We hope, using the oil revenues, we shall build agro-based industries. We have vast land for agriculture. We are also pastoralists, we keep over 10 million livestock.
Does Southern Sudan have infrastructure and technical people to work in oil?
Most of the infrastructure is in the north such as processing, pipeline and export facilities. This will continue and we shall use it as a basis for cooperation between us as we build our own infrastructure, particularly a refinery and petro-chemical industries. As for the technical know-how, we shall still make use of those available.Most of the people are from foreign oil companies who have employed a big number of northern Sudanese. We shall continue employing those as we build our own technical capacity. We are already training 85 university graduates in the management of oil.
You are likely to have a transitional government. How long will the government last?
We have a road map where, first, we shall have a constitutional review commission. They are to review the national and Southern Sudan constitutions to come up with a transitional constitution which we will use to take our people through the transition. The political parties in the constitutional conference will then decide on the length of the transition. The transitional Government will be under his excellency, President Salva Kiir.
How is the new nation going to address the issue of gender balance?
Our constitution says that at least 25% of all public positions must be held by women, whether at the level of Southern Sudan or at the level of state service. And this time, we are going for 30%. We shall make girl education compulsory.
You talked of elections after the transitional period. Do you plan to contest for presidency in the new nation?
I am a member of SPLM. If they decide I am the one, I will leave it like that.
At one time you split SPLM. What led to the split?
Three reasons. We wanted the right of self-determination for the people of Southern Sudan. We also called for a democratic SPLM and respect of human rights. When we resolved these issues, we re-united and these became the focus of SPLM.
What is your stand on leaders who overstay in power?
Overstaying in power beyond two terms prevents new ideas. Changing leaders improves governance and democratic systems. I am a supporter of term limits and the maximum should be two and then the reign is taken over by another.
You have been a peace negotiator in the conflict involving the rebel Lords Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda. Will we have long lasting peace?
On behalf of the Government and my president, I was the chief mediator in the peace talks between the LRA and the Ugandan Government. We managed to strike a deal with the LRA but Joseph Kony backed off in the last minutes.
He wanted assurances that he would not be prosecuted by the ICC, of which we could not give. However, we incorporated in the agreement articles which would make it possible for him to go back to Uganda and, for cases on which he is wanted in the Hague to be dealt with a special division of Ugandan High Court. That peace agreement requested there should be accountability.
I think there is need to evaluate Operation Thunder, launched in December 2008, if it will conclude the Kony ‘s rebellion. My president has given me a letter which was written to him by people who think they speak on behalf of Kony. They want the re-activating of the peace talks with the Ugandan government. I think it is time for the Ugandan government to re-evaluate the military operations being conducted in Southern Sudan, western equatorial, western Barhel Ghazel and northeast DR Congo and Central Africa so that we can find the way forward together.
Ethiopia accepted Eritrea to secede. However after a few years, they went to war. Do you think the next war will be over boundaries? Do you also think the Abyei issue may threaten peace?
For Uganda and Southern Sudan border disputes, they have been solved peacefully. With the North Sudan, or North – South borders, there are disagreements over seven areas we think we should resolve peacefully. We do not want to make hard borders, there are a lot of interdependencies between us and the north.
There are over 15 roads linking Southern Sudan and North Sudan and our border is over 2,000 kilometres. We cannot afford to have conflict across the borders.
As for the Abyei borders, these were determined by the permanent court of arbitration in the Hague.
Some Ugandans claim they are harassed by security forces and ordinary people of Southern Sudan. Is this true?
After the establishment of the government, there was an influx from traders and employment seekers from our neighbours.
There are incidences of harassment which happened but we have been training our security forces and are confident they will stop it. We shall resolve most of the problems because there are frequent meetings between the ministry of foreign affairs and the authorities in Uganda to resolve them. I welcome our neighbours to Southern Sudan, they are contributing to our economy and the economies of the countries they come from.
In the past, you craved to join the East African Community. Are you planning to join now?
We have not yet discussed it but we now have agreements of cooperation with Uganda and Kenya. We are studying the East African Community so we can see what can benefit us. If it becomes a decision to join, it will be taken by government.
Briefly give an account of how the struggle went?
There were many issues that our people wanted. The issue we were making to the people was liberation. Some thought we were dreaming but the fruits are being realised.
Actually, I thank all our people. They supported us throughout the difficult times. People contributed to this struggle, with food, information, their children and also sheltered our army when we were very small.
Tell us about your family life.
I have a wife and children. When we started the struggle, our family was small. I left them in London and had no money to give them. It was difficult.
Who is Dr. Riek Machar?
I joined the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in 1983 and we have been fighting to change the injustices in the Sudan. I have a degree from the University of Khartoum, a Masters from Straskalite University in Glasgow, Scotland, and a PhD from the Bradford University in the UK. My background is in engineering.
In SPLA, I am a Lt. General and I have been a field commander for a long time. I was born in Leer, Unity State, Upper Nile in 1952. I’m married, with children.
What are some of the most memorable events you recall about the struggle?
A lot. The long walks, battles, the misery the people have gone through, the hunger, the disease that killed our people.
Those difficulties are things that one will never forget but strengthen our resolve to go forward. I was the commander in the upper Nile region and I came face to face with El Omar Bashir. He was the army commander on the side of government in Upper Nile.
We fought bitter battles and now, we recall those incidents when we fought each other but also what made us resolve to have peace.
In 1997, during the split of SPLA, I signed an agreement with him which was to give southern Sudan the exercise of self-determination through a referendum which would move the whole of Sudan to a democratic one. It never happened. I went back to the bush three years later and re-united with the SPLM. We signed the 2005 Navaisha peace talks under the leadership of Dr. John Garang.
How does it feel like, now that you have been given a chance to choose your destiny?
I felt relieved the day I voted. This war has come to an end through the exercise of right of self determination in a referendum. I felt relieved that all the sacrifices we made in terms of lives, resources, the backwardness our people had been subjected to for decades have all been justified. We have lost very dear people, our people have been denied education, health services and development.
With the referendum, do you think you have achieved what you fought for?
We hope we shall establish a democratic state with good governance where justice prevails, where equality is the norm of the day and a state where power moves from one to another through democratic means.
What are the urgent issues to be addressed?
The aspirations of the people are high. The oil, which is the pride of the Sudan is in the south. The people will want us to turn Southern Sudan within a very short time into a developed country.
The state of our roads, schools, health services, agriculture is backward so we need to address them immediately. I believe we shall have a good start because we have the resources. But Government alone does not do things. We will invite foreign direct investment and the private sector to invest, so that we can catch up.
A lot of attention is focused on the natural resources especially oil, which, globally has caused insecurity. How will Southern Sudan prevent this?
Oil became one of the problems during the war. We had wanted to stop its production during the war because we wanted its exploration and production to be done during the peaceful time. However, the government continued.
The oil will give us a good start to develop. As for its management, our laws involve the communities where oil is produced. The state is decentralised like a federal system. A state where oil is produced is given a percentage and the rest is evenly distributed to the non-producing states. We hope, using the oil revenues, we shall build agro-based industries. We have vast land for agriculture. We are also pastoralists, we keep over 10 million livestock.
Does Southern Sudan have infrastructure and technical people to work in oil?
Most of the infrastructure is in the north such as processing, pipeline and export facilities. This will continue and we shall use it as a basis for cooperation between us as we build our own infrastructure, particularly a refinery and petro-chemical industries. As for the technical know-how, we shall still make use of those available.Most of the people are from foreign oil companies who have employed a big number of northern Sudanese. We shall continue employing those as we build our own technical capacity. We are already training 85 university graduates in the management of oil.
You are likely to have a transitional government. How long will the government last?
We have a road map where, first, we shall have a constitutional review commission. They are to review the national and Southern Sudan constitutions to come up with a transitional constitution which we will use to take our people through the transition. The political parties in the constitutional conference will then decide on the length of the transition. The transitional Government will be under his excellency, President Salva Kiir.
How is the new nation going to address the issue of gender balance?
Our constitution says that at least 25% of all public positions must be held by women, whether at the level of Southern Sudan or at the level of state service. And this time, we are going for 30%. We shall make girl education compulsory.
You talked of elections after the transitional period. Do you plan to contest for presidency in the new nation?
I am a member of SPLM. If they decide I am the one, I will leave it like that.
At one time you split SPLM. What led to the split?
Three reasons. We wanted the right of self-determination for the people of Southern Sudan. We also called for a democratic SPLM and respect of human rights. When we resolved these issues, we re-united and these became the focus of SPLM.
What is your stand on leaders who overstay in power?
Overstaying in power beyond two terms prevents new ideas. Changing leaders improves governance and democratic systems. I am a supporter of term limits and the maximum should be two and then the reign is taken over by another.
You have been a peace negotiator in the conflict involving the rebel Lords Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda. Will we have long lasting peace?
On behalf of the Government and my president, I was the chief mediator in the peace talks between the LRA and the Ugandan Government. We managed to strike a deal with the LRA but Joseph Kony backed off in the last minutes.
He wanted assurances that he would not be prosecuted by the ICC, of which we could not give. However, we incorporated in the agreement articles which would make it possible for him to go back to Uganda and, for cases on which he is wanted in the Hague to be dealt with a special division of Ugandan High Court. That peace agreement requested there should be accountability.
I think there is need to evaluate Operation Thunder, launched in December 2008, if it will conclude the Kony ‘s rebellion. My president has given me a letter which was written to him by people who think they speak on behalf of Kony. They want the re-activating of the peace talks with the Ugandan government. I think it is time for the Ugandan government to re-evaluate the military operations being conducted in Southern Sudan, western equatorial, western Barhel Ghazel and northeast DR Congo and Central Africa so that we can find the way forward together.
Ethiopia accepted Eritrea to secede. However after a few years, they went to war. Do you think the next war will be over boundaries? Do you also think the Abyei issue may threaten peace?
For Uganda and Southern Sudan border disputes, they have been solved peacefully. With the North Sudan, or North – South borders, there are disagreements over seven areas we think we should resolve peacefully. We do not want to make hard borders, there are a lot of interdependencies between us and the north.
There are over 15 roads linking Southern Sudan and North Sudan and our border is over 2,000 kilometres. We cannot afford to have conflict across the borders.
As for the Abyei borders, these were determined by the permanent court of arbitration in the Hague.
Some Ugandans claim they are harassed by security forces and ordinary people of Southern Sudan. Is this true?
After the establishment of the government, there was an influx from traders and employment seekers from our neighbours.
There are incidences of harassment which happened but we have been training our security forces and are confident they will stop it. We shall resolve most of the problems because there are frequent meetings between the ministry of foreign affairs and the authorities in Uganda to resolve them. I welcome our neighbours to Southern Sudan, they are contributing to our economy and the economies of the countries they come from.
In the past, you craved to join the East African Community. Are you planning to join now?
We have not yet discussed it but we now have agreements of cooperation with Uganda and Kenya. We are studying the East African Community so we can see what can benefit us. If it becomes a decision to join, it will be taken by government.
Briefly give an account of how the struggle went?
There were many issues that our people wanted. The issue we were making to the people was liberation. Some thought we were dreaming but the fruits are being realised.
Actually, I thank all our people. They supported us throughout the difficult times. People contributed to this struggle, with food, information, their children and also sheltered our army when we were very small.
Tell us about your family life.
I have a wife and children. When we started the struggle, our family was small. I left them in London and had no money to give them. It was difficult.