South Sudan’s crisis is not about age — it is about mindset

South Sudan Is Not Suffering from Old Age — It Is Suffocating Under Old Thinking

By Samuel Mut Gai Dhap

Chairman

SOUTH SUDAN FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE - SSFDA

South Sudan’s crisis is not about age — it is about mindset. A military culture that once served liberation now suffocates the republic it helped create. The time has come to dismantle it, and to build a new future with courage, humility, and truth.

The crisis we face is not generational — it is conceptual. It is not the age of the people in power that is the problem, but the thinking that drives them: militarized entitlement, unearned power, and blind loyalty to a man and a machine that no longer serve the nation.

We, the leadership of the SSFDA, know this system well. We were part of it. Many of us earned our military titles the hard way. We fought. We bled. We sat with John Garang. We spoke with Salva Kiir and Riek Machar. But after liberation, we were not listened to. Garang died under mysterious, convenient circumstances, and the rest is history — a history from which we have learned. We are not blind. We are of the land. We have families too. And we have seen the horrifying destruction that Kiir’s rule has unleashed.

Kalas Kiir.

Enough.

We also have the humility to say — and mean — “Tell me. Show me. Teach me.” We are not ashamed to learn, to improve, to roll up our sleeves and do the hard work of rebuilding this country. Unlike the “all-day chai-drinking administration” in Juba — where nothing is planned, nothing is measured, and nothing is delivered — we are ready to lead by doing.

Sure, there are eruptions of photo-op success: “Kiir buys 30 tractors,” “a ribbon is cut on a new clinic.” But look closer — the clinic was built entirely by Japan, the UK, Norway, or some other kind nation. And what does the regime do? Parade in black polished shoes, arrive in an armada of V8 Land Cruisers, stand for the cameras in overpriced suits while villagers scream and ululate, fooled into thinking this was Kiir’s achievement.

Then come the photos, the headlines, and the retreat back into gilded offices. Back to the all-day tea. Back to the long lunches. Back to the endless bickering. And still, nothing changes.

Ask yourself this: in a military system, where power is absolute and orders flow one way — can a bright, young, educated citizen raise a hand and question the command of an illiterate general? Of course not. Because that is not how the military works. Ever. The military is built on the most rigid chain of command structure in the world. And by necessity, in war, that makes sense. But war logic has no place in a civilian state. And yet, South Sudan has been under this very logic for nearly 15 years. A junior officer or civil servant, no matter how intelligent, educated, or visionary, is structurally forbidden from questioning the directives of a superior general. This is the very opposite of what a functioning democracy requires.

As clearly stated in our Charter, under SSFDA leadership the military in South Sudan will be placed firmly under civilian control, accountable to the people through their elected federal parliament — just like in any modern, lawful state. We understand that this vision threatens a clique that has profited enormously under the old system. But their resistance only strengthens our resolve.

This is not abstract. It is visible to every citizen. Visit Juba Airport. You’ll find the clearest metaphor for the regime: a dirty, dysfunctional gateway run by retired soldiers with no aviation experience. It is not an airport — it is an embarrassment. And when citizens ask, “Why aren’t we like Nairobi? Like Addis? Like Kigali?” — the regime’s answer is repression. Social media is monitored. Dissenters are detained. Journalists disappear.

The National Security Service — with its 15,000 officers — was not built to protect South Sudanese. It was built to protect Kiir from the South Sudanese.

This is the system the SSFDA rejects. We do not seek simply to replace Kiir with another man in uniform. We seek to end the era of militarized governance entirely.

We affirm:

Yes to democracy.

Yes to ancestral lands, customary law, and the wisdom of our elders.

Yes to building a federal state that reflects the dignity and diversity of our 64 nations.

No to institutions where ideas are silenced, where governance is theatrical, where uniforms are substitutes for expertise.

The very structure created to fight Sudan — a military liberation machine — has now become a parasite feeding on the independent nation it helped birth. It does not deliver justice, services, or opportunity. It delivers death, fear, and stagnation. And now, even as the country collapses, J1 prepares to pass this broken inheritance to a son-in-law — as if a failing state is a family business.

But we are not children. And we are no longer afraid to say the truth out loud:

The emperor is naked. The bus to progress he wants to drive, has not moved an inch in 15 years.

Those who speak up are tortured in the Blue House. The rest wear red t-shirts and clap for titles like “Executive Director General of the Cleaning Cupboard.” This is the absurdity we are called to end.

The SSFDA stands not just for change in leadership, but for a new political architecture. One that:

• Embraces democracy and constitutionalism,

• Respects elders while empowering youth,

• Builds institutions that work, not ones that pretend,

• Shares national wealth for the benefit of the many — not the few.
  

This is not just a fork in the road. This is the roadblock we must dismantle.

The war for independence is over. The struggle for dignity, prosperity, and justice has begun. And this time, the enemy is not in Khartoum. It is right here, inside the hollowed-out halls of our own republic.

Let us say clearly: the age of dictatorship in uniform must end.

It is time for South Sudan to rise — not with guns, but with ideas.

We are guided by our Charter, which serves as the moral and structural foundation for the new federal constitution South Sudan needs. It outlines our principles of inclusive governance, decentralization, human dignity, and respect for our diverse traditions. The SSFDA Charter is not just a vision — it is a working blueprint.

📜 Read it here: https://ssfda.org/charter-document

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I am Samuel Mut Gai Dap,

Chairperson, South Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance (SSFDA)

But also a father, son, brother — and fellow citizen like all of you,

brothers and sisters of the 64 nations. I welcome you to join our movement. We are ready to listen, to learn, and to build this new South Sudan together. Your voice matters. Your courage matters. Your ideas matter. Our Time has come

Together, we rise.