Goofing But not Doomed: 7 years of SPLM
By Deng Akoi Nyuon Akoi
On the 9th of January, 2005.Those of us who were in the Nyayo National Stadium for the signing of the comprehensive Peace Agreement witnessed with amazing hopes the return of peace to the Sudan. There was no doubt whatsoever that Dr. John Garang had negotiated an exhaustive pact not only for Southerners but also for the citizens of Abyei, Southern Blue Nile & Southern Kordofan States.
We all celebrated the demise of war! Then came the Referendum. Jubilations became ‘Jubalations’.
We were all winners and we hoped that we were forever divorced from economic destitute and political marginalizations. We were finally the 193rd member of the United Nations.
Like a child that develops in the womb, South Sudan’s intrauterine days were bad & she was born underweight [not preterm]. We became a vulnerable nation but we aren’t doomed. What had happened during the formative years [interim period] was going to be crucial in later life.
Immediately after our government was headquartered in Juba, our politicians took an about-turn. They started rewarding themselves for ‘having fought’ and perhaps ‘not died’. Little did we know that an era of ‘everybody can help himself/herself now’ had just been commissioned? Such was our first shock with the real world of nation building.
But we could have learned a thing or two from the failures of post-independent African states. We instead chose to repeat those mistakes even when we had the benefit of a hindsight or ‘leakage’ if you may like. The temptation to get rich quick blurred our eyes and minds from focusing on the bull’s eye.
The question that South Sudanese are grappling with today is not whether Juba and Khartoum will go back to war; instead, it’s whether the liberation struggle government can tackle the present day challenges of wholesale corruption, mass poverty, mass illiteracy and tribal conflicts. I agree that war charges nationalistic sentiments on either side & successfully divert attentions from real issues but war too do drain economies mercilessly & it would be a stupid, nonviable option for either government to pick. If there’s going to be some confrontation, it would be ‘hit and run’ scenes that are short-lived and confined to the borderlines. Again, the Liberation struggle army is a spirited army with ‘three balls’.
Neither the SPLA nor Al Bashir’s army would convincingly defeat the other and that was why they fought for over two decades. That’s why we need to place our priorities on meeting the economic aspirations of South Sudanese people. We have the largest arable land in the region & are abundantly blessed with the mighty White Nile. There’s no reason why we can’t feed ourselves or in the words of Dr.John Garang ‘becomes the bread basket of Africa’.
While the current talks between the two Sudans in Addis Ababa could not be any easier, we can always hope that they’ll bear some fruits as soon as practical while concomitantly preparing for any eventuality. If the Peace Palace becomes that eventuality, then we’ll need to have our acts together, earnestly. It was such a shame that the SPLM went to Hague in 2009 affirming Heglig/Panthou as part of Abyei even when Heglig was being administered from Bentiu. Such incautious act volunteered an image of ‘a panic-stricken and gambling government’.
It took austerity measures for South Sudanese to know that $4 billion of their public money had been salted away to banks in Geneva, Europe and North America. We had just crowned ourselves the undisputed master of thievery in Eastern Africa. The Government could not account for all that? Actually, the auditing firm should tell us how much couldn’t be accounted for by the Presidency. I wouldn’t believe it if am told that no single piastress has ever ‘gone unnoticed’ in those two offices. Again, the buck of political responsibility stops right there. The money slipped away while they were in office/under their watch. The team captain & his deputy should proceed to Equity Bank & deposit whatever their offices [not necessarily them] could not account for.
Indeed, fighting graft requires courage akin to that of a twilight girl/prostitute. In all honesty, if the SPLM is to fight corruption to death, then the fight must start from top-down & not from bottom-up. The Fight must be all rounded. There can’t be grey areas or ‘inbetweeners’. It must involve all sectors of the government & not only the 75 ‘bad tomatoes’. Such is the high demand that South Sudanese have placed on their leaders. That way, we’ll have led by example instead of the usual telling case of ‘a speck in thy neighbor’s eye’.
The message is; YOU HAVE YOUR SALARY TO DO AS YOU PLEASE. And yes, there’re African countries that have fought corruption satisfyingly and fruitfully. Botswana tops that list.
We are citizens of a free country and everyone is welcome to his opinion. I’m not saying that you start liking my opinion; actually, I could care less if you like my opinion or not, the point is: EVERYONE SHOULD BE HEARD! Respecting and embracing varying perspectives from varying people is the real significance of diversity. It doesn’t just mean appreciation of ethnic, religious & gender differences that it has come to be known wholesomely. The government should make its position clear on several arbitral detentions & disappearances! Deng Athuai, Nhial Bol and James Okuk just to mention a few.
Such acts only serve to remind us of the dark days of the liberation struggle. The government’s inaction only succeeds at reinforcing public suspicion. Sometimes, the old adage ‘It’s only the oppressor that has changed but the oppression is ongoing’ visits my mind. Such techniques are used by repressive, fascist and theocratic regimes the world over to maintain, control and tighten grip on power. Al-Bashir too employs them to silence dissidents. Why would a democratically elected government with the confidence of its citizens at almost 100% tremble at a prospect of a journalist expressing his opinion?
You can’t expect to read your OWN thoughts on a journalist’s OWN opinion column all the times. Of course you’re two different people with probably diametrically opposite views. Let’s have an honest debate on important national issues freely and we’ll disembarrass ourselves of the ‘dichotomy of us and them ‘.
The people of South Sudan have come from catastrophes and hells better than the ones they are seeing today .Can you blame them for having wild hopes and dreams in their own government? That should motivate their government instead. There should be no question that they are getting what they don’t deserve. They don’t deserve discounted services. Their hopes have fallen so low so fast. But one thing is for sure; they’re a hardened lot & they’ll surely survive.
A clothes dealer can’t continue with his business simply because the government can’t provide hard currency so that he can travel to Istanbul or Milan to restock his stall. It’s an utter disregard of the little things that citizens do when they can’t find jobs with their Government.
Let’s be careful that a long sorry story is not told of South Sudan when histories are told in the years and decades to come. That the later governments don’t struggle instituting reforms instead of carrying on with the foundations laid down by the first government .That we don’t concentrate on the missed chances. Let’s create a foundation for peace and development and bring into life a more peaceful, viable and promising South Sudan.
To the zealous civil society activist, journalist and de-facto writers like myself; keep expressing your thoughts, that’s the true meaning of self-rule. Again, it’s usually therapeutic. Don’t chicken out, discuss those ‘taboo topics’ of corruption & kidnapping of citizens who harbor contrary views. Don’t get converted to ‘safe’ journalism .Give your critique even before it becomes fashionable to do so.
Remember we have a feeble, spineless and undependable opposition party & somebody should tell things as they are. We’ll hope that common courtesy descends on them while we continue to remind them of their role in the people’s liberation struggle movement. Amen?
As for those dedicated, diligent and responsible citizens in the public service, who haven’t subscribed to ‘a go along to get along’ mantra that happens to define ‘political correctness’, a day like this truly belongs to you much as it does to Dr. John & all our martyrs. You are the reason why it’s not all doom and gloom, you’re the reason why we aren’t just a heap of failed souls! Thank you for holding public offices in high regards. Our brighter days are still ahead.
You guys have given meaning to what a certain French Historian; one Alfred Grosser termed ‘the ideology of prosperity’. So keep up your nerves! good people.
After all, our independence is an inspiration to even the Scottish.
Happy 1st anniversary free people!
You can contact the author through his: dengakoi2003@yahoo.com
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