Tyranny of the weak will produce our new dictators

We are all capable of doing wrong and committing evil. It is just that we have not been provoked to such extremes, not presented such opportunity!

With Opoka Christopher Amanjur

 

Tyranny of the weak will produce our new dictators

 

Mogabe, Bashir, Kim, Shwe, Abdullah, Jintao, Khamenei, Afewerki, Berdymuhamedov and Qaddafi; names which make the world think twice about the definition of dictatorship. Names which make hearts tremble, heads bloat with blood clot, brains fry, veins roast, ears block because a hot iron rod was passed from one end to the other. They are the world’s top ten dictators for me.

 

I like these dictators. I admire the things they dream about, the things they think about, the things they plan to do, the things they actually do, and the smile on their faces upon accomplishments, the rewards they expect and receive for excellence, not only the sheer brutality of their executions, but also comedy with which they stand tall, proud and shameless when confronted with ideas and notions of human rights violations.

 

I like the comic traits of Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov’s predecessor in Turkmenistan; Former President SaparmuratNiyazov who would name months of the year after his own name and the names of his mother and children.  He kept political prisoners behind bars, his government controlled all media, opposition parties were not allowed, and the practice of religion restricted.

 

But alas, the U.S. continues to import oil from Turkmenistan ($100 million worth in 2008), while Boeing provides airplanes to the Turkmen government. Chevron recently opened an office in Turkmenistan’s capital, Ashgabat. 

 

In one way or other, the world goes on as it does business as usual; not because the World Human Rights fighters have gone to bed, but because this is how things are. The U.S government will continue to trade with Northern Sudan, buy from Sudan millions of dollars worth of gum Arabic, used in soft drinks, candy, and shoe polish. In 2008, U.S. trade with Sudan actually increased to $148 million. 

 

Afewerki will continue as he announced in May 2008 that elections would be postponed for “three or four decades” or longer because they “polarize society.” All forms of media will be controlled by the government; attesting to this promise, at least 10 local journalists remain in prison since their arrests in 2001. 

 

This is how things are, and how they will remain for a very long time. The world has a lot of time for tyrants of the strong, but come to think of it, there are more people who have made me to coin my title phrase for this opinion piece.

 

Tyranny of the weak is harder to detect and much harder to accept. For example, there are people who do not like other people who do bad things and get away with it. While in high school and university we all did things we were not proud of then, and which we definitely are not proud of today. Some people enjoyed piercings in unimaginable places, others enjoyed group sex, some excelled in theft, some aborted babies, while some few cheated on their spouse; all these acts without ever getting caught. And of course there were those who tried to steal, but their moral conscience gave them away. Nonetheless, some people were just plain menaces to society.

 

Those who constantly complained are what I am referring to as the ‘tyrants of the weak’. They are always unhappy when good people do bad things, and saddened by the bad acts of bad people too. The world is never a happy place for them. However, in the new nation, I continue to see and meet more and more tyrants of the weak. The tyranny of the weak is fast-developing a strong root in this new nation our beloved Republic of South Sudan.

 

Yes, we have corruption, we have tribalism, and we have blatant robbery of the treasury. We have disease, we have guns, and we have filthy rich one day non-business goons. We buy the most expensive villas in down town Manhattan, New York; we spend our holidays in Washington DC smoking Cuban cigars, drinking cocktails with bizarre names (speeding bullets). We dine in Paris for a week, and then fly to Brazil. We know almost all airlines from Virgin to British Airways to KLM and Emirates. And it’s nice to complain a little when someone who is enjoying all these tours on your hard earned South Sudanese pounds. It would be nice to poke them in their eyes instead of whining and whining, alas they have private militias, armed to the teeth too.

 

As you read, note that I am on a very important mission to identify our nation’s in-coming dictator. My search led me to a memo written on July 4 1998 by the then Assistant to the President of the Republic (Sudan) and President of the Coordinating Council of Southern States, Dr. Riek Machar. By no means is my writing intent on mirroring this extraordinary leader to the analogy of a hideous criminal.

 

The memo begins with the words “Brother…” and goes on to say “May peace, compassion and blessing of Allah be upon you.” Am not sure all these words carry the weight they appear to deserve, unless it was like smiling with the teeth.

 

And the last paragraph is also memorable for me: “My dear President, You are the captain of our brilliant ship. We have great trust in your abilities and great leadership. We believe that with your wisdom and clear vision our country will overcome all these difficulties and tribulations with the help of Allah. Accept your Excellency my great thanks and appreciation.”

 

And my jaws are stuck open for some minutes. Were these words coming from this man who is now our VP? Was it plain politics intended to save the KPA? Did the VP expect Bashir to be like: “Very nice words my boy… thank you… give me 7 years and I will grant you and your people independence and share with you oil and marry your daughters.”

 

The easiest way to kill the independence of RoSS is for Khartoum to venture into its varied closets, pick any of the surviving generals from the old days, or their second in commands, some young lieutenant with the courage of lion and the appetite of a hyena; indoctrinate this lad, splash him with dollars with the promise of more where its coming from, give him some guns, enlist some militias, convince some disgruntled tyrants of the weak and voila, a dictator is born.

 

Someone will take the podium at a Dictatorship mausoleum and give this speech before the President Dictator (not real name):

 

“Brother Lieutenant General Dictator, President of the Republic of South Sudan and Commander-in-Chief of the SPLA, you are the captain of our brilliant ship. Our ship is moving at high speed and you know where you are taking us. The journey is bumpy, but we have great trust in your abilities and great leadership. We believe that with your wisdom and clear vision for our new nation, we will overcome all these permanent difficulties and rising prices of commodities in the market. Grabbing of land must be done in the interest of national security, your Excellency. We are all equal as South Sudanese, and everyone from all tribes of South Sudan including our dear brothers in arms from Nuba and Kordofan must resettle anywhere in these lands as necessitated by the military might of your military command. Accept your Excellency my great unparalleled thanks and appreciation. May you rule for uncountable years, like your counterparts in Uganda, Libya, Egypt, DRC, Zimb, China, North Korea, and Iran and borrow extensively from the experience of our brotherly neighbor Omer Hassan al-Bashir.”