The exile of Dr Machar: Did Pres. Obama repudiate Roosevelt’s anti-colonial doctrine?

[Elisabeth Janaina]

The exile of Dr Machar: Did Pres. Obama repudiate Roosevelt’s
anti-colonial doctrine?
Jun. 19 Featured, Uncategorized 7 comments

By: Samuel Atabi, South Sudan, JUN/20/2017, SSN;

It is now confirmed: Riek Machar has been exiled and is under
detention in South Africa. In a recent teleconference with the members
of the UN Security Council, Machar himself cleared any doubt whether
or not he has been exiled and detained in that beacon of
self-determination and black freedom, the Republic of South Africa.

Exiling one on account of being a political or military leader was a
tool extensively employed by the white colonial invaders of the
African continent.

Even the Germans, who had the briefest presence in colonial Africa,
forced into exile a number of leaders among who was the Paramount
Chief of Kapando from Togo who was exiled to Cameroon, in 1913; the
Germans had fear that he would lead an uprising against them.

The main practitioners of exiling leaders were the French and the
British. This is not to disregard the roles of the other minor
colonial powers such as the Portuguese, Belgians, Spanish, Italians,
and the racist Afrikaner of South Africa.

The French operated mainly in parts of West Africa and the Maghreb. In
one memorable episode, the French deposed Behazin, the King of Dahomey
Kingdom and deported him as far as Martinique in 1894. The rest of the
continent was under the domination of the British.

African traditional leaders, Chiefs and Kings in eastern Africa region
were routinely exiled away from their homeland and followers.

An example of the British highhandedness, which resembles the present
Machar’s predicament, was the exiling of the Buganda King to the UK in
the 1950s.

The Governor in-charge of the then Uganda Protectorate, one named
Cohen, demanded that Kabaka (King) Freddie of Buganda integrate his
kingdom into the soon-to-be-born independent nation of Uganda. Kabaka
Freddie refused. For this pain, he was removed and deported to London
for a ‘comfortable’ exile.

Generally, these colonial exile cases did not achieve their main
objectives. Some of the aims were directed at ending of dynasties,
silencing defiant leaders, facilitation of wholesale seizure of land
and forcible settlement of white settlers. The natives always fought
back, some with extreme violence.

After the independence, a number of Africa heads of governments have
behaved just like the colonialists. The case of the Angolan rebel
leader, Jonas Savimbi will help to illustrate this view.

The path to independence of Angola from its colonial master, started
in the 1960s, and was bedeviled by a vicious civil war among the
anti-Portuguese and liberation movements.

The main protagonists were Jonas Savimbi of UNITA versus Agostinho
Neto and Edwardo dos Santos of the MPLA. Independence was handed to
the MPLA in 1975 but UNITA continued with armed struggle against the
new government.

There were several attempts at negotiated end to the war between the
two rival movements but all of them failed.

In 1989, during one of the attempts, a group of African leaders (an
equivalent of IGAD?), from Angola (an interested party), Congo, Gabon,
Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe, Zaire, Zambia and Zimbabwe, met in
Harare to get a peace agreement.

In an action similar to that meted out to Riek Machar in 2016, these
leaders unanimously decided to exile Savimbi, also to South Africa.

They also recommended the integration of UNITA forces into the MPLA
and its institutions in a similar manner to that being advocated for
the absorption of the SPLA (IO) into the Kiir’s faction of the army.

As might be expected, Savimbi violently refused to go into exile and
resumed fighting. Years later, Savimbi was killed in 2002 under
suspicious circumstances.

We shudder at what might be the fate of Riek Machar. God forbid!

The African leaders at Harare imitated their past colonial masters in
prescribing ‘exile’ as a solution to a complex and desperate political
and military situation that existed in Angola at that time.

The secretive decision of the IGAD and its supporters to exile and
detain Riek Machar in South Africa was a desperate attempt to imitate
the Harare outcome; prescribing a palliative to cure a chronic and
almost terminal disease ailing South Sudan body politics.

Most observers were not surprised by the decision of the IGAD et al to
lure Machar into exile. After all, some of the key IGAD members have
their own sinister interest in the current war in South Sudan.

What has really pained and surprised many in South Sudan and
internationally, is the apparent acquiescence of the Troika countries,
USA, UK and Norway in this unjust and devious scheme.

We in South Sudan continue to agonize over what might have been the
aim of countries like USA in propping up the dictatorial regime in
Juba. We are not alone in this agony.

In its report of April 28, 2017, an American think-tank, the Heritage
Foundation, asserts that American government’s warnings and threats to
the genocidal regime in Juba have been tepid.

It goes on to say that South Sudan armed forces targeted for physical
abuse and tried to kill senior US diplomats without consequences.

Lastly, it recommends that the US Congress should set up a Commission
to study what went wrong with US engagement in South Sudan.

While we must await any outcome from such a Commission (if it will
ever materialize), we are wondering whether the Obama administration,
in giving a tacit encouragement to this antiquated colonial tool of
exiling leaders, has in effect repudiated decades-long Roosevelt’s
anti-colonial doctrine first enunciated at the end of World War II.

Like the Africans in colonial time, South Sudanese have
characteristically reacted even more violently after the exiling of
their leader; exposing the vacuity of the action.

The sooner Machar’s exile and detention are reversed the better for
the future of South Sudan.

Samuel Atabi is a concerned South Sudanese and can be reached at
samue...@gmail.com
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7 Comments

Gatdarwich
June 19, 2017 at 9:31 pm

Atabi,

Whoever conspired to have the father of the South Sudan nation,
Dr. Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon forced-exiled in South Africa have
unknowingly committed the gravest mistake to the patriot tribes in
South Sudan because the determined patriots’ blood will, and shall
bleed for their inalienable rights—until Dr. Riek is
unconstitutionally released from the detention period
Reply
Chulbaar
June 20, 2017 at 12:18 am

Mr. Gatdarwich,

Riek Machar is not, and has NEVER been the father of South Sudan.
He’s (was) a failed foolish leader of a stupid tribe, Nuer. Had he
been from my tribe, THE GREAT MONYJANG, he could have been executed
longtime ago by us. We don’t allowed foolish leaders to head us. You
Nuer tribe have been lying to yourselves that Riek was your ONLY
greatest man while neglecting the grave mistakes he has been coming to
you shamelessly. But now, the mighty JIENG is serving you instead of
your useless Riek Machar. WE ARE DETERMINED TO CONTINUE SERVING TO
NUER FOREVER, & Nothing will ever happen again since he is arrested in
Pretoria, SA. JIENG EMPIRE OYEEEE! South Sudan Oyeee!.
Reply
Bismark
June 20, 2017 at 1:51 pm

The Romans ruled in Europe and had their time but they are no
more. To every beginning there must be an end. Today is the mighty
Monyjang and tomorrow will be some people. My fear is there might be
pay back. So brother rejoice now but remember one your day for tears
will come.
Reply
Nikalongo
June 20, 2017 at 5:10 pm

Riek, Kiir and the rest of the pack are war criminals and
thieves. Thunder take them. Idiots.
As for you Chulbaar, you should be ashamed talking nonsense
with your mouth full of “lueth”. What is it to be proud of when Jieng
on Jieng hooliganism is sweeping the Jieng heartland of Warrap clean
of her inhabitants. There are more Jieng living in misery in refugee
camps in Sudan than in Aweil and Gogrial put together. Hunger and
diseases will consume your feebled buttocks like wild fire. Let us see
where the next generation of Jieng will rise from now that you (Jieng)
you even cannot live in the land you claim to have liberated.
Nikalongo
Reply
info@southsudannation
June 20, 2017 at 8:51 pm

Nikalongo,
Undoubtedly and inarguably, the much lauded ‘liberation’
of South Sudan has created more impoverished and depraved South
Sudanese than perhaps, the centuries of Arab colonization of this
South Sudan. It’s true that the jieng have come out worse than any
other tribes in this unpredictable immiseration and calamity that have
beset the nation. There is now a camp for displaced South Sudanese in
the Sudan, cynically named as ‘Malish ya Bashir’ (English translation:
Our apology, pres. Bashir, we regret for leaving the Sudan)
One might correctly say that perhaps the jieng were never
serious ‘nationalists’ who truly wanted an independent, united and
prosperous nation of South Sudan but rather they maliciously aspired
to fight against the then ‘kokora’ of 1983 and not the independence of
South.
John Garang de Mabior and associates just wanted the war
to reverse Niemeri’s Redivision of the South but inevitably got messed
up in the Ethiopian politics. Garang’s SPLA/M was used by Mengistu to
counter Sudanese Niemery’s support for the anti-Mengistu rebel groups.
Until his death, John Garang never publicly admitted his
complete support for total independence of the South. Today, president
Kiir and his jieng council of evil men have blatantly proven that they
have no real conceptualization of a functional, peaceful and united
country, they are simply and perilously pursuing a colonization policy
that is very detrimental to the viability of the nation in the south.
Editor
Reply
Aleu Aduol
June 20, 2017 at 1:29 pm

I am so happy to see this greed man has been arrested in South
Africa. I thank those who thoughts such wise Idea because he is the
one who divided Southerners Sudanese just because of his own interest
instead, of bringing two tribes togetherness and focus on none
violence and the things which will keep all people as one for common
good unfortunately, he had been repeated the rebellions for years and
he never realizing his political greed has damaged the young nation
and the people as a whole. I think this is a time for Riek Machar’s
supporters to give up on Riek Machar political issue and started
finding ways of begging forgiveness otherwise, you would be following
the doom hopes which will not going to happen
Aleu Aduol
Reply
mading
June 20, 2017 at 6:27 pm

Atabi, and mad man Gatdarwich. You should be shame to yourself for
calling trader of South Sudan Riek Machar a ” father of our nation”
Shame on you Gardarwich. Find some thing to do, your evil uncle is not
coming out of detention in South Africa. No more for get it.