SOUTH SUDAN faces its inaugural and ultimate challenge, the striving for unity under the umbrella of one Republic. Nobody has expressed it better than Jacob K Lupai: “The unity of South Sudan is not something that is like a gift in a golden plate. It has to be diligently earned. Similarly the beauty of a woman alone may not sustain the love of the opposite sex but the woman’s cooperative responses may.
Although South Sudanese had fought in wars of liberation as people of one destiny this did not mean automatic sustainable unity among them. South Sudanese fought as people drawn from the different tribes and regions with unique cultures and tastes. The one thing they shared was the strong aspiration for freedom from gross marginalization. After achieving freedom the second project would have been how to achieve sustainable unity among people as diverse as South Sudanese.
For sustainable unity diversities must first be recognized. This will be one first step in search of better ways in promoting sustainable unity. Nevertheless, the long struggle of South Sudanese as people of one destiny should have made it easier to compromise on how best to sustain national unity of people who had fought as one but were diverse.”