Secondly, as sons of the soil, and having commanded in Bahr el Ghazal during the 1980s and 1990s, the hakuma had a newly intimate knowledge and interest in local dynamics. They understood the intricacies of local politics and claims over authority and power; they also understood the implications of reshaping rituals and divine references. Part of the historic strategies for Southern Sudan to resist the hakuma has been the latter’s distance from and ignorance about the workings of the home. This was no longer the case. Government generals were explicit about this knowledge and the power that it gave them. For example, in April 2018, General Dau Atorjong (commander of the 3rd Division at the time) asserted at a peace meeting:
Everything in this community is known by the politicians. Even us who were in the bush know everywhere here in Gogrial. We did set up houses here. We know who is who here. We know who is wise and who is not.
1 General Dau, 20 April 2018.People of Warrap State were acutely aware of this new distinction between a government of autochthonous leaders and a government that was not. As one chief described, ‘now the government is not different from the rest. We no longer separate leaders from civilians at the moment’.
2 Interview with Chief A, Ajiep Kuach (Gogrial), 20 April 2018.