July 9th is South Sudan: Why Wrangle on Money?

By Philip Thon Aleu, Juba

April 24, 2015 (SSB)  —-   A week since the council of ministers approved a request by the office of the president to set aside millions of pounds to prepare for celebrations of fourth Independence Day (ID), there have been nagging over the same the period of time. There are even some stupid questions whether it is necessary to mark ID this year?

It all started when information minister Michael Makuei Lueth told reporters on April 17th, as usual after every meeting, that a total of 129 South Sudanese Pounds is approved for the ID nationwide. But he stressed that the amount requested for reconstruction of John Garang Mausoleum is pending further study to establish if it will be possible to do the reconstruction before July 9th. Much as there is no question that information minister mentioned 129 million, there is a need for clarification of how that money would be used.

So the office of president, through the press secretary attempted to do exactly that but seem to have flattered because Ateny Wek Ateny did not tell the public what information did not say; how is the money being divided to the states and what amount is going for what? Instead, he slashed the money to about 30 million pound. Alternatively, the information should have the courage to retract his statement. Or is Honorable Michael Makuei unable to call a press conference on this? Those are the questions worth asking and hopefully will be answered soon or later.

That aside, why would a nation debate how much she is required to prepare for ID? As a people, our memories are still fresh, and should be refreshed again, that no amount of money assisted us in achieving independence from the onset of the struggle in 1947, 1955 and 1983 to 2011. Millions of people died, millions orphaned. Millions amputated and millions others physiologically disturbed by the wars to achieve our independence.

If it means spending a billion to give us a platform to remind ourselves that July 9th means South Sudan, so be it. There are issues of rampant corruption here and there and that is the first thought in everyone’s mind when money is mentioned. But again, we cannot refuse to move forward because money will be stolen. How much is being siphoned without publicly on TV, radio stations or written on newspapers? Corruption should not hold the nation hostage.

Some opposition politicians and citizens said the money allocated for celebrations should have been given to assist starving citizens due to lack of food or used to provide medicines to the empty shelves in the clinics and health centers. I am sure there is money for those projects but it is being eaten silently. If you read 2014/2015 national budget, those sectors are catered for. So it is better for the opposition politicians and those concern citizens to be well acquainted with national budget and follow it implementation critically. Where there is a loophole, beat the loud drum and alert the public that this amount is available and a certain politician from the ruling SPLM party is sitting on it.

That would make sense and somebody would take those critics seriously. But just waiting for an announcement from the government, react spontaneously without giving a second thought would, in a layman’s language, mean opposing for the sake of opposition. It is important to note there are national interests, public interests and political interest. ID is a national interest. Any nationalist should put some “however” where it is due but suggesting marking July 9th is unnecessary is illogical.

It is time for politicians and us the citizens to try our very best to encourage our people to be more self-reliance and press the government to provide such environment in a constructive manner. We can even be more aggressive constructively provided that does not involved violence.

© Philip Thon Aleu, 2015.