Lessons from New Nations?

We are currently inundated with news about the troubles in South Sudan, a country we are now accustomed to referring to as the world newest nation.

So the first point to remember is that South Sudan was born a long time ago.

The moment a rebellion began in the hearts of a few generals almost thirty years ago, South Sudan came into existence. So one of the most important things to realize is that you cannot separate the nation from the people's libration army (SPLA). You could argue that Uganda is faced with the same dilemma. It's resistance movement now in power for over 25 years, wins a significant part of the war and therefore writes the history and defines the narrative.

Any movement if given enough time to exist can make it seem that no others have ever existed. So Uganda's history now seems to be the history of the NRM and it's leaders.

The results of this kind of thinking are many but one of the more obvious ones is that the military begins to be seen as a central to the operations of the country and inevitably cliques of former fighters begin to form.

Once we understand that the recognition of the nation is not necessarily the point of it's birth, we can then appreciate the value of it's liberation army but not just the force but more importantly it's ideology.

Inevitably we have to look at the SPLA and it's core leadership for a sense of history. What this gives us is a map of key personalities (leaders), contributing nations (sources of funds) and interests, places of contention ( and possibly resources). Other factors could be viewed in a pre-SPLA such as the role of religion and the role of tribe and culture.

Like Uganda, the narrative as written by NRM places Museveni at the core of the NRM, and now the possibility of Muhoozi Kainerugaba and Janet Museveni as possible heir apparents.

Having access to the narrative is very important because in the current state of affairs, NRM seems to have achieved a fatherhood of the nation status, seeming to obliterate the contribution of the Buganda King Mutesa II, Milton Obote (UPC) , Idi Amin Dada and others.

Strange that this seems to read just like the script from South Sudan. John Garang and his Wife Rebecca and now a son who seems to have developed ambitions of his own.

I call this the curse of the military leader. What you depose (especially if he or she is a monarch) you become. Because of the nature of revolutionary practice, leaders value trust. They are are therefore forced to lean to those who in their view are least likely to betray them. They therefore turn to members of their own families. Even if they succeed in avoiding this trap, their underlings will tend to succumb and so the filial trap is propagated.

So the third point is to try as much as possible to identify a systematic thought process the uniquely identifies South Sudan. An ideology that travels further than the gun and that transcends a family. Maybe this is why constitutions are written. They serve as water tight documents sealed, revered and tested over time and often paid for by the blood of multitudes of unrecognized men and women.

Encompassed in SPLA history, we must identify partners and foes and fight to preserve both appreciating the fluidity of change and the complexities in relationships.
This is clearly why in the current state of events, Ethiopia cannot be seen entirely as a neutral party, previous regimes were often seen to be pro South Sudan and served as bases for proxy wars between Khartoum and Ethiopia.

Uganda and Khartoum too have had controversial relationships in the past with some seeming support for LRA coming from sources in Khartoum.
Both the above examples therefore place restrictions on Uganda, Sudan and Ethiopia as neutral parties which must approach the negotiating table with caution or conscience. Access to the table of talks must therefore come with very clear declarations of interest from these players if their contribution is to make any difference.

Other sources of contribution come from Anyanya II which had a very important role to play in the SPLA struggle.

Even if independence for some nations did not really emerge from direct military confrontation, there is still a core of leaders whose contribution cannot be separated from similar movements. In Kenya, the MAU MAU played a significant role and made their mark on history. Later on, there was a sense of entitlement similar to what has emerged in Zimbabwe. You could even argue that the second president of Kenya (Daniel Moi) simply served as a caretaker for the current president for (Uhuru Kenyatta) simply warming his seat until he had come of age.

Ethnic tension and the role of minorities in development are also very important in this new nation, and one can see why Kenya had to play it's role in keeping the peace especially because key negotiations in the past would never have happened without Kenyan assistance.
But even closer to home many realize that if people had access to guns many of our countries would not be any different from other warring states. A high population of excitable and unemployed youth and a feeling of loss and you have a volatile situation.

When scripture makes reference to ploughs, pruning hooks and swords, the verses are clearly talking to farmers. This is a very valuable group in a continent that is still largely Agragarian. The first group to take to the streets and to suffer is often the land owning group. The first source of defense is also often the tool that is used to clear the land.
Place these people at the core of your agreements. In the larger scheme of things you will not be able to finance necessary wars without food. In addition to this all your relief efforts will fail if your dependence still rests largely on foreign forces and if their sacks of food with national banners emblazoned for all to see.

In addition to this I see a fallout from religions that seem to turn adherents into second class citizens and that bring about the desolation of cultural values.

Maybe this will cause the emergence of a new Africa. Maybe this is what our detractors fear the most. Maybe Marcus Garvey and Kwame Nkuruma can finally get what they dreamed of.