REFERENDUM ON INDEPENDENCE OF SOUTHERN SUDAN ‘What my husband, John Garang, would have done if he were here’

Can you share your feelings as the people of Southern Sudan are casting their votes in a referendum that will decide their future as the newest country in Africa? I am happy today, as you can see. People are coming to celebrate with us. I am happy today that I am here with some of […]

Can you share your feelings as the people of Southern Sudan are casting their votes in a referendum that will decide their future as the newest country in Africa?

I am happy today, as you can see. People are coming to celebrate with us. I am happy today that I am here with some of my kids. At the same time, it gives me mixed and emotional feelings that people of Abyei are left behind. They are not voting with us today. This is the same thing with the people of Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile, who have been struggling side by side with us. It gives me emotional feelings because we are not sure of their future, their freedom. I really don’t know what the future holds for them.

But for the people of Southern Sudan, as the late leader, the late John Garang, was saying that there were minimum and maximum objectives. The minimum objective was to take people of Southern Sudan to the referendum which we are witnessing today.  And the maximum objective is the total transformation of the lives of the people of the new Sudan, which is a process that will be achieved through a process. So, for the minimum objectives, this is what we have achieved today. The people of Southern Sudan are happy today. We have cast our votes which have been denied us very long ago. Our people are happy and I am happy with them.

As the mother of the struggle, what do you think would have been the mind of the late John Garang if he were alive today?

Yes, he would have been very happy for the people of southern Sudan. As I said earlier, he wanted to take the people of southern Sudan to self-determination, to vote for referendum and decide their fate. He would have been very happy to achieve that. But at the same time, other people such as the people of the Nuba Mountains, Abyei and Ngassna would have been part of us today.

For him, the realisation of the dream is something that has to come through a process, not something that comes overnight. It is not a small vision that people think will come overnight. This is because southern Sudan has the belief that northern Sudan in its totality are Arabs. But the fact is that 30 percent of the northern Sudan are Africans but they are Muslims.  He was saying that why we leave our brothers in the north, who are African, like us under the majority. If he were alive today, he would have seen to the realisation that other marginalised people in the Sudan achieved their freedom.

You are alive to witness this historic moment after a struggle spanning more than four decades and consumed thousands of lives. In the last 50 years that this liberation movement started, how have you been coping as the wife of John Garang, one of the famous liberation fighters in Africa?

To start with, whoever struggles for a just cause will know definitely that this day will come. The struggle started before we were even born. It started in 1955 and I was born afterwards in 1956. I was born in the war and all my kids were also born in the war. And now, we have achieved this. This is the tradition across the world that you fight for the freedom of your children, grand children and great grand children. We knew that this day will come. When the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was being negotiated in Kenya, it was a very good development for peace and development.  Dr. John and his group negotiated a just peace not only to the people of southern Sudan but to the people of the Sudan. This is because there was a popular and broad spectrum of consultations of the two areas; the Abyei referendum, who are supposed to cast their votes together with us today. There are also the people of the far north that is Darfur. It was a situation where by the CPA negotiated by John will be used as a formula for the resolution of other problems in the Sudan. Normally, the people of the far north will say that it is the problem of the southern Sudan. Whereas, it is not true that it is the problem of the southern Sudan. Rather, it is the problem of the Sudan. For somebody like him, even though we lost him, we are still happy today because John had achieved a lot.

Not only that, it is clear that the struggle we have embarked upon has liberated the northerners particularly those living around Khartoum. People, particularly women, were in bondage. When the CPA was achieved, people were liberated and they got a lot of freedom. I could recall that after the CPA was achieved, we went to Khartoum and at that time, there was curfew all over Khartoum. When we arrived Khartoum on

July 8, 2005 around midnight, the curfew was lifted. And my husband was sworn in as the first vice president of the Sudan on July 9th.

The liberation struggle of the people of southern Sudan is not only for the liberation of the southern Sudan but for the entire country. We even said that the liberation struggle in the southern Sudan will serve as a bridge. Let me tell you that they (Arabs) wanted to change our identity.  They don’t want us to bear our African identity.  They want us to be Arabs. But they can’t do that because we can never be Arabs. We can be Muslims but never Arabs. As Dr. John was saying, the liberation movement is never a religious one. This is because religion is a personal thing; it is a personal conviction and a way of life.  But the nation is for all of us irrespective of religious affiliations. What we have done is to keep religion at the personal domain and the nation at the public domain. We knew in the movement that a day like this will come.

Another question is this: as a lady, how did you manage the dual and to a certain extent, a conflicting role of a mother in charge of the home front as well as the wife of a General and Commander -in –chief of the Southern Sudan Peoples Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M), considered across the world as one of Africa’s most vociferous rebel? Did you at any given time complain, perhaps being in the jungle where there is no comfort, among others?

I couldn’t complain because I was one of the marginalised people. I knew that what I was doing was part of my contribution to the struggle being led by my husband. I was only doing my part like other women in the southern Sudan. All other women in southern Sudan were doing their bits to keep the liberation struggle going. This, we did by taking care of the children and educating them about their true identity. And these are the youth you have seen today dancing at the graveyard of the late John and other places. These were the children born during the war and the women were able to take care of them because they are the future leaders of our country.  It is instructive to all of us that we can’t have a future without these children. That was why despite the difficulties occasioned by the war, we managed to raise them up as leaders of the future generation.

For me, I was doing a lot at the same time. I am a mother to my kids, a wife to my husband; I was his bodyguard and his daughter. I was doing all these through thick and thin. If for instance, while the war was going on and I decided to sit at home, then I won’t know the cost of the liberation struggle.  I had to be actively involved in whatever was going on because I am among the marginalised of the marginalised as my late husband put it. Women are within the bigger marginalisation of the south. That is why they actively participated in the struggle by raising their kids, by supporting their husbands at the war fronts, by taking care of the wounded and by even taking active combat roles during the struggle. I was very happy to be part of the struggle.

I am equally excited that the movement has recognised and put into consideation the active roles of women. That is even why women are given 25 percent roles after the struggle. And now, President Salva Kiir has increased it to 30 percent.  This is an affirmative action but we are also allowed to slug it out with men in the other 70 to 75 percent.

Within the context of African tradition, I don’t consider myself a woman; I am like any other man and can struggle with men within the realm of the 70 percent. And I will leave the 25 percent to other women who are marginalised. That is how I see it.

Before we started this interview, you mentioned that you had a dream of a day like this, where over 50 air planes landed in Juba with hundreds of people from various countries and cultures. Can you shed more light on this?

Yes. It was two years ago. That lady (pointing at a woman), was there. I told her what I had seen at that time. I even told my sister. I told them that I saw Dr. John came to Juba and there were a lot of journalists, aircrafts, cars and other people converging in Juba. In fact, there was a large number of people trooping to the southern Sudan. At that time, I just took it as a mere dream. It was something that I had in my mind since then but never thought it is going to be like it is today where you find different nationalities converging in southern Sudan. We feel touched that media people come for news. Aside that, there is also the fact that the media have feelings for the people of southern Sudan. That was why they travelled from different continents to southern Sudan to cheer with us. It is a happy moment for us. You can also see that someone was here and he came from Somaliland.

Nigerians, of course are with us. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is a friend of this family. We had Abuja I and Abuja II peace meetings.  You are part of us. General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida also supported the struggle of the people of Southern Sudan. So, you are just part of us. We were in Addis Ababa with the people of Somaliland but we didn’t know that they care for us. But today, one of them is here to celebrate with us.

So, how many children do you have now?

I have six children: two boys and four girls. The boys are older. My last born is 13 now.

What do you do now specifically?

Yes, I am a Special Adviser to President Salva Kiir on Gender and Human Rights. I am engaged in some private work. There are lots of opportunities that if you don’t grab them, you will be lost. That is why as a family, we decided to go into the private sector.

I realised that there is John Garang International Schools; is there any scholarship scheme or charity work being carried out in his name?

Not yet. The John Garang International Schools is a private family business. Dr. John was a leader of the people. He lived for them and when he died, he didn’t leave us with anything apart from his name. We are only exploring that name which is being respected all over Africa. If I go to Nigeria now, I will be respected because of his name.  He didn’t leave us money but his name and I am vey proud of that.

Let me go very personal now. How did you meet the late John Garang as a young girl?

I met John like any other girl meeting a young man. Here, we are very traditional. At that time, things were not like they are today. Girls are very shy, things like that.  In our tradition, girls go for dance and we do it over the weekends. And a man will see his wife, particularly if she is a good dancer and beautiful. Again, in our tradition, a tall girl is always regarded as beautiful even though I don’t believe in that (laughter).

So, when he saw me, he approached me. God knows, I loved him too when I saw him. So, it wasn’t difficult for us to love each other. Again, we don’t have this concept of forced marriage. Thereafter, you give him the go-ahead to meet your parents. We all have the same culture with you (Nigerians) because we watch African Magic satellite channel here too. When I went to the United Kingdom last October, my daughter who studied journalism said ‘mama you are here now and there is no African Magic. What do we do?’  She also asked why did I love African Magic I told her that it is because I am an African and I identify with them.  I am an African and I met John and I knew immediately that he was my future husband.  That is all.

Again, with the demise of your husband, how have you been coping with the new government? Are you happy with the way they run the government of Southern Sudan now?

I am a mother. Therefore, even if I am not happy with them, I have no option than to push and support them. Hope to see you when the new constitution takes effect and the new national flag is being raised. Thank you and God bless you.