Mark took a deep breath and then continued. “So, yes, I’ve seen part of the Ilemi. And, in fact, I once proposed establishing a refugee camp west of Liwan, but we were told by the Kenyans that it was too remote and ownership of that land was in dispute, so the GCC Board of Directors turned down my proposal.”
After a pause he added, “There are some forested mountains that rise up west of Liwan. I distinctly remember watching a lightning storm roll over those Lorionetom Mountains. There is a big plateau up there. I recall wondering what it would be like to stand on one of those mountaintops with the lightning coming down all around me. That was a powerful moment for me, but at the time I wondered why. Why, when I was out in what you call ‘The Middle of Nowhere’?”
After a pause, Mtume asked, “Now, why did you pick such a remote place, such a desolate place as the Ilemi?”
Alan answered, “It was my suggestion, based upon its contested status.”
Meital chimed in, “The Lord made what was once the desolation of the Palestine Mandate fertile again, as modern-day Israel, and if He so wills it, He will do the same for the Ilemi Triangle, for His own glory. The desert will bloom.”
Mark nodded and then asked, “And what about the perennial dispute between Kenya and South Sudan over the Ilemi?”
Rick replied, “That is where we want you to get involved, visiting the presidents of both countries to convince both of them to cede their sovereign claims to the Triangle, to form a new, fully-independent sovereign state. If it is God’s will, then they will agree without hesitation. And, by the way, if this comes to fruition we’d like you to be the first president of this new nation. You have all the right qualifications.”
“I have met and talked with both presidents, so they’ll remember me, if I contact them again. But I cannot say that I’m of a ‘first name basis’ with either of them.”
He hesitated for a few moments and then continued, “But getting their agreement, and then building a nation just ‘from scratch,’ as it is said… Is that possible?”
Alan answered resoundingly in a paraphrase, “We can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us.”
Meital added, “Philippians 4:13.”
Mark Mtume was impressed and downright shaken by what he had just heard. He said, “This may be an answer to prayer.”
They spent the next two hours poring over maps with Mtume, going through the wording of the draft constitution they had written, and showing him the LOAs from the various companies and individual contributors. Their conversation was excited, almost feverish.
Not wanting to take a break for lunch, Mtume phoned in an order for Indian food from Open House, his favorite takeaway restaurant. The food was delivered by scooter only 25 minutes later and was just as delicious as Mark had promised. Alan insisted on paying for the meal and a tip for the delivery scooter driver.
As they sat around Mtume’s desk and ate, Mark asked Meital, “So, Miss Landstuth, how did you, an art appraiser, get involved in this scheme?”
She answered, “I met Rick and Alan at a dinner party in Edinburgh. In Scotland, formal evening parties can go on for many hours. From the tone of the conversation over hors d’oeuvres, it became immediately apparent that all three of us were Christians and in fact all Second Reformers, unlike the other dozen people there. They were all seculars engaged in godless gossip and mindless prattle. And then we got started on libertarian philosophy, and it turned out that all three of us were libertarians -- although only one of us with a capital ‘L’ -- but we were all pro-life and all believed in the nonaggression principle. So by the end of the evening, we had formed a little clique. And we almost immediately started to talk about Christian persecution, much to the consternation of the other guests. You see, even in Scotland, such talk is generally considered ‘non-inclusive’ and politically incorrect.”
Mtume nodded and intoned, “These are the times in which we live.”
Meital went on. “The conversation at the dinner table got around to the recent Sharia Renditions, and that got us all hopping mad. To think that Western European governments would honor pre-Caliphate rendition treaties and just hand over anyone that the Caliphate wanted, in response to trumped-up charges, really made our blood boil. After our dessert, which was accompanied by a painfully imprecise piano recital by our host’s teenage daughter, we were about to say our goodbyes. It was then that Rick suggested that ‘the three of us malcontents’ get together for lunch two days later. Since it would be three of us meeting, it didn’t sound like making a date -- so it was nothing intimidating, to my mind -- so I said yes. The end result was that it turned into a series of lunches, and at the third one of those lunches, the topic of forming a new nation came up.”
Mark asked, “And you didn’t find conspiring with two new acquaintances to found an entirely new country… intimidating?”
Meital laughed again, and said, “Given my background, not at all. You see, I was born in Israel, which has only been a nation for just over a century -- and it is still a fairly young nation at heart. Then I went to college in Catalonia, which had then just become an independent nation. And now most recently, I’ve been living in Scotland, which has also just recently become an independent nation. So you might say that I was destined to this.”
Scheduling a private meeting with the President of South Sudan proved difficult. To get more than just a few minutes of the President’s time, Mark Mtume had to ask a favor of South Sudan’s Minister of National Security, whom he knew personally from GCC. Without revealing the plan for the new nation and without even mentioning the Ilemi Triangle, Mark convinced the Minister to set aside some of his own weekly briefing time with the president to allow Mtume a full hour to make a presentation.
The Presidential Palace had been built in the 2010s in Juba. It was intended to be temporary until the national capitol was moved 140 miles north to Ramciel, as originally planned. But after lengthy political bickering and because of the sporadic civil war along tribal lines that was centered in the northern part of the country, the planned move had not taken place. The Palace (only called that because that is what the presidential residence in Khartoum was called), was high on functional utility and low on splendor. That suited the humble personalities of most of the succession of presidents. This outlook had been patterned after the country’s first president, Salva Kiir Mayardit. Like Kiir, the latest president was from the Dinka tribe, and he also was a devout Catholic. He had chosen a member of the rival Nuer tribe to be his vice president, so there was significant movement to ending the civil war, but lasting peace was still elusive. There was talk of a Peace and Reconciliation conference, but that was still months or even years away.
By pre-arrangement, Mark spent the two hours before the scheduled meeting with the President meeting with the Minister of National Security, just a short walk from the Presidential Palace. It was not until this preliminary meeting that Mark let the Minister know the full details of Project SWILL. The Minister was astounded, but became enthusiastic about the plan after Mark spelled out the providential chain of events and showed him the Letters of Agreement.
The second hour of their conversation was spent primarily on the strategic implications of having a “new player” in the region. They were in agreement that the Ilemi Republic would provide a defensive bastion against expansive Thirdist aggression in the region, especially since the Ilemi Triangle had been undefended and just cursorily patrolled since South Sudan’s Independence in 2011. Having the Triangle well populated and vigilantly defended would be a welcome change. On several occasions, Thirdist guerillas had transited the Ilemi to infiltrate both Kenya and South Sudan. And there were rumors that a WIS terrorist training camp was being constructed just across the border in Ethiopia, on the Lower Omo River. So, even aside from the regional economic development advantages, the new nation state would be in the best strategic interests of both South Sudan and Kenya.
Mark and the Defense Minister were ushered into the Presid
ent’s office by the President’s aide, who then ducked out and shut the door.
The President smiled and reached across his desk to shake their hands. As he did so, he said, “Reverend Mtume, it is good to see you again. The last time we met, you took just a few minutes to discuss refugee issues and to ask me to prepare a vid of a short speech for one of your conferences, which I could not attend personally. But now, here we meet again, accompanied by one of my most trusted Cabinet members, and you are asking for a full hour of my time. So I get the feeling that this is much more than just a social visit. Am I right?”
“Yes, Mr. President. I’m here today to propose founding a new nation, in the Ilemi Triangle.”
Mtume spent the next 20 minutes outlining his plans for the Ilemi Republic. The President listened in rapt attention.
The President turned to his Minister of National Security and asked, “What are your thoughts on this proposal?”
“I am 100% for it. I believe that Reverend Mtume is here today by divine appointment. The time has come for a Christian homeland nation, and He has put us together in this room, here and now, to see that this happens. It is God’s will. Not only is it the Christian thing to do, but also it has some huge implications for development of the economy in East Equatoria. There will be billions of NEuros flowing in, and South Sudan will benefit from that investment, both directly and indirectly, because settlers in the Ilemi will need to source equipment, manpower, raw materials, foodstuffs, and many services, and most of that will come from either South Sudan or Kenya. The bordering nations will surely be part of this, because it takes infrastructure to build infrastructure. There will be big road building contracts, telecommunications ventures, dams, bridges, pipelines, power lines, and so forth. But even more importantly, as a military man, I can safely and almost assuredly predict that this new nation will help shift the strategic balance in the region away from Sudan and Ethiopia and toward South Sudan and Kenya.”
Mark Mtume jumped in and mentioned his planned Citizenship By Investment program for the new nation. The President interrupted to say, “It will take a lot more than selling passports to Perpetual Travelers to finance building an entire nation. Even here in South Sudan where we are blessed with oil revenue, it is still a struggle.”
“Yes, and that’s why I was just about to show you these.”
He reached into his briefcase and pulled out the stack of original LOAs and slid them across the President’s desk. He said, “These Letters of Agreement amount to more than three billion NEuros in firm commitments, loans, or gifts, and I expect close to one billion more NEuros in revenue from our passport program in just the first two years.”
For the next few minutes, Mark Mtume rattled off summaries of the LOAs, from memory, starting with Kim Rhee’s photovoltaic and hydrogen farm investment promise.
The president nodded. Swiveling his chair to face Mtume, he said, “If you had come to me alone, I don’t think I would have taken this with full seriousness. But since you have come to me with the man who, while serving as a General, almost singlehandedly kept both our army and our nation from falling apart, then I must take you quite seriously. And as a man of God, I cannot ignore the urging of the Holy Spirit, which I must say that I now feel.”
He touched the tips of his fingers together in a prayer-like gesture, as he continued, “You surely realize that the most fundamental rule for every sovereign nation is to defend the territorial integrity of that nation. Now, nations will often create Free Trade Zones, or offer other incentives for foreign investment, or they might lease some ground for a period of say 100 years, like Hong Kong was once leased to England. But they almost never fully cede sovereignty to a piece of ground -- completely and permanently. Generally, that sets a bad precedent, especially if a partition is made along ethnic or tribal lines. It opens the door to carving up a country until there is nothing left, as nearly happened in the former Yugoslavia late in the last century. And although I agree with the need for a Christian homeland in today’s world, I have doubts that the Ilemi is a suitable place for it. It is so remote, the climate is so harsh, and there is just about zero infrastructure. Some might even call that land God-forsaken.”
“And our aim,” Mark responded, “is to see this land blessed by God. Israel was also once a blighted land, with hardly any trees left. But look at it now. I most sincerely trust that all of these pieces providentially falling into place -- such as the LOAs that are before you -- are evidence that this venture is God’s Will, to His glory. The establishment of the Ilemi Republic is clearly His will, set in motion, and we are His instruments.”
Mark paused to let that sink in, and then continued, “As I’m sure you know, the land area of South Sudan is about 581,300 square kilometers. The Ilemi Triangle is about 14,000 square kilometers. So that is only about 2.4% of the country. And it is still contested with Kenya. If the issue ever goes to an international tribunal, even though you have a stronger inherent territorial claim, they still might side with Kenya, because the Kenyans have policed the Ilemi for more than a century. They might call this a proscriptive right of sovereignty or adverse possession on a grand scale by Kenya. So my conclusion is, why not simply do the right thing for the world’s persecuted Christians, and grant them a little piece of scrubland, as a Grand Experiment. It will be an experiment in Christian liberty. If we fail, we fail. If we perish, we perish. But please, I beg you, in the name Christ, do this thing, and give us this chance to save the lives of tens of thousands of fellow Believers in Christ Jesus.”
The President bowed his head and trembled slightly, with eyes closed. Then, after an uncomfortably long pause he looked up, and said slowly, “I will agree, tentatively, but upon three conditions: Condition Number One is that this has my agreement only if you can get essentially the same concession from Kenya, a full grant of sovereignty for the Ilemi Triangle, in perpetuity. I don’t want to see you have some 100 year experiment, only to have the land revert to Kenya when you are done. Condition Number Two is that the partition proposal is ratified by our National Legislative Assembly. Condition Number Three is that Kenya agrees to grant at least 90% of the area of land that is considered the disputed Ilemi Triangle region I would prefer to see the partition right along the 1902 Maud Survey Line as your southern border. There could be some minor adjustments, but diplomatically, the grant of sovereignty cannot be seen as one country or the other retaining any sizable portion of the Ilemi, or that would be considered inequitable and hence a loss of prestige for the other country.”
Mark responded, “Mr. President, I will do my very best to get equitable terms from the government of Kenya. Thank you, and may God bless you and the people of South Sudan.”
The President raised a forefinger and said, “One more important thing: You need to proceed with this in absolute secrecy. If you cannot get agreement from my counterpart in Kenya, then you need to very quietly drop the Ilemi Triangle from consideration as a potential homeland and pretend that you never broached this subject with either country. Because if anyone ever finds out there were overtures made and that things later fell apart, it could have some big diplomatic repercussions, and it could further muddy the waters for any future settlement of the Ilemi Triangle territorial dispute.”
“I understand, Mr. President, and I can assure you that I will exercise the utmost discretion.”
Three days later, with a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) draft in hand, Mark shuttled to Nairobi, where arrangements were already made for him to meet the President of Kenya.
To Mark Mtume’s amazement, the Kenyan president seemed already familiar with the terms of the proposal, even as he laid them out. He’d obviously had a preliminary conversation via secure videophone with his counterpart in Juba.
The Kenyan President gave his approval, so long as there were no changes in terms by South Sudan, for an area around the border villages of Kokuro and Loruth in the southeast corner of the Triangle to be reserved as Kenyan territory. He specifie
d that a rectangle of land measuring 8 kilometers by 15 kilometers be set aside to put these villages on the Kenyan side of the new boundary.
In relative terms, Kenya’s concession in granting the Ilemi was even less painful than that for South Sudan, since the land area of Kenya was 619,745 square kilometers, which made the Ilemi only about 2.2% of their territory.
For the next three weeks, Mark shuttled back and forth between Juba and Nairobi for secret meetings with the two Presidents and their Foreign Ministers. His Unseen conversations with Alan, Clive, Rick, and Meital grew more lengthy as they hashed out different negotiating strategies. These Clive characterized as “chess move discussions attempting to predict branched outcomes several moves in advance.” Then there were further discussions between Rick and Meital. Initially, these were also about potential options and outcomes. But their conversations gradually took on a different tone. They delved into their aspirations for the new nation. They had several lengthy talks about how the Ilemi Republic might be similar to 19th century America, and how it might differ. Then they compared it to the first 40 years of modern Israel. And again, they ‘war-gamed” how it might be similar and how it might be different. They went on to also examine themselves -- their hopes, fears, and foibles. Meital confided that she had a fear of poisonous snakes, and Rick admitted that he didn’t think that he could stand unrelenting heat. He said, “I grew up in Texas where it is hot, but at least it cools off at night.”
Land of Promise (Counter-Caliphate Chronicles Series Book 1) Page 7