Kiir outsmarted Machar for being ‘better at tribal politics’ – new book says

JUBA – A new book is saying that South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit had garnered support among South Sudan because he is much better at tribal politics that his first deputy and opposition leader Dr. Riek Machar Teny who was educated in the West.

The book titled: “The Nation State: A Wrong Model for the Horn of Africa” is authored jointly by John Markakis, Günther Schlee and John Yang.

“Although not a highly educated man, Salva was better at tribal politics than his opponent, Riek Machar, who held a Western PhD and would eventually become the opposition leader,” the book said in one of its chapters.

“While Riek could never decide whether he was a tribal chief or a politician in the Western sense, a model that could never fit in South Sudan, Salva garnered much support through his adeptness in tribal poli­tics,” the book stated.

The book also states that there was a wide believe among the Nuer population of South Sudan that the Dinka have failed and that time has come for them to have their turn to rule the world’s youngest country which eventually dragged the country to war at only two years of age.

“The fact that the Dinka-dominated state was little more than a heavily armed agency for directing the considerable oil resources into the hands of Dinka politicians, generals, and associates that had to be bought off to maintain a modicum of stability led the former SSDF Nuer in the SPLA to demand that the Dinka be replaced by the Nuer as rulers,” the book said.

“There was a weakly constructed narrative that held the Nuer to be more democratic and less greedy, but essentially the appeal was simply a claim that the Dinka had failed at government, so it was the turn of the Nuer to rule,” it added.

The book further said the only institution that was “not completely dependent on the international community was the SPLA, but it never operated as a national army (Young 2008).”

“Its ranks were repeatedly supplemented by absorbing ethnic based militias, which still retained loyalties to their particular leaders. Even President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar surrounded themselves with guards from their own tribes.

“In the field, SPLA soldiers usually went to officers of their tribe to deal with their problems, and army divisions frequently had four or more generals from different tribes to ensure they could overcome internal conflicts.

“Instead of soldiers living in barracks where they would mix with those from other tribes, they usually resided in their own homes or settlements and thus identified with their families and hosts.”