Our Long Journey of Liberation and Hope for Good Governance in South Sudan (Part 1)

By Manon Jok Aleu, New York, USA

May 17, 2015 (SSB)  —   Our long Journeys of liberation had taught us to in believe in humanity and rational of human beings, ideal of freedom, believe in our aspiration of struggles of liberation; our guiding principles of the SPLM of ideas of liberation; we believe in equality, justice for all, irrespective of ethnicity, religion, region , social status or gender, the ideal of decentralization and devolution of power, the ideal of democracy and political pluralism, prosperity, harmony and social cohesion of our people, the ideal of supremacy of the rule of law and separation of powers and the ideal of accountability, transparency and good governance, these mentioned are the sweetness of guiding star of our long journeys of liberation and hope for Good governance from 1955-2005.

Yet we can witness fellow comrades still engage themselves in horrible actions in our own government, that we people expected to stand and believe in our principles of guiding star, disunity of our diverse ethnics-of our 64 tribes, intertribal fights “Cattle Raiding”, competition communities over resources, “Land issues”, inefficiency in managing public affairs “Corruption”, ineffectiveness of our security agencies “citizens lacking fairness security or lacking rule of law” and economic dysfunction in the country.

Today, our society is in a state of moral and administrative crisis in managing our state affairs in the new nation. This crisis has many symptoms, the most dramatic being the remorseless increase in levels of behaviors and attitudes of in-laws acts, we have witness those criminal immoral in after math of December15, 2013 rebellion imposed on our state by coward groups in Juba City, Unity State, Jonglei State, Upper Nile state as well as other locations in the country, why all this evils things happen, all origins from wrong practices of our state, fragile laws and social institutions of our country, all of which from our governance system that being led by those leaders of our liberation, citizens of the Republic of South Sudan ensured them trust in guiding us with wisdom, rational, logic and making good judgement, for the most respects and stand by ideals of our guiding of principles –our long journeys and hope for good governance, unfortunately, the all fails us and fails our new nation.

Then there is the decline of social and moral values of Nilotic cultural believe in impressing peace and respects to one another that our ancient from grandfathers to grandfathers are destroyed and substituted with new culture of power struggle over leadership, the decline of public trust in leadership and the weakened public consensus on any sort of addressing social, political and civic values which form our moral values, loves your neighbors, fed those who needs food, welcoming your guests and honors them, do not lies, do not take ways human live in cold blood, do not rape, work heard to fed your family, respects all human, all mentioned were Nilotic ethnics group common values and common sense ( Nuer, Dinka, and Cholo).

To me, it seem like the common sense of our good values are being compromised today in the new South Sudan and the wisdom we gain from our great fathers are turn into lies and delusions of today living were hatred, selfishness, division amongst our communities are being celebrates by those who thinks and we called them our leaders of modern South Sudan. We refrain ourselves from committing to any our culture values and guiding star of principles of liberation and comradeship that soul of ideal of freedom and independent of the promise land –Republic of South Sudan.

Is something gone wrong with our South Sudanese people or is the problem is we have the nation with no leader to guide us? Are we really serous in developing and designing a nation building project, peace building project and reconstruction of our nation by ourselves before thinking about friends or neighbors who may interesting to helps us? Do we believe that people are corrupted or the ineffectiveness of our system of government gets corrupted?

We accept and recognize the challenges of our new nation, because is it only way forward we can develop a healthy framework for effective and good governance. I believe that we needs not just effective democratic governance but the right kind of government, where people are being recognize and above the power of elitist –the state peace, harmony, unity and justices, equality and prosperity for all the people of South Sudan. The new Republic of South Sudan needs governance not just focused on politics and publics management alone, instead we need governance systems that include good economy, statehood, and societies that is more proactive in engaging in national interest projects and ready in building a just institutionalized state.

The complexity and un-controllable border of our landlocked nation with the sweeping power of economy and exchange between borders that are worries for economy competitions amongst them the East African nations, our dependency on oil production and unfinished business in related to our borderlines issues with our former oppressors regime in Khartoum. How can we govern these challenges process and the complexity of economic, cultural and political interactions domestically, regionally and internationally and the current rebellion “war of choice” imposed on the people of South Sudan, without idealizing and promoting the nation state?

We need to borrowed and learned a lessons from these nations world who passed through challenges and complexity of emerging nation like our country before us; Charles Handy had stated interesting point” Almost everyone have come to believe in this world that human institutions must follow the guidance of moral purpose(s) for a human way of living, for a general good or a common human –well –being which is capable of being shared by everyone and which provides a standard for both needs for good legislation “a Sound good constitution” that impressed “We the people” and respect of idealized of good governance. What are the basic principles for good governance?

What other scholars or internationals institutions say about it, what are emerging consensus on good governance, for reader the expectation and outcome may not give final answer, but some sort of insight what it mean for good governance to called may have been a central debate for these questions are of course part of the best practice, may not be apple to apple rather than an apple to orange, why because what people may called good governance in North America may not necessary same in South America; however, principle of good governance- are more human common sense and human values, I believe knowing or recognizing between wrong doing and right doing is not far closure to the ideal of good governance; people government, government of the people ,stand by people and for the people.

The debate of ideal form of good governance has been a consensus discussion question for the world political thinkers. Since the creation of the Republic government, Plato, Philosophers and practitioners have been looking and searching for the best way of creation of good governance, a society build on moral values and the best form of statehood. The Romance Empire philosophers have contributed and worked for building a good governance; For example, Platon, in his book, “The state” and “Politic” and “the Law,” the idea of “the Republic” the People, all were envisioned on the ideal state and ideal political governance.

In contrast, since 1955-2011, the people of South Sudan have been hoping and struggling-to have a just peace land that belonging to all, where justices, equality and prosperity shall not ever be compromise in the final destiny of the New Republic of South Sudan. Our long journeys of liberation and hope for good governance of our own has being compromised by those who we called our leaders on December15, 2013.

The people of the New Republic have been promise and dream to have a just state, where Politics and the law are the governance; Platon have posed the interesting questions in Romance empire” Who will Guards the Guardians”? Does our excitement and happiness during a joyful celebration before and after July9, 2011, had make us forgettable about who will be guards our leaders and who will be the guardians, believe me or not was the gold question that we missed in drafted the interim constitution of South Sudan that was drafted and adopted by these who we called our leaders, without pay attention to consequences and complexities of after math of July9,2011, the era of the Republic of South Sudan; indeed, the states and governments in history basically based their power on people they are being governed rather than persuasion in order to drive the consents of public citizens of their subjects.

I am proud to myself because I was against Hon. John Luk, drafted Interim constitution for being lacking more consensuses that should have driven more from the people of the republic rather extension of the old Sudan system type of government into new nation. The ideal government that should have been established right way after independent on July9, 2011 should have been interim government to prepare people for the new permanent constitutions and a fresh election in the country, after peace building and healing process are being completed and delayed much more issues so call post independent with our former oppressors in the Khartoum regime, to deal with them after putting our house in order first.

These we called our leaders have focused too much searching for policies to have people conformed to their interest, such as keeping legislatives members and president in the power for another four years more in government rather searching for ways to increase public control over policies that are governing us; leaving behind fundamental debate for important questions: How should we governance ourselves? How can we governing the new Republic? What type of system of government that can fit our situations, decentralize system of government, more centralize system of government or what called Federalism paradise?

South Sudan we have started in wrong way and we must make turn now, not even tomorrow; our system government have developed institutional protection type form of government, that look like prevented the people from the arbitrary exercise of coercion and public citizens consensuses in Nation Building and peace building, that should have been realized by increase communication and collective reflection from our policies and actions in building as just way forward for good governance. I believe the more we strive or struggle over governs or leadership, the less we succeed in the nation building and good governance.

In conclusion, the institutions and politics that we should build in our state shall create a tools of transformational leadership style in dealing with who will be the next leader rather than competing over power struggle as the situation currently in the country. The Ideal of liberation for these who had opportunities to actively physically involved in liberation days, shall ever nor never used as a tool in considering the state as the steward of dominant classes and an institution to alleviate class that have not had opportunities to share in struggle or contribute physically. I believe we all equal in one way or another have made a different toward liberation in different ways; as well as we all voted one vote counted on January9,2011.

We must and shall recognize the ideal of our late leader Dr. John Garang “Taking Town to Village” that is the good governance that our people hopes for many years comes; Let us build our state in the basis –where the government become a servant of the people, state where people are treat equals and where alleviation of the wicked problem such as poverty, education, social issues and etc..

Are being considers and address by their government; let us impress the ideal of liberalism , ideas that are attach to our liberation goals; I believe our guiding principles of liberation should have taught us in believing in the minimum –state and demands of the limitation of the state authority from obsolete power legislations; in other hand, it advise the expansion of individual freedoms that lead to a flexible market community to meet the demands of the changes in our economic development and progress in any circumstance as the situation now in the country, government is to regulate and mentoring the market, government is not a business.

Our government institutions shall promote market exchange in domestically, regionally and internationally and the state institutions shall have no right to control people vices in the country. The success of our country requires, to have role of actor player as an organization that shall be both all –inclusive and unitary at the same time in perceive our diverse in social and culture in representing symbol of over 64 ethnics nation.