Kiir appointments are disappointments
5 min readBY: Isaiah Abraham, JUBA
AUG. 17/2011, SSN; The ghost of one tribe dominating everything in the new republic of South Sudan has refused to go away even after we promised ourselves and the world that we will not fall again into crisis of ethnic abuses against one another.
We had in the past few days a presidential decree in which the two sensitive posts, the Central Bank and Judiciary, were awarded to two individuals from one tribe or one region. These individuals were Judge Chan Reech Madut for Judiciary as Chief Justice, and Mr. Kornelio Koryom Mayik for presidency of the Central Bank.
Given, the two gentlemen are impeccable characters with vast and relevant experiences in their respective careers. Mr. Koryom is a hard working old man, while Chandit proved to be a man of principles when he handled the referendum.
The President made real his promise by appointing people according to their qualifications and not necessary their tribe. He might be right or wrong depending on how we had understood him on this theory, and I for one am in the later camp (wrong group). I see it as contempt to cherish principles of sharing.
Everyone thought that ‘Akulebarau’ (domination) thing has disappeared with the raising of the flag, little did we know that the head of state is a double- faced person.
Mr. Kiir should have been wiser to avoid making blunders, one after another. This is Africa and for that matter it is Southern Sudan. Any move goes under tribal microscopic before we know whether the case in question warrants criticism or not.
Southerners like any other people have sharpened their interest in politics. This isn’t a bad thing. The public should behave that way unless a monster lord it over and be realized too late.
With due respect to the law about the prerogatives of our president, our president must be reminded that this land belongs to many tribes, one of which is Dinka. Each tribe has ‘qualified’ and competent personalities that could fill up the Republican senior jobs.
Going by Gogrial elite (not all Gogrial anyway) leaving the majority in the cold is too bad a politic. Though this clique from Gogrial people are Southerners and deserve jobs like any other one, spreading them at strategic positions makes us think of Jean Bedel Bokassa of Central African Republic whose sole leadership is bring in his M’kaba tribesmen and women into every powerful positions.
He never escaped becoming corrupt and a difficult ruler in his time, though surrounded by foreign masters.
Our president’s backers keep on pointing fingers to those that question their man’s bizarre decisions but this time they got to go underground in shame.
If our Central Bank was to be reformed, is Mr. Koryom a reformer? I doubt it! Yeah, he is a hard working person, but is that enough?
How about Mulana (Judge) Chandit, will he really be independent and do his job without bowing to pressures from the Executive?
What about other renowned lawyers and economists from other tribes, why not try them? Our people could safely called this government the Government of Gogrial people or Bahr El Ghazal.
There is no way Mr. Kiir should be allowed to make mockery of our people’s gains by reversing them with a weak and dangerous leadership. I fear for the faulty start on the side of our leaders.
Preaching water and sipping wine is hypocrisy of the highest order. Kiir in this particular decision (appointment) has lost the confidence of his people and should bow out.
Being a liberator like any other Southerner doesn’t qualify anyone to curb out national cake for his people alone. I can humbly agree with those that called for federalism.
Mr. Elijah Malok, (dismissed Governor of Central Bank) could be old and sometime mouthy, but he has managed to control the economy, especially the macro one. We have had a stable pound and a stable economy throughout the period of the six years.
He has further regulated banking system that makes it difficult for so-called foreign financial investors to spoil up our national economy. The man had tamed the inflation menace by keeping the dollar at bay. Uncle Elijah has kept a clean sheet on corruption and was known to have steered clear of nepotism.
Koryom was terrible during the last selection of bankers, remember?
Uncle Elijah never delayed to apportion money to our armed forces (SPLA). In addition, the old man was never tired to fight financial leeches around the corridors of power who had wanted dubiously to open up palaces, hotels and the like. The list is long, so what is more?
No one though has an illusion of keeping one person in one job forever or makeing someone do the same job again and again. The theory of diminishing return could slow anyone down, but we had expected our leaders to replace sensitive positions such as banking and Judiciary with people who can make a positive impact.
I doubt Uncle Koryom the same way I doubt Kiir on the top! This is tech era and people with fresh ideas should have been given a chance, not a generation of Keynesian Economists.
Mr. President is forgetting that a country that has several people looking for representation in the government can’t keep quite when one tribe heads every unit in the country. This practice must stop!
Balancing is necessity if we mean pluralism and inclusiveness, something we took up arms against Khartoum. We still have a long way to go before we adopt Western style of governance.
The president has the last chance however to move away from what some people called "Bahr El Ghazalization" of the country. People still love him only if he quickly freed himself from the elite from home. God bless South Sudan!
Isaiah Abraham lives in Juba; Isaiah_abraham
http://www.southsudannation.com/kiirapptsaredisappt%20isaiahabram78.htm
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