Editorial: Please Reorganize and Care for the Armed Forces

I want to call upon the government of South Sudan to prioritize the care, the maintenance, the organization and the development of men and women in uniform. If they are organized, they will carry out well their role of protecting people, of enforcing justice and order within our country. But leaving them in a chaotic way like it is at the moment, is actually leaving the country at the mercy of disorganization, of confusion, of violence and lawlessness. When these elements are missing among the men and women in uniform, the reality is that they became part of those who are causing confusion. What kind of nation do we have then?

 I am still aware that so many groups that had taken arms have not yet given up their arms, they are still holding their guns. All the different categories of people who took arms against the government, against individuals, against other communities, they are still holding guns today; they are still in their groups, they still have their commanders, they still have their leaders. We have no one Commander-in-Chief in this country and this is not only very dangerous but is also very scary because anyone who has a gun can choose what he/she wants to do because he/she has the gun in his hand. We are already seeing this because things are not under control.

The guns are not in the stores, they are in the hands of people; of men and women in uniform and above all, they are organizations. Why do we need military people, why do we need police, why do we need prison warders, why do we need the rangers, why do we need security personnel, why do we need these people? We need them because the people who live in this country needs to be protected, to be guided, to be supported; the people in this country need their lives to be put in order; so these organizations are meant for the fluent and upbringing and smooth living of the people in any given nation.

 If they are disorganized, be sure the country is also disorganized because nobody is in charge of putting things in order. Can we therefore prioritize this? We need to prioritize the reorganization of our forces.

 Second to that is their care; to take care of them, feed them, train them, give them the necessary resources they need in order to live decent lives so that they are not tempted to go beyond their own duties. I am so much aware that most of our soldiers go hungry, most of them do not have decent houses to live in, they do not have proper medical support, they do not have insurances for their families and they are lacking in so many other basic necessities.

 I met a man the other day who told me that he joined a movement in 1984, just a year after the initiation of the ruling party SPLA and the life of this man who is already elderly has been entirely a life of war, of moving up and down. He told me that he doesn't even know what he has done with his life. And I could see a lot of regrets in his life; there is nothing he can celebrate. Even though he has children and grandchildren the family has no vision. He feels sorry and regrets because his life is not catered for. This man is just an example of many men and women who joined armed forces movements but still do not understand why they went to war in the first place.

 I am therefore calling upon our government and all those concerned especially at this moment when we have a government of national unity, that if we can prioritize the reorganization of our army, then we will be doing justice to this nation. By so doing we will be actually implementing love for our nation. We will be showing out our concern and love for all the citizens of this country. If we reorganize the armed forces and give them their rights and dignities, the citizens of this nation will feel secured and prosper. They will feel proud that our country has organized forces, we have an army, we have police force, we have all those who can protect us.

 This is the call I am making. I have been here in Tombura county where I have seen many people with guns and they do what they want. The danger I am warning you about and I am worried about is that once the army and the organized forces are not in order or if they are using the guns they have against the civilians; punishing and humiliating the civilians, then there is the temptation that the civilians may not continue to persevere and therefore they too may take arms; the civilians may try to think of defending themselves and if they do that then we will end up with another new level of violence in our communities.

 And we have seen this with previous scenarios when conflict broke. The moment war erupted in the country, the government was so slow and young people took up arms in the pretext that they wanted to protect their communities and they ended up as rebels and today they are any other group. So calling upon our government, I am really begging those concerned to please hurry to reorganize the army, hurry and reorganize the different armed forces so that at least we have confidence that our country is protected and that our lives are protected and wherever people are going, especially women and children, they can be assured of security and order.

 I thank all the organized forces, all those who have joined movements willingly and with good intention to be in this profession to support their country. I beg you to continue being loyal to your country by protecting the lives of people we have. The guns you are having, please, please, please, do not turn them against your fellow brothers and sisters. Restrain and then continue to struggle for the right things to be done for you within those institutions. We are standing with you, we pray for you and we will always support you to do the right thing for your country and for the people of this nation.

 God bless you all

Barani Edwardo Hiiboro,

Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Tombura-Yambio