Tomato Revolution: A Diagnosis For Our Predicaments
By Makneth Aciek
Once upon a time in colonial Southern Sudan the smell of fried onions was a key feature of modernity. Onions and tomatoes were the preserve of the colonial masters and few local culture-brokers that comprised of the schooled class and colonial authority appointed chiefs.
The indigenous peoples in their natural state of nature were deemed non-civilized and so not entitled to eat or grow the crops of modernity; their exclusion from the then most benefits of modernization is the deepest meaning of colonization.
Due to the perpetually expanding carrying capacity of history, the ugly narratives associated with the aroma of fries have evolved and now define the political and administrative system the South Sudan. When it comes to resource sharing, the State power has not lost its colonial character! The legacy of the smell of fried onions creates the distinction between the haves and have-nots; belonging and exclusion. The most extreme form of exclusion is genocide, whose outcome is not only death but also displacement.
The South Sudanese, through the exercise of the right of self-determination, needed urgently to find rapid and sure solutions to this distressing problem, but those who were entrusted by fate and history to guard the values promised by Self-determination have failed in their task. The political elites under the SPLM were generally unprepared to evaluate the project of independence critically; and so, tossed about by the force of the contending contradictions, they began to fall into tribal positions instead of opting for radical solutions that can foster the integration of our peoples. Their interests and policies center almost totally around the stories of “fried onions”, and they lack a sense of life on a more historic plane; at the outset, the independence of South Sudan was above all commercial enterprise for elites.
Our peoples’ dream for Freedom was characterized by a series of aspirations, concerns, and values in search of fulfillment. Dreams for a better standard of living and quality education for children inspired our masses to vote overwhelmingly in favor of a state of their own. But what did our people get? Our peoples in the villages and cattle camps continued to oscillate between ingenuous optimism and hopelessness. The country our peoples voted almost 100% for, left them with two routes– one, to the borders of neighboring countries, the other to the UN POCs or mass-graves.
Now our peoples in the PoCs, refugee-camps and across the country are faced with uncertainty as R-ARCSS stagnated. What plans do we have for them? When a catastrophe occurred in 2013, the world was shocked into helpfulness. Certainly, acute catastrophes have that effect. It seems that people expect catastrophes to be brief. But chronic catastrophes like the situation of South Sudan are so unpalatable to neighbors and international community that they gradually become indifferent to them and their victims, if not downright impatient. South Sudan’s emergency has become protracted, the world is gradually withdrawing the helping hands, and the fires of compassion are cooling down. The solution to our national predicaments is up to us and us alone!
For genuine peace to be realized in our country, we cannot only rely on existing arrangements or frames of reference in R-TGNU. Without security arrangements, the Unity government is increasingly at a loss as to how to arrange its activities. We have to engage our peoples in developmental projects as a means of consolidating the fragile peace, and as a way of integrating our peoples. Peace demands conversation among our peoples!
Now is the right time for R-TGONU to adopt the concept of Tomato Revolution as a Methodology for peace building among our communities. Peace through development is the only diagnosis our situation demands. Many have wondered about what the Tomato Revolution means! The Tomato Revolution is neither an act of rebellion nor a political party, it is a language of development and the vocabulary of liberation. The preamble of R-ARCSS constitutes a compact of political parties rather than‘we the people’and as a consequence, what matters in the implementation of this Agreement is the happiness of politicians not the security of the peoples.
Genuine and lasting peace requires the involvement of civil populations in the conversation through the practice of agricultural extension, this is the only way peace can enter the cultural universe of our masses, and build the confidence among our communities to apply their common knowledge to the totality of the problematized rural situation.
Our peoples need to move away from political struggle to economic struggle, and build a people-based economy with agriculture as the foundation of production. The Tomato Revolution is a concept that provides a transition from predatory economic institutions of colonialism that are characterized by exclusion and neglect of common peoples, to the one which is based on our peoples’ shared cultural values. Stability requires our people in the villages to be linked through a variety of networks of exchange based on trades.
The economic institutions that we inherited from colonizers are not in conformity with our cultures and way of life, hence they perpetuate hatred and wars among our communities. Our peoples in their natural state of nature are not, in fact, exclusionary and prone to violence when it comes to resources. On the contrary, they are commonly open to outsiders and apply numerous devices to limit greed and corruption. They deploy leveling strategies – ranging from subdividing leadership to employing jokes and avoidance behaviour – to limit the potential accumulation of power and wealth in the hand of few individuals.
Our country is today in conflict because we chose oil as the foundation of our economy! The state feeds itself off oil money, which is then distributed, either as salaries to the lucky few or as the rights to control rents by political elites and state apparatus. The power of the state is the power to direct the flow of money coming from the sale of crude oil while politics is competition to divert these flows–so what looks like corruption isn’t corruption, in the sense of it being a defect in the system, it is the nature of the system itself. The core of South Sudan economy has never been a market. The economy is based on raw materials and these are brought under the direct or indirect control of the state, so what looks like business is actually just a system of distribution.
Our common peoples are the proprietors of South Sudan; they are her sole creator and their values are the ones entitled to set the pace of economic development. Modernizing our peoples’ traditional means of production is the only sure way to peace, stability and security in our country! Genuine Peace can never be realized until the country embraces transition, and move away from the enduring economic policies that only benefit the few.
Our Country is now at a critical time full of contradictions; the tidal wave of tribalism is becoming stronger, and political climate is becoming increasingly emotional. This makes a transition even more difficult! The shock between a yesterday which is losing relevance but still seeking to survive, and a tomorrow which is gaining substance, characterizes the phase of transition as a time of announcement and a time of decision.
The R-TGONU has been offered a unique opportunity by the realities of our time to restore and improve the livelihoods of our peoples. The Unity government should then prioritize the displaced people, both in POCs and refugee-camps, engage the youth and women in agricultural activities, and develop long-term resilience that would be important contributions to peace and stability within country.
Our peoples need to be encouraged to find hope and prosperity within the agricultural-based economy. More and better arguments are required in order to think about oil as a possible component of developing the agricultural sector in the country, and building sustainable and socially inclusive economic institutions. This is the idea of Tomato Revolution, not an act of rebellion against R-TGONU.