Politics Nimule style

The politics of Nimule are unlike any I have seen before.  There is little or no interest in international news.  I only heard about the death of Nelson Mandela several days late because I happened to be on the internet.  Politics here is local and very much tied into tribal loyalties.  The lines are clear and there appear to be no way of resolving differences.  I am sure this is untrue, and that ‘where there is a will there is a way’, but it certainly appears like that. 

The Madi is the main local tribe, which covers the whole of the surrounding area, stretching into Uganda too.  There are small numbers of Acholi, who also range across the border.  The Madi and Acholi are settled farmers. There are also a large number of Dinka, who are nomadic cattle herdsmen.  The Dinka roam across the whole country, not just this area.  Even I can see the difference between Dinka and other local people.  The Dinka are extremely tall and long-limbed.  They often have lines of facial scarring across their foreheads.  The Madi and Acholi do not use scarification and are a more usual height.  The Dinka are famous among the Madi for being very war-like, savage, polygamous and practising their own Dinka religion, although in fact there are many Christians among them.  I have heard (from a Madi source, so this may be propaganda) that if a second wife brings children from a previous marriage, they will be killed by the first wife.

There is enmity between all, but both Madi and Acholi are bitterly opposed to the Dinka.  This is highly problematic because the national government is Dinka-led.

The staff of the children’s home and its church are almost entirely Madi, and very proud of it.  They make no bones about being partisan both on tribal grounds and regarding any other version of Christianity.  Even the youngest children at the home are indoctrinated into this tribal enmity.  One day when there was a conversation relating to the Dinka, one of the smallest children, aged three, piped up, ‘The Dinka will kill us with their guns.’

Across the valley is a church which I have been told very dismissively is Dinka.  ‘They have a strange way of praying’, I was told by an Acholi friend.  I held myself back from asking, ‘Compared to what’?  (I find the way of praying here bizarre in the extreme.)  The Catholic church, thankfully, is open to all and preaches a breaking of barriers and peace.  Even so, most of the congregation are Madi, so there is a Mass in Madi daily.  On Sundays there is also a very well attended Mass in English to cater for all non-Madi parishioners.

As mentioned earlier, during the civil war, the huge Madi population went as refugees to Uganda in one big exodus.  Their land was taken over in their absence by Dinkas.  Please bear in mind that this is ancestral land going back to medieval times.  On their return after the war they have struggled to re-establish themselves.  They complain that the land has been ruined by the Dinka cattle.  They also complain that the Dinka steal their cattle. 

There is constant friction and differences of opinion in Madi leadership circles on what to do about the land situation.  Some favour evicting the Dinkas, others would prefer to sell the land to them.

Shortly before I arrived in Nimule in September there was a major crisis.  The Paramount Chief of the Madi tribe was assassinated by persons unknown.  He is much mourned by his people.  The staff at the children’s home have told me that the police arrested all those who attended the last elders meeting with the chief, including his heir.  All those arrested were severely tortured, one to a point where he is now disabled permanently.  According to my ‘sources’ here in the home the police knew all along that the men were innocent and that it was a Dinka plot.  As the police are acting for the Dinka government they wanted to protect the Dinka assassin.  According to people at the home these elders are still in prison, without trial because the police are embarrassed that the extent of the torture will be obvious in court and that it will be so clear that the men were innocent.

I have had conversations with a US missionary who ministers in a largely Dinka area.  Apparently the Dinka view of the Madi is that they are unpatriotic cowards.  During the war, the Dinka were the backbone of the resistance fighters and won a very important local battle that changed the tide of the war.  They were very unimpressed when the Madi disappeared en-masse to Uganda’s refugee camps and feel that they were left to do the entire work of winning the war against the Arab north.  To be fair to the Madi, they were suffering terribly from the reign of terror caused by the Lords Resistance Army.  They wanted to protect their families.

According to what he has been told, the Dinkas believe it was a Madi who killed the chief.  They believe the motive was because of the different opinions on what to do about the land problem. The Paramount Chief had many opponents who disagreed with his plan to sell the land to the Dinkas.  According to the Dinkas, the only reason the elders are still in prison is because they have refused to leave as they want a well-publicised trial.  They are actually free to go, scot-free as there is no case against them.

Early this week, the pastor at the home announced that there was to be a meeting this Sunday after church for all Madis over the age of fourteen.  This includes some of the children at the home.  When I went to Mass on Sunday, there were fewer people there than usual as a result. At the end of Mass the parish priest introduced the State Governor who wanted to speak to everyone.  He gave the best speech I have heard since coming to Nimule.  Extraordinarily, it was short and to the point, addressing the importance of unity in South Sudan.  It is a shame he wasn’t heard by those who were attending the Madi meeting.

Thankfully things are not violent here in Eastern Equatoria State.  Elsewhere in South Sudan, particularly in Jonglei and the ironically named Unity state, there are full scale massacres happening between warring tribes.  Let us hope this doesn’t happen here.