Think Big: Remove Alfred Ladu Gore From His Current Position
Offering an unproductive individual a vital government seat is tantamount to deliberate work against a sovereign state. Appointing the right official to the right position is paramount in promoting good governance, a status South Sudan badly longs for.
I believe nation-building process has been prioritized by South Sudan government. It is a huge task that’s so demanding. It requires each and every individual to unconditionally and tirelessly contribute whatever he or she can. Any government interested in shaping the image of its state dispatches its citizens with ability, integrity and drive to foreign missions, irrespective of origin and past lives.
Alfred Ladu Gore, a minister of Environment? That sounds funny. Why is he holding such a position? Is the ministry worth his salt?
Check this out: during the civil war, almost every influential leader was tested by the situations due to something I can call conflict of interest in the SPLA/M. The late Garang Mabior fell out with a number of them who, like pigs, grumbled and rumbled. They broke away and formed their own armies that consisted of mainly fellow tribesmen under the pretext of defending their villages from any intruder. Some violently stabbed the SPLA at the back and joined SAF with exchange of food and little Dinars. Others peacefully sat back and relaxed in nearby foreign cities like Nairobi and Kampala where they lived lives of paupers.
Ladu Gore wasn’t spared by the temptations that seemed compulsory at the time. He at times reneged for several reasons. He once aligned himself with Riek Machar who had earlier forged his Khartoum-backed militia group historically called South Sudan’s Defense Force. Gore frequently got imprisoned by the Movement’s leadership for his moves. He had good intentions though. He was an emissary. Garang sent him to the Caribbean countries to lobby support. He once came back from a successful mission that entailed scholarships for South Sudanese. He conveyed the good news to his bosses who received it with joy and happiness but opted to make the opportunity tribal. Few days later, Gore learned that students were, on tribal lines, hand-picked and sent abroad. This drove him nuts. It infuriated him because he wanted to make the procedure clean and transparent by making it competitory. He really wished to get onboard those who once sat in classes, those who could write down ABCD in alphabetical order and or those knew at least English greetings. But the leadership seriously jokingly picked a lot of dengs, wols and daus. When Gore questioned the questionable decision, they threw him in. Imagine the scholarships involved piloting, engineering and the likes. Most of them made lives of lecturers living nightmares as communication barrier rocked the mission. The authorities were forced to do something about them; the government removed some from learning institutions and put them on welfare. Some of them quickly picked up ghetto lifestyle and ended up as Rastafarians, ganja planters. Few managed to graduate.
Once again, there was this thing called Kokora. People always mention Ladu Gore whenever it comes up in conversations. According to my understanding, regardless of the land issue and other trivial cases Equatorian leaders hid behind, Kokora was a great idea aimed at developing the three great regions of South Sudan but the SPLA/M fat necks unfortunately misinterpreted, sectionalized and politicized it, causing bitter conflicts and increased suspicions amongst South Sudanese. Folks always want to convince you that he is a bad guy; that he can’t hold any critical government position. You know what? I really don’t care about that even if Gore was the ringleader. I have archived it in the national library of misunderstandings. Furthermore, despite all the tribal wickedness in the Movement, characterized by slitting of throats, treachery and back-stabbing, his hands didn’t get stained with blood of prominent figures unlike some of his current comrades who, like what nomads do to bulls, made holes on the necks and dipped their mouths to suck blood, blood of freedom fighters. I mean he has got the cleanest hand compared to some current big shots.
Back to the point, who is a diplomat? Who can be a diplomat? A diplomat is an official engaged in international negotiations and a person who deals tactfully with others. A Diplomat also represents and builds diplomatic relations with other states to help build a negotiable relation between two states while protecting nationals as well as interests of the sending state. Do all the appointed heads of missions have what it takes to represent South Sudan abroad? Honestly, are they typical diplomats? All of them?
I don’t intend to paint a picture that could imply that our ambassadors are ineffectual, mute, lazy, and incapable of executing their duties but the question is: how professional are they? How diplomatic are they? There is a comedic but sad and embarrassing story about a South Sudan’s embassy that is currently being talked about in the streets; Upon arrival at the host state’s minister of foreign affairs conference hall for some important bilateral talks attended by international government agencies and financial institutions, the head of mission grabbed a microphone and introduced his entourage: “…….seated at the far right is the son of Honorable X. Beside him is the 27th daughter of Honorable Y, next, wearing pink suits is son of Late Honorable Z and this one here with scary tribal markings is the son of …..No, sorry. You have never heard of his father. His father is a cattle keeper. He owns a lot of cows that can feed the entire population of this city for six months………..”
“Hey hey hey….hold on. What are you talking about, mister ambassador? Is this a family thing or what? Who cares about what you’re talking about here? This is unacceptable. Go back with your sons and daughters of Xs and Ys and Zs and put your house in order before you come back next week.” The host minister interrupted. Hail Mary!
And during the recent Heglig war, some renowned South Sudanese diplomats were reportedly busy sipping cold beer and watching European football games in bars while their Sudanese counterparts spent sleepless nights, seeking, wooing favors from the international community. Didn’t Khartoum win? Didn’t the demoralized mighty SPLA warriors return from the battle field like “Kɔ̈c ke ce lo roc jöh?”
Ladu Gore, an outspoken intelligent no-nonsense man, heading Ministry of Environment? Why is he being wasted? Why rob the country of its good citizens? Given his past experience in “hustling” for aid from “friends of SPLA”, plus his scholastic brains, couldn’t he do better? You can tell a good leader by how he or she handles a big problem. In 2010 April gubernatorial elections, he won but he got robbed of votes by we-all-know-who. Even dogs in Juba can attest to that. The final results were tailored by the usual suspects who felt that, if Gore became the Governor of CES, he would tamper with a lot of deals in Juba. But he tackled the whole issue professionally and diligently. He appealed and filed a case, yet his fellow disgruntled-candidates took up arms and shed blood of innocent civilians.
In conclusion, our government shouldn’t just pick and dump individual officials anyhow just because they stayed loyal to the movement or because they have common ancestry with the final decider. Kiir should not surround himself with not-so-efficient yes-men aka sycophants because the whole idea is nothing but a poorly calculated political investment. Everything comes to an end; never shall President Kiir rule forever. For the sake of South Sudan which I think is bigger than any citizen, the kiir-riek government should deploy the likes of Alfred Ladu Gore in areas of their expertise at least to elevate the world’s newest nation from chronic political drunkenness and directionlessness. Send him to the UN or United States or United Kingdoms. Give the devil his due.
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