I had been a member of SPLM/A since 1983, when I was a young man, before I started a family. A group of us that included, Stephen Lomeling from the Ministry of Finance, Scopas Logboro, George Lotongor, Abraham Wana, Crowther Wani who lived in the CMS area, in whose home we used to conduct the SPLM/A meetings, myself and others, were committed members of the SPLM/A. However, as the years passed SPLM/A became involved in questionable atrocities on the people of South Sudan. A group of us tried to work from within to reform this inhumane approach SPLM/A had been using, as these cultures of violence, rape and pillaging were contrary to the proclaimed values of the SPLM/A. However, in 1999 the SPLM attacked the Didinga people in Eastern Equatoria, this was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. As a result of this attempt at ethnic cleansing, I left SPLM/A and decided to become vocal about the human rights abuses by SPLM/A.

I then began writing in Equatoria 2000, which was an email group established as a forum for the exchange of information, firstly about the struggle for independence, and secondly for the movements supporting the independence of the South. This was the beginning.

Many people inspire me, such as African writers including Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa Thiang’o, Akot P’Bitek, or English fictional writers such as James Hadley Chase and Jackie Collins. Humanitarians who inspire me are the likes of the late Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, or thinkers such as Belle Hooks, Cornell West, David Harvey, Jurgen Habermas etc. I would also say that the Bible forms a key part of how I view morality, and the morality of our leaders

I also think it is important to find artists that inspire you, as the arts are a key part of how we as human beings express ourselves. Some of my favourite artists include Bob Marley, Michael Jackson, Lucky Dube, Brenda Fassie, Tracy Chapman, Tabu Ley Rochereau and others. These are a few of the people that inspire me.

I was conducting research on South Sudan, and I quickly realised that there was very little literature that chronicled the story of South Sudan. This means that information for South Sudanese people, both in South Sudan and in the diaspora, is not comprehensive. This is leading to the widespread disinformation, and ignorance among South Sudanese youth. My children would ask me questions, and I needed a relevant source that could effectively help educate them on this history, to supplement what I have told them. However, unfortunately, I could not find anything suitable or substantial enough that documented South Sudan from the perspective of a South Sudanese person.

While I was discussing this lack of information with one of my daughters, we both noted that I had a large bank of writing that chronicled the events of South Sudan as they happened. Some of this writing dated back to as early as August 2011, a month after South Sudan became independent. This meant a lot to my daughter, and she thought perhaps other people would like access to resources that would help them navigate and increase their understanding of the history of South Sudan, both in the recent and distant past, in particular from the perspective of a South Sudanese person. After continuing this discussion with my daughter, she suggested that as I was already giving talks on social media about South Sudan, on various topics, that hosts would ask me to comment on; perhaps I should create a curriculum of sorts, which could help inform South Sudanese about our rich and dynamic story. That way South Sudanese people would have a resource from which they could begin their journey of discovering the truth about our beautiful country. 

It is my sincerest hope that as many South Sudanese people as possible, would become informed about our country’s story, in order that as many of us as possible, may know what mistakes to avoid, so that we can all become instrumental in creating a better country and future for all of us.