PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd – South Sudan

"We the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, with so little, for so long, we are now qualified to do anything, with nothing" By Konstantin Josef Jireček, a Czech historian, diplomat and slavist.

The Scavengers Looting Our Country in the Name of Foreign Investment

Scavengers, Money Looters Throbbing and looting This Country in the Name of Foreign Investment

By Dominic Dut Chol

From rags to riches: the amazing transition of the South Sudanese Minister
From rags to riches: the amazing transition of the scavengers looting our country in the name of foreign investment

When a monkey is robbed of its young one a mouthful of food is given in return to avoid conflict. To our friends/neighbors, it is always different. However much we do for them they will never appreciate instead the citizens of this country continue facing on the same difficulties. Our government is nursing them instead of putting them in the right channel of foreign categories. Tolerance has given a chance to this xenophobia that has swamped our young Nation and indulged on activities that are contrary to our cultures ranging from our customs to traditions and ignorance of the native rights. This Country is bound by her international and regional diplomatic obligations; it must see to it that her interests namely protection of her citizens, rights to employment, non importation of substandard goods and services to restriction of illegal and illicit vices that may affect the citizens’ health.

Some readers misquoted me when I first published an article criticizing the brutal behaviors of these foreigners to an extent of terming the article as a threat to our diplomatic relations. Therefore, I want to testify to my fellow counrtymen and women that I happen to fall on the category of those who are gaining their portion through foreign investment but this should not disregard us from falling into our rightful obligations. The truth must be told and as citizen of this young nation, I feel being denied the rights that I correctly call national rights and this is caused by the tolerance of our government in foreseeing the usefulness of the citizen rights.

Can someone tell me the benefits that this nation receive or gain from these foreign investors?  Some of these so called foreign investors are just individuals to whom you could not believe should something take you to the true background of their business prospers.  These people have monopolized our markets to an extent of bringing their own country men and women to occupy some of the local jobs that are supposed to be done by the local citizens.  This has been irritating the citizens of this country very much and I wonder how and why this system is being tolerated while some of our citizens are dying of poverty.  Does this mean that we are naturally created lazy? In my opinion, if there should be existence of foreign investment in this country, the manpower should be balanced in order to create enough job opportunities to our locals. This does not mean chasing the foreigners away and leave jobs to the locals.

Some few days back, I was driving around customs road after work, only to get surprised by some blows thrown about between one Mundari blocker and a Somali man who claimed to be shop supervisor. They clashed over offloading a Truck that was carrying water containers. The South Sudanese man said it is their duty to offload the truck while the Somali man said he has enough manpower in the persons of his kin to offload the truck instead he insisted that he needed no more assistance from the Mundari. Imagine a citizen who is in possession of a license that gives him a right to do work being beaten by a foreign shop owner apparently because the citizen is claiming his right to do the work. This is just one of the grim realities suffered by many South Sudanese citizens in their daily encounters with their foreign counterparts who have swamped our young Nation in the name of investors.

But investors who end up polishing our finger nails, own squealer and shanty brothels to shops built out of corrugated iron sheets rented them by unscrupulous lots ranging from the blessed people in the hearts of our cities and towns and the big people of the land who provide them with sanctuary even if they are at wrong. This situation if not looked at sooner is bound to explode to something akin to what happened in The Republic of South Africa a few years back adding yet another crisis to our present numerous ones facing our Young Republic. Hence should we remain with our hands tied behind our back and tolerate this act of misfortune to invade this nation. I am not partially scrutinizing nor intimidating the foreign investment in this country. Rather, I am giving an opinion as a national and a citizen of this country that this hypo critic  and incompetence customs of our country being inundated by all sorts of crooks in the names of investors must be permanently dealt with.

This can be done through instituting stringent  legislations on immigration, work and business permits which are genuine and legally acceptable in both the country of origin and the Republic of South Sudan, coupled with laws that prohibit either  our own  or foreign senior officials of the government from having  business ties directly with foreigners as this will ensure that individual investors would only do their business with upmost respect for everything such as prostitution and swamping of unscrupulous traditional healers and witch Doctors who are roaming all over and robbing of people openly before the noses and full watch of law enforcement apparatuses.

Witch doctors and their agencies could be seen distributing papers adverting their underworld and occult services on almost every corner of our streets and even have the audacity to use our public information mediums to reach our local unsuspecting citizens yet the authority watch quietly and when asked would argue we should not scare away investors! What sorts of investors are these for God sake!!!! And what does this Country gain from this category of investors? Death, wretched homes and our poor citizens’ money have gone free….. Oh no, the government must do something and real fast to stop this outrageous influx of criminals into our Country in the name of investors before the contempt that is heaving in the hearts of South Sudanese is pour onto this foreign scavengers and exploiters to avoid bloodshed and diplomatic embarrassments that is likely to be caused by what I could correctly call xenophobia.

To end here, let’s meditate over this and other important issues pertinent to service delivery to our people and Nation Building.

The Author of This Article is a South Sudanese from Lakes State, Rumbek Central County, Mayom Payam. He can be reached at: domiano86@yahoo.com

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