08/04/2026
The legitimacy crisis
“ Either we accept our failure by acknowledging our incapacity to build this country or the extensions of lives of government will become a mode of governance” This is a bitter truth and a mature sense of nationalism.
By. Zachariah P. Oyay
8th. April. 2026.
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A lot of efforts were laid out to save this country from total collapse but as saying goes “ you can't tackle the problem with the same mentality you had created it” it’s now , the same mistake that SPLM repeatedly makes. All initiatives meant to address the root causes of our conflicts fall short because of premature approaches of the ruling regime_ novice political calculations of substituting elements within certain ethnicities to balance the structure of power and wealth sharing mechanism. SPLM has played an antagonistic role in bringing durable solution in South Sudan, being a mighty party which carries its legitimacy through myths of liberation struggle, it chooses to ignore the wider scale of contributions of various stakeholders of South Sudan in different walks of life by praising its victories and glories. But in most cases, revolutions are not only won in battle fields but intellectual inputs plays a significant role in attaining the ultimate goal of liberation struggle.
When discussing about South Sudan’s conflicts, it is crucial to look at right perspective by curing the disease, rather than treating its symptoms. Legitimacy crisis still haunts us in South Sudan. Political parties in other hand are fragmented and each faction claims legitimacy, to mention a few; SPLM_IG , SPLM_IO and SPLM_FDs , Real_SPLM and all SSOA parties. Who recognizes and who to be recognized is the question that can’t be answered in this promiscuous situation!
Churches are not isolated from these conflicts. Church leaders suffer from legitimacy crisis _who has the right ownership of the church the founding members always disagree on how to administer the churches, hence legitimacy crisis become eminent. The worst part are communities who are involved in invading each other's land claiming the legitimate rights. This culture demands critical analysis and a strategy to mitigate the existing conflicts.
I can personally describe such a problem as a national traumatization and it wouldn't help in solving a single problem.