By Francis Lokole
It is 6.30 am and all is quiet in Torit County of Eastern Equatorial State, Southern Sudan. But, as villagers continue to enjoy the warmth of their beds, one homestead is already abuzz with activity. Unlike in other homes, small children are already awake, sipping tea as they tease each other. Next to them are three men conversing in their mother tongue as they wait to be assigned their work for the day. As we arrive at the vast homestead, a tall, lightly built woman emerges still dressed in her brown night gown and speaking softly to someone over her mobile phone. “Yes. I am the Principal Chief here. Can I help you?” she says, her soft voice almost a betrayal to her authority.
Meet Adelina Tito, the Paramount Chief of Eastern Equatorial State. Adelina exhibits confidence and authority but, it is also laced with a great deal of humility. Living in a country that has experienced conflict for many years and now grappling with a myriad of problems, Adelina is not only an inspiration to the women of Southern Sudan where gender equality is still a mirage but, she also has a loaded agenda to restore law and order in a region torn by civil war.
When she was appointed to the position, many men dismissed it as a joke. “How can a woman order us a round?” they asked. But today, Tito is the talk of Eastern Equatoria and has become an undisputed role model for women.
A widow and a mother of two sons, she has managed to overcome cultural barriers and the challenges of conflict to rise through the ranks, becoming the only female Paramount Chief of Eastern Equatorial State. She is in-charge of 397 chiefs, all male.
She is a beacon of hope to the young girls of Southern Sudan where the education of girls has been relegated to the back seat due to social and cultural beliefs that only boys should be educated. She is using her position in society to champion the empowerment of women through education of girls. “Many women tell me my appointment has made them proud and proof that even women can hold senior administrative jobs in the government,” she says.
Born 50 years ago in Lopa County, Adelina came from a privileged royal background where her grandfather was a rainmaker and chief. Her family was determined to see her get a good education. She attended Torit Primary School but, the language used in schools being Arabic, she found it difficult to cope as she was not from an Arabic speaking community. Her difficult studies came to an abrupt end when the civil war broke out in 1955 and her father was killed.
She married in 1975, aged 16. Her husband did not win the admiration of her family because he could not pay her dowry. “In our society, a man is respected by the way he is able to pay dowry. As a result my marriage was not good because my husband was poor,”she says. They got married all the same. Her husband was later executed on suspicion that he was a member of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in Juba.
“It is at this point that I had to fend for myself and children. I joined the police force and became a powerful police woman,” she stated. Determined, Adelina used her position in the police to play a crucial role in the war and demonstrate that she was a leader able to deliver on the demands placed on her. While working as a prison officer, she organized the release of hundreds of young Sudanese soldiers, who later escaped to Uganda. “It is this type of work that propelled me into the position of leadership,” she explains. By then, Torit was one of the epicentres of the war, making it difficult for her and her community to reside there.
The many years she served as a professional policewoman and the understanding of the law she developed have helped her to execute her functions as chief well, something that has been difficult for other chiefs who lack such experience. “I began to start listening to cases and solving matters including punishing the offenders,” she says.
It was only after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in 2005 and peace returned to the troubled region that she relocated from Juba to execute her functions within Torit Country. She was later promoted to the rank of Paramount Chief. As a female chief, Adelina is liked by many people for her interpersonal communication skills. Many consider her as a fair and just arbiter when it comes to conflicts or interpretations of the law.
For her, the Affirmative Action principle will ensure she remains in a leadership position in the next general election. Her only challenge is winning the first ever election that will be conducted for SPLM chiefs to select one head chief as a representative to the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS). “It is a tall order since am the only woman who is going to vie for the position,” she says smiling.
Besides fighting for political prominence, she is also working to see more women follow in her footsteps. “I have already identified three women with good leadership qualities and encouraged them to vie for elections for chiefs during the coming elections in Langiro, Kudo and Chukdum Payams within Equatorial State,” she says. Adelina has also been touring around preaching and educating women on income generating initiatives.
Although Adelina admits there has been progress since 2005, she states that there is still much to be done as Sudanese women face a lot of obstacles such as access to information, education and cultural barriers, among other issues. “The sky is the limit for Southern Sudanese women,” she says with a grin.