“FOREIGNERS SHOULD GIVE SOUTH SUDANESE A CHANCE IN EMPLOYMENT”
By Sabbath de Yecouba, forwarded by Wenne Madyt Dengs
Countries learn from each other. I have learnt that foreigners don’t work in another foreign country lest they are citizens of that country too. Dual citizenship for that matter. I was taken aback by it the first time I came to South Sudan. I was not taken aback by the presence of foreigners in South Sudan. I didn’t dispute that.
I disputed the employment of foreigners in leadership positions countrywide. I have been conversant with the situation that I lived in, in the country I grew up in. I was aware of the fact that a foreigner cannot run a business leave alone being employed.
I had struggled to work in Nairobi with an international company called forever living products. My manager ran away with my money up to date. Other South Sudanese who ran businesses ended up having their money stolen by the closest friends they employed to help them out of discrimination. What am I talking about?
While I studied in a foreign country, I didn’t see an occasion where my Kenyan classmate defeated me in my class. I wonder where such foreigners get such expertise that betters them off than us. A friend who is a journalist has written this status on her Facebook wall already. I highlighted earlier in other articles that I wrote that South Sudanese don’t believe in themselves. They think that foreigners are better.
A citizen has several advantages when he works in his own country. A foreigner will work for personal gain. He will be less concerned about the betterment of the foreign country he works in. A citizen will work for money but also endeavors to improve the living standards of his fellow citizens.
This is what South Sudanese have lacked over a couple of years. This should be the right time to make it happen that a wider opportunity is opened for the qualified citizens who toil to earn a living while qualified. Only the citizens of South Sudan will bring development to a broader spectrum.
I personally feel that we have fears as a country. We fear where our oil will be exported because we are a landlocked country. This might have been why foreigners were retained. We fear where we shall get commodities from. Who is benefiting from the imported commodities? South Sudanese aren’t.
They are those foreign countries which did give South Sudanese oppressive hands. They get taxes at the borderline. Their commodities are brought into this country and the food prices hit the roof. Who has benefited and who has been affected?
South Sudanese who live and study in foreign countries pay rent and electricity. They are scared by too high prices of the land and lease. They pay high school fees. All those aforesaid yet they don’t work in such countries or run businesses. Who has benefited there and who has been affected? Honestly, why should we be scared by actions taken in our presence in those countries?
If South Sudanese are chased in those neighboring countries, don’t we have a land to settle them in? Can’t we offer them enough jobs? If at all commodities will not be brought because we have stopped foreigners from working, can’t we cultivate like them?
How could we give into an excuse that there are activities that South Sudanese cannot perform. Where did they get that? I have learnt that most of the foreigners have big businesses. They come and employ their nationals. Take for example Eritreans. In all their hotels and lodges, only Eritreans work for them. Who owns this country now?
Foreign investors are welcomed into a country to invest and help the citizens of that country out of the employment problems. This might have been the reason why they were given such opportunities. But it has become unbecoming.
I have always seen leaflets along the road for traditional doctors who are said to be specialists in treating various diseases. I always take my leaflet. Do you know why? It is because that leaflet I have taken will not be used to cheat one person. I tear it or burn it.
This country was not liberated through witchcraft. It was liberated through the act of God. Such acts should be stopped. All the witch doctors should be deported in soonest time possible. They have a hand in the highest rates of crimes and insecurity. They should leave us in peace.
Foreigners should allow South Sudanese to enjoy their citizenship rights. This is all we are up to. It should be afoot now. Let us not be threatened by what affects our citizens. If so, the foreigners will always believe that they are better when literally they aren’t.
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The writer is a Journalist, an artiste, a poet and an author of four fictional books (Betrayed: For Love, Born to write, mentored by a rebel and The Mysterious Ghost)
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