FILE PHOTO: Mabior John Garang de Mabior at Juba International Airport shortly after speaking to Eye Radio awaiting his flight to Nairobi Kenya - Nov. 3, 2021 - Lou Nelson | Eye Radio

I acknowledge how far we have come as a people and the deep traumas we carry – centuries of occupation, enslavement, and civil war have profoundly shaped our society and how we relate to each other as citizens of a modern nation-state. These wounds are further deepened by political tribalism, which fuels intercommunal violence and threatens our very survival as a nation.

We have endured Ancient Greek, Roman (both Western and Eastern), and modern European colonialism. We fought against slavery and imperial rule, enduring two brutal wars of liberation before finally achieving independence in 2011. Yet, despite this hard-won freedom, one of the most painful legacies of our history is how survival forced us to lose sight of our shared cultural values as Junubeen. Today, tribalism is no longer just a social reality – it has been weaponized by the traditional elite into a political ideology, posing an existential threat to our nascent Republic.

It is important that we bring this issue to the forefront of our national conversation. Our failure to address it has led to immense suffering, as seen in the intercommunal wars that have engulfed our country – the most recent being the tragic loss of innocent lives in Nasir and surrounding villages. My heartfelt condolences to the families of our fallen citizens on both sides of the conflict. It is a tragic and senseless loss. The ongoing violence between the army and armed civilians in these areas is nothing short of heartbreaking. It is a travesty that our people continue to perish at our own hands when we should be embarking on national development and socio-economic transformation.

Compatriots,

Even more alarming is how numb we have become to the pain. Intercommunal violence is being normalized. Many remain indifferent until it affects their own home or people who speak their language. When violence erupts, elites from the affected community make sentimental social media posts for a few days or weeks, only for the same tragedy to repeat elsewhere. There is no sense of nationhood – no shared grief that transcends tribal lines. This selective empathy must end. Those suffering in Bahr el-Ghazal, Equatoria, and Upper Nile are all our people. Their pain should be ours. We must reject the tribalization of our suffering.

Fellow South Sudanese,

Our problem is not tribalism itself but its politicization at the national level. The very term tribe is a colonial construct. The Online Etymology Dictionary traces the word to the Latin tribus, referring to one of the three political-ethnic divisions of early Rome. This Roman socio-political model was imposed upon us through centuries of Greco-Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman influence, culminating in British colonial rule.

Before colonialism, there was no Jieng tribe or Naath tribe. Instead, there were Jieng-speaking, Naath-speaking, Bari-speaking, Luo-speaking peoples, and many more linguistic groups who coexisted based on shared economic and social interests rather than rigid ethnic identities. Some Jieng-speaking groups had more in common with their Naath or Bari neighbors than with distant Jieng speakers with whom they shared no borders. Alliances were formed out of necessity, not linguistic ties. However, colonialism reshaped these identities, forcing our diverse peoples into artificial tribal categories for colonial administrative convenience.

The roots of political tribalism can be traced to the Zeriba – slave-holding kraals – where captives, seeking survival, began organizing themselves by language. Over time, ethnic identities hardened as junior partners in the slave trading companies raided those, they deemed outsiders. Much like prison gangs, linguistic groups united for survival. This dynamic persisted beyond the abolition of slavery, manifesting in deep-seated divisions that still influence marriage, politics, and social relations today.

The so-called traditional elite – descendants of colonial collaborators and slave traders – have exploited these divisions, turning tribalism into a tool for political control. This system is, in essence, fascism. Merriam-Webster defines fascism as a political ideology that exalts the nation or race above the individual, enforces centralized autocratic rule, and suppresses opposition. This mirrors the socio-political culture we inherited. Traditional elites have hijacked national politics, using community organizations to consolidate influence. This manipulation extends all the way to the national level, where they deceive the public into believing that political tribalism is an unchangeable part of our culture.

This is mischief!

Our hospitality as Nile Valley peoples is world-renowned. The hatred we see today is not our natural state – it is a product of historical trauma. Yet, the elite have reduced our nation’s crisis to a mere personal rivalry between President Salva Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar. Even if they were gone tomorrow, the problem would remain. The truth is, the problem runs much deeper. Those unwilling to confront their own tribal biases hide behind this simplistic narrative.

Compatriots,

The real enemy of our people is the language of division. When we generalize – saying, “What is wrong with these Dinkas?” or “What is wrong with these Nuer?” or “What is wrong with Equatorians?” – we contribute to the problem. A crime committed by an individual is used to vilify an entire community, fueling cycles of violence that are difficult to break. Some of the wounds we struggle to heal from today were inflicted during colonial rule but have since been passed down as traditions.

If we truly seek national reconciliation and healing, we must rid our national conversation of toxic tribal rhetoric. The words we use shape our collective consciousness, influencing how we perceive and interact with the world. The wrong conversation creates the wrong reality. Negative words wound deeper than bullets. We must choose our words wisely, for they hold the power to build or destroy our nascent Republic.

Political tribalism exists only because we continue to speak it into existence. If we want change, let us start by changing how we talk to and about each other. This is what true revolutionary change means – a socio-economic transformation. No true revolution nor the liberation of the individual can be achieved through bullets alone.

Fellow countrymen and women,

We Must Be United!