Anyone who claims to love Bol Mel or Adut Kiir should just reconcile the two
The Crown Prince vs Madam Wun-Weng
Anyone who claims to love the Crown Prince or Madam Wun-Weng, or the other way around, should just reconcile the two or else this could be “Näk Abur Dïtkɔ̈u.”
By Ariik Atekdit, Juba, South Sudan
Wednesday, 27 August 2025 (PW) – There’s nothing inherently noble about defending the appointments of both H.E. Dr. Bol Mel and Hon. Adut Kiir. Likewise, there’s no solid reason to love one while harbouring disdain for the other. If you are backing Bol or Adut, you must recognize how intertwined their paths are. After all, both were handpicked by the President from his inner circle, and neither was elected or even suggested by the ruling party.
Dr Bol Mel is a close ally to the first family in development strategies, business plannings, resource management and more recently he has become and proven to be a political partner ready to change the face of politics at J1. His rise in popularity and influence has come directly from the President and the first family.
Bol Mel’s swift political climb from 2023 to 2025 within the SPLM and the government has been orchestrated by the first family, a fact that everyone, including Ms. Adut Kiir, is well aware of. It is quite possible that Hon. Adut Kiir played a crucial role in Bol Mel’s political growth, more especially in making him closer to her dad. So why create a rivalry between them?
When Hon. Adut Kiir allowed Dr Bol Mel to become the First Senior Envoy for Special Programmes and later Vice President and SPLM first deputy, she was already conscious of her powerful position as the first daughter. Her influence didn’t come from Bol Mel’s appointment; she has always been a significant political giant.
When Bol was appointed as a Vice President and a First Deputy Chair for the ruling party, many speculated that he was being groomed to take over from President Kiir, which ruffled some feathers among his critics, leading them to suddenly show support for Kiir without any clear rationale. Those who criticize both Bol and Kiir have tried to undermine them, turning their names into fodder for gossip.
A lot of people have a dislike for Dr. Bol Mel because of his ties to the President and the first daughter, whom they now claim to adore. This contradiction doesn’t sit well in the political arena.
Politics should be grounded in principles and ideologies, yet we often find ourselves swayed by shifting tides. When I look at the political landscape in South Sudan, I’m frequently taken aback by how those we admire for their ideas can sometimes contradict themselves on key issues.
In my typical Jieng village this political gaming done in order to defeat the target without being harmed and achieve it all by scaling down the strength of your enemies is called ” Näk Abur Dïtkɔ̈u.” Literally, this translates “to kill and/or defeat a terrifying heavyweight fisherman.”
In Jieng culture fishermen are looked down as people of low standard because they have no permanent resources to depend on, yet again the cattle keepers their opponents, who are of high class, love coming to the fishing camps to enjoy eating fish especially during daytime.
When the cattle keepers feel like to loot the fish, they would first target a section of the camp with intimidations and fighting and taking away fish and destroy the settlement and if the terrifying heavyweight fisherman intervened, the cattle keepers would just politically praise and respond “we don’t mean you uncle, you are a good man. We aren’t touching your fish.”
When the looting is over and the other side has suffered and surrendered; the cattle keepers would now turn bold without apologies to deal with the terrifying heavyweight fisherman who now have no other strong man left to help him.
So, the heavyweight would too be looted and defeated because those who were around him are flat and they were individually dealt with and couldn’t help him anymore and therefore, the Näk Abur Dïtkɔ̈u.”
In my view, if the business is not well-defined and established, then the Weng (Kiirdit), the Wun-Weng (Adut Kiir), and the Lion (the senior government officials, including Dr. Bol Mel) will likely fall to new predators before the Lion flees, as “Näk Abur Dïtkɔ̈u” is a reality.
Ariik Atekdit has been a journalist, freelance writer and educationist. He can be reached at [email protected]
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