Eighteen years ago, Futuyo was an Arrow Boy commander who answered to Azande traditional authorities and was backed by Patrick Zamoi—a man whom he now regards with implacable dislike. After he was appointed governor, Futuyo presented himself as someone—given he was of mixed heritage—who could unite the Azande with the other ethnic groups of Western Equatoria. After the Avongara campaign to characterize him as a Balanda, Futuyo refashioned himself as a Balanda ethno-nationalist, in a strategic affirmation of the outsider status with which Jemma Nunu sought to tar him. This refashioning has involved a rewriting of his own history. Futuyo now claims that he became a commander in the Arrow Boys as the first step in an ethno-nationalist Balanda project, and joined the SPLM/A-IO opportunistically as a means of taking power in Western Equatoria.[10]
At present, Futuyo’s political strategy is composed of two somewhat contradictory rhetorical ploys. He is trying to rally the non-Azande ethnic groups of Western Equatoria under the banner of a ‘majority of minorities’, while simultaneously claiming that what he desires is a Balanda administrative area, along the lines of the Greater Pibor and Ruweng administrative areas. This claim echoes earlier Avongara demands for an Azande administrative area. At present, Futuyo is at an impasse: it is impossible for the Avongara elite to tolerate him as governor and he lacks the means to actually rule the state; however, he is adamant that he will not leave power under any circumstances.[11]
[10] Author interview with Alfred Futuyo Karaba, Yambio, August 2023.
[11] Author interview with Alfred Futuyo Karaba, Yambio, August 2023.
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