The Broken Promise
The Legacy of War and Hypocrisy
by
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At the gate, two men were curled up in pools of blood. They had been shot dead. Both forces were still fighting at the outskirts of the suburb closer to Bilpham. One man shouted at Tab, warning her sternly to stop or risk a bullet ripping her head apart. She stood there, shaking; wondering about what could be the intention of this order. He was wielding the gun ready to shoot. Apparently, he looked overwhelmed by a grudge he wanted to settle. Now that he had the means to do so, she worried the man may rape her, and in the worst case, kill her and her little daughter. He walked towards her, with his lower lip drooping down and hanging slackly below from the lower teeth. “Sit down,” he ordered. Fast, she was on her knees. The man looked at his gun, at the nozzle and the butt, then at Tab. He walked closer to her and cocked the gun. “You will see me now. You think we are stupid to follow you,” he said. Tab wasn’t sure if the man meant he had been shadowing her. She wasn’t sure too if by the word ‘you’ the man was referring to her personally. Whatever it was, the risk was eminent. He could rape her and shoot them dead. “Are you married with children,” Tab's faint voice rang in the man’s round head. “Why not? You think I am impotent!” “Please imagine someone doing what you want to do to me and my child, to your wife and children.” She was still sitting on the ground, in the mud. The man glanced away, then to her once more. “Do you know where my family is,” he asked. “No,” she nodded as if to admit her naivety. “They suffered their fate because you think we are stupid to always follow you.” “No,” she protested calmly. “You are not stupid.” “Don’t pretend. I will kill you now,” he warned. Tab looked down to his feet to avoid his prodding eyes. His toes had grown into hooves. His tapered feet were webbed like those of ducks. Tab had an impression that these legs would easily tear a bed sheet. “I can’t even explain my predicament,” he interrupted her gaze and voluntarily went ahead to narrate the ‘fate’ anyway.
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About the Book
Makeer is a man of high hopes. Intelligent and educated, he is a teacher in Sudan when he leaves his home and family for the bush, to fight for freedom and human dignity. At home, his sons must fight their own battles, as violence and death by malnutrition increase. Yet, nothing is quite as horrific as the way man treats man in the African battle for peace.
The Broken Promise is based on the true terrors of the Sudanese Civil War. Fighting for the prosperity of his country, Makeer is blind-sided by the hypocrisy of his leaders while dodging bullets and watching his family die. He finds strength in moments of hope, mixed with intense despair, but is hope enough to keep him fighting while the world goes mad?Makeer might glimpse ultimate victory—touch for a moment high ideals and morality—but he soon comes face to face with blackmail and murder in South Sudan, a new country he helped curve out of the Sudan. War is a thing of corruption and betrayal, which Makeer learns fi rst hand. However, he fights onward, proving that no amount of suffering will ever suppress the quest for human dignity.
About the Author
Mabior P. Mach is an award-winning South Sudanese journalist with a bachelor’s degree in public relations and media management from Cavendish University, Uganda, and has written extensively about Sudan and South Sudan over the past decade. He is married to Yom Abuoi, and they live in Juba with their children.