Remembering Dr. John Garang Demabior; whence comes another?

Southern Sudan holds a referendum this Sunday to decide on whether to remain in larger Sudan or to break away. The man who was very key in arriving at this arrangement Dr. John Garang died five years ago and this tribute was published in the Kenya Times newspaper of August 3rd, 2005 a few days after he died in a plane crash.

By NZAU MUSAU

UNDER the sun, says the Preacher, the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong, neither bread o the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding or favor to men of skill but that time and chance happens to them all.
Perhaps what the Preacher missed in putting to lines this double edged wisdom is that death too, happens to us all. It tries every man that is born of a woman. Like the Biblical Job puts it; man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. “He comes forth like a flower and is cut down. He fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not.”
Dr. John Garang Demabior who incidentally on leaving Nairobi for Khartoum joked to us: “I go to prepare a place… I will come again and receive you..” left the world scene over the weekend. His death, a thunderbolt from the blue skies caught everyone by surprise and has left the Sudanese people screaming blue murder.
Kenya, like Sudan is equally bereaved for he lived amongst us. If we had a choice, we‘d at the earliest opportunity petition the angel of death it if for nothing for the infant Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). We would have implored the angel of death to hold out until Garang, who had come to symbolize the Southern Sudan cause sees and takes a bite of the fruits of the pact he signed with Khartoum in our country early this year.
Talking of the CPA, Garang had wholly and passionately embraced the pact together with its terms and conditions. With unmistakable confidence, he went about talking to his people and rallying for its support: “I will personally make sure the fruits of the CPA will be enjoyed by all,” declared Garang on the last day he left Nairobi in April, 2005.
He longed for the day the southerners would rule at a referendum on whether to stick to the south or to separate. So enthusiastic was Garang on the CPA that when he talked of the blooming bright future of South Sudan, his eyes would, like ripe papayas, bulge out in his head and threaten to fall off.
The authority, the sense of pride and hope for the future would make you feel that indeed, Sudan was headed for the better. He left the impression that he was good soldier both in life and the movement. He never faltered nor gave up the cause. He was very clear on what he wanted for his people and would settle for nothing less.
His consistency as a fighter is remarkable and indeed legendary. From December 1962 when he joined Anya Nya 1 to the last day as SPLA/M commander, he never turned back or compromised the Southern Sudan cause which many analysts have qualified as legitimate.
He signed countless peace agreements and he never tired to give peace a try even when Khartoum failed to honor or implement them. He did what he had to do at any time and without necessarily considering what he had done previously. To him, every day rose fresh from the hands of God bringing forth new opportunities, new day, new everything. To him, yesterday had little connection with today if it did not advance tomorrows cause.
He was a man of great style, with a clear purpose of life and clarity of vision. He did not just stumble his way through life, lighting unnecessary fires in the fashion of the likes of Jonas Savimbi of Angola and Joseph Kony of Uganda. He did not fight for the sake of it. He fought because he believed in what he fought for. He went to great heights to convince the world as to why he was fighting. He lay down his arms at the right time indeed when time was ripe to do so.
He was a man blessed with a great sense of humor and would bring the house down any time with his wit-laced humor which would leave you rolling in the aisles. The delivery would sometimes bite hard: “Sometimes it’s important to go back to gain momentum to move forward. Even when rams fight, they retreat back to gain momentum before they lock horns, we might have to do this exercise in Sudan,” he once said.
To drive the point home, he continued this time giving the analogy of the Asian Tsunami of how the sea fell back, got momentum and came back in full force to wreck havoc at the coasts.
Garang believed in his people and his people believed in him. His death is therefore a very big blow. The only consolation in all this, perhaps, is that he had already done 90 per cent of the journey and only 10 per cent is left. From a distance, he will now watch the steps that his comrades will take towards a lasting peace.
His death fits the picture William Shakespeare paints in describing the death of a great Roman general, Antony: “The death of so great a thing should make a crack. The round world should have shook lions into the civil streets and citizens into their dens. The death of Antony is not a single doom, and in the name lay a moiety of the world.”
Like Antony, in Garang lay the hope for the South Sudan cause. His death may therefore not be a single doom for at stake now is the CPA. I do not want to speculate or predict the worst for Sudan. Indeed as Garang himself used to put it, the CPA is greater than any one individual.
Which gives us a greater reason to be on the tenterhooks in the next few days as to how the new leadership takes the initial steps. Garang Demabior is gone and to dwell on his death is a vain venture. He played his role and his part in the drama of life is over. Here (in Sudan) wast thou bayed brave hart. Here didst thou fall… here was Garang, whence comes such another? Rest In Peace Demabior.