Simon Deng was one of the scores of South Sudanese at the Ugandan protest of Sept. 26, outside the U.N. More than 100 Ugandans rallied, with some coming from Boston, Washington, D.C., and Maryland to join those from New York and New Jersey.
Here’s Simon Deng in his own words:
My name is Simon Deng. I’m here today to stand in solidarity with my brothers and sisters from Uganda against the brutal regime of Museveni, to say to Museveni, time has come for him and people in his pocket; and people are saying the power that you have, it is not your power, it is our power. We are telling Museveni that what you have done in the Horn of Africa has destroyed so many lives. Museveni has done so many atrocities from Rwanda, to Congo, to South Sudan and now in Uganda.
I from Southern Sudan I’m joining my brothers and sisters in solidarity to tell them your struggle against Museveni is not only your struggle, it’s our struggle, because Museveni himself is involved in the killings and maintaining the brutal regime of Salva Kiir in Southern Sudan. So what’s happening in Uganda is happening in Southern Sudan. The struggle of the people of Uganda is the struggle of the people of Southern Sudan. These people, the brothers and sisters in Uganda, they are not alone and that’s why I’m here today with authority to speak on behalf of those who are being butchered by Museveni in Southern Sudan, to say that your time has come.
If you don’t realize that, ask ‘Where is Quaddafi? Where is Mubarak? Where is the old dictator of South Africa?’ Your time has come and you have to go.
The international community will not do anything. The power has to be taken by us. Because Museveni, he’s there today, because of the support of the United States. Museveni is killing people and beating people with the support of the United States. That’s what I told the American ambassador three days ago. The atrocities being committed by Uganda are being commited because you gave them, the dictator of Uganda, the greenlight. He has to be stopped. For him to stop, you guys too, you have to stop the pipeline that gave him the weapons, gave him the money, and then let we take the power from him.
Because when people have spoken, people will not be defeated.
