Angelina Teny, has been the President of the Initiative of Change
(IofC) South Sudan,
since its
official registration in the new nation in 2012. She is the current Defense and
Veterans Affairs Minister, and wife of Dr. Riek Machar, Vice President of the
Republic of South Sudan. The South Sudan IofC Constitution outlines the following
challenges and plans to address them:
1. Bringing reconciliation and healing where there
is conflict;
2. Tackling the root causes of corruption,
poverty, and social exclusion; and
3. Strengthening the moral and spiritual
foundations of democracy.
On September 17th,
2013, South Sudan IofC held
a five-days mini-forum in Juba, under the theme:
Initiating Solidarity and Trust in South Sudan. In her remarks to youth Angelina stressed the
importance of nation-building, peace, reconciliation, and peace mobilizers.
As soon as she became
the Minister of Defence, Angelina turned against the South Sudan IofC
Constitution and her own advice to the youth in 2013. Also, Angelina overlooked
or ignored the January 2020 Rome
Declaration On The Peace Process In South Sudan. Thus, under the
auspices of the Community of Sant'Egidio in Rome, and witnessed by Intergovernmental
Authority on Development(IGAD), the government of South Sudan, the South Sudan Opposition
Movements Alliance (SSOMA) of NAS is a member, the Sudan People's
Liberation Movement/Army-in-Opposition (SPLM/A-IO), and National
Democratic Movement (NDM) have signed a peace declaration in which they
recommit to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement of December 2017 to avoid
confrontation between the signatories and non-signatories parties of South
Sudan peace agreement.
Unfortunately, Angelina ordered the government
military to attack the National Salvation
Army (NAS) bases in Central Equatoria State. At the same time, she
ordered joint government and Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in Opposition
(SPLA-IO) forces to attack NAS bases in Western Equatoria State. Instead of
attacking NAS soldiers, the joint government and SPLA-IO military forces turned
their military weapons on defenseless and innocent civilians, accusing them of
supporting anti-government rebels and committing savage abuses, horrific violence, atrocities, war crimes,
and crimes against humanity against the children, women, and men of South Sudan
in Loka west, Yei, Wonduruba, Morobo, Sebi and other parts of Central Equatoria
State (CES). The savage abuses include killing of civilians, raping of
girls and women, burning and looting of civilian homes, and arbitrarily
arresting and torturing of civilians in detention. Her role in terrorizing the innocents and
defenseless civilians is immoral, irresponsible, and senseless and her action
created mass displacement and humanitarian catastrophes at the time of strict
nation-wide lockdown due to COVID-19.
South Sudan is
culturally and ethnically diverse, and before 2013, has been undergoing ethnic,
political and other forms of violence. It is appropriate; therefore, that to
end or at least reduce those forms of
violence, Angelina should have been using her knowledge of IofC International
vision of Just, Peaceful and Sustainable World in which people act from a sense
of global interdependence and responsibility, Creator of Peace, Reconciliation
and Healing, Human Security, and Ethical Leadership. In short, as a leading and
respected national political leader and member of IofC International, she has
made no effort to act according to IofC ideals or principles. Instead her orders and directives are particularly immoral,
irresponsible, and senseless war against South Sudanese civilians defies the
principles humanity
(I am my brother and sister keeper).
The international
leadership of IofC has a moral
dilemma. It has to deal with this and answer to the victims of Angelina’s
actions. Otherwise it does damage to its own image as an international
organization promoting justice, peace,
reconciliation, healing, human security, and ethical leadership and provides
security and voice for the voiceless, the vulnerable and defenseless children, girls,
women, and men who are currently perishing
in the bushes of South Sudan without protection.
Where is the principle of IofC that it preaches “change
starts from within the individual member”? can IofC still believe that both
Angelina and Riek are renewed & truly born again IofC followers?
Unfortunately, some IofC members still believe that both couples are IofC mini
gods. Angelina & Riek have taken IofC international & its financial
support and resources for granted with rid.
Paradoxically, in 2016, Angelina
and her husband were saved by the citizens of Central, Eastern & Western
Equatoria States (Pöjulu, Kakwa, Azande, Avukaya, Baka, Moro, Keliko, Ma’adi,
and Makaraka) from eminent death at the hands of government of South Sudan
soldiers who are now brutalizing Equatorians as a consequence of her military
orders. They helped Angelina
& Riek escape government forces who were pursuing them, provided them with
safe heaven within the CES & WES bushes, fed and carried them on their
shoulders to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and helped them airlifted to
Khartoum for safety and treatment. Without CES, EES and WES men, women and
children support and protection both Angelina & Riek would have been dead
by now.
Now, Angelina and Riek have forgotten CES, EES & WES’s
warm hospitality, protection, and safety they received during the difficult
time of 2016 political crisis and taken Equatorians for granted and maintained
their policy of marginalization & nepotism.
In addition to this, Maj. Gen. Clement Konga provided Angelina and Riek with
support, Gen. Martin Kenyi, Eastern Bank
Senior Officer, and others sacrificed their lives for Angelina and Riek to cross
to Congo safely. On another hand, both couples never acknowledge the
outstanding rescue operation of Equatorians under the leadership of Gen. John Kenyi Lo’büron (JKL) and
his troops who played major role to protect Angelina and Riek and now the couples are
fighting the every General that save their lives-what an irony and this is
madness. Furthermore, Angelina and Riek failed
to disclose to relatives, and the citizens of Greater Equatoria the
circumstances of Gen. Kenyi and others, they are whereabout and whether they
are alive or dead. It’s time for Angelina and Riek to come clean in this
regard. Her irresponsible & senseless military orders and directives raise
more questions than answers for IofC International to answer.
It is time for IofC international to come clean also, provides information its
dealings and relationship with Angelina, president of South Sudan IofC &
Dr. Machar and whether it supports Angelina’s position of waging senseless war
against defenseless and vulnerable civilians or not.
Angelina is not only defying the principles of IofC, but
also, the call from the United Nations Secretary General
(UNSG) and the UN children’s Fund (UNICEF) urging warring parties to stop
fighting as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads. The current UN humanitarians’ investigators
in the region should recommend to the UNSC to refer SSPDF’s butchery of
civilians in Lasu, Morobo, Loka, Loka west, Mukayia, Bereka, Kopera, Lainya, Yei,
Wonduraba and Maridi road to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for indictments, for war
crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity on the legal ground of the
reports from the UN Human Rights Commission and the findings of the UN Experts
for South Sudan. Jan 12th, 2020, Rome
Declaration on the Peace Process in South Sudan in which her government is
party to it and the declaration bound the
government to reinstate the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement of December 2017
as well.
The IofC teaching, values and ethics
never have impact on personal behaviors of Angelina and Riek and specially
after Pope Francis kissed the feet of (Kiir, Riek, Taban & Rebecca) and
commanded them to be agents of peace, justice, reconciliation, healing, and not
war, tribal conflicts, and nepotism, but they did the opposite and disrespected
Pope Francis prayers of humility which brings creators or agents of peace closer to God. Pope
Francis knelt, kissed the feet of South Sudanese leaders and his prayers of
supplications for peaceful South Sudan have gone in vain and supposedly agents of peace carried joint military offenses of the South Sudan
defense forces and Sudan’s People’s Liberation movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO)
against defenseless & innocent children, women, men displaced from their
homes, villages, and cities and now perishing
in bushes of South Sudan without shelters, food, water, personal
protection gears (PPG) in time of killer Corona COVID-19, and are most vulnerable to all kind of other
diseases as well as Angelina-made-hunger. This is very calculated genocide
policy by Angelina president (IofC) South Sudan and defense minister to
depopulate Greater Equatoria States.
In all respects, the
Initiative of Change (IofC) South Sudan is longing for a new leader who will
“act from a sense of global interdependence and responsibility, Creator of
Peace, Reconciliation and Healing, Human Security, and Ethical Leadership”.
Indeed, it is globally well known that the people of South Sudan are desperate
for “Peace, Reconciliation and Healing, Human Security, and Ethical Leadership,”
but not under Angelina and Riek shame leadership.
In nutshell, for IofC international to be credible, impartial
future mediator and peace partner in
South Sudan, IofC international should reassess its relationship & dealings
with both Angelina & Dr. Machar in the light of the current joint military
offences by the SSPDF under Kiir and the SPLA-IO under Dr. Machar. She and her
husband cannot deny the reality on ground. They have authorities to recall the
Chief of Staffs and SSPDF from CES areas and suspend military operations but
failed to do so. She cannot claim that “I am still acquainting myself with the
ministry,” only an incompetent & unqualified minister would say so. As
appointed minister from day one she is supposed to be fully in charge,
responsible and accountable for the actions of her subordinates before the
Parliament and must resign with immediate effect for immoral, irresponsible,
senseless, and unlawful war crimes against citizens of Greater Equatoria. “The
tongue cannot claim to be ignorant of what the teeth are doing.”
Therefore, I strongly urge the IofC international to
establish a policy that prohibits IofC International and its regional offices
from engaging with Angelina president of South Sudan IofC & Minister of
Defense and Dr. Machar Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan.
Sincerely,
Hüstin
Läkü, Sr.
Global
Concerned Citizen
Cc: His Grace Pope Francis
Cc: The Very Rev. Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury
Cc: H.E. Abiy Ahmed Ali, Prime Minister Ethiopia
Cc: H.E. Cyril Ramaphosa Chairperson of the African
Union
Cc: Secretary
General of the Community of Sant ‘Egidio
Cc: H.E. António Guterres,
the United Nations Secretary General
Cc: The UN Commission
on Human Rights in South Sudan
Cc: Members of the UN Panel of Experts for South
Sudan
Cc: Office
of the High Commissioner for Human Rights United Nations Office at Geneva
Cc: Secretary General of World Council of
Churches
Cc: Secretary General of All Africa
Conference of Churches
Cc: The Sudan Catholic Bishops' Conference (SCBC)
Cc: Most Reverend Oscar Cantú, Chair, Bishop of Las
Cruces, Committee on International Justice and Peace
Cc: Secretary
General of South
Sudan Council of Churches
Cc: Dr. Sinead Walsh,
Head of the Delegation of European Union Ambassadors to
South Sudan
Cc: Thomas Hushek, U.S.
Ambassador to South Sudan
Cc: U.S. Members of Foreign Relations
Cc: Michael R. Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of
State
Cc: E.U. Parliament’s foreign policy Committee
Cc: Enough
Project, D.C.
Cc: Secretary
General of Amnesty International
Cc: Amina
Dikedi, IofC international
Cc: Rajmohan Gandhi, IofC International
Cc: Mike Brown, IofC International
Cc: Media
outlets
