When politics become pitiful, lives too do!
By Sunday de John, Nairobi, Kenya
July 22, 2015 (SSB) —- When I mentioned that I was a worried man, it wasn’t a lie. I am actually a worried man and my worries are centered on the current state of my beloved country. For time immemorial, South Sudanese have never fallen apart the much they have been from 2013 to date.
The conflict initiated by untouched politicians is eating deep into the thin national fabrics and the results aren’t favorable to the healthy growth of this fledgling nation. Commanded by their despicable egos, the so-called politicians opted to develop kleptocracy as a benchmark for their unrenowned political superiority.
When they were together as a compacted group they implied detestable contrivances to stash resources into their personal savings forgetting that they once rebelled and led bush life fighting injustices established against South Sudanese by successive Arab regimes.
In tandem with what is now happening, it is possible to deduce that politicians have failed to acknowledge the diversity of South Sudan as resources pushed them against claims they made to win independence. With probable political immaturity, the immature politicians have screwed masses of South Sudanese people by adequately abusing power.
They turned ministries designated for development into houses where they spend time planning on how to convert development funds into personal wealth. They did that without fear of each other because the then spirit of comradeship was still high and cohesion was intact.
Cognizant of these facts, it however becomes hard to appreciate whether South Sudanese politicians know the difference between resources and power because they have been using the later to own the former forgetting that the starving populace owns what they call theirs.
Resources that should have been utilized for national development have gone to insignificant number of individuals who have little faith in the existence of the Republic of South Sudan, and the individuals in turn decided to ditch the resources for destruction of the country.
After instituting unmatched scandals without being questioned, they even extended their filthy plans by wishing that all the bad things happened to Salva Kiir so that they remain in authority. Gen. Salva Kiir who thought treating comrades with courtesy was the best way of handling national matters was defied and even wished to die.
When wishes of his death couldn’t hold the kleptocrats decided to overthrow him in a bloody but unsuccessful coup. However, failure to institute viable laws just because one was dealing with comrades is uniquely the crux of current conflict.
The genesis of the conflict isn’t all about oil, it isn’t about weak institutions, it is about kleptocracy and I stand to repute what has been circulated widely by the likes of Biar Ajak and Dr. Luka Biong Deng. Unlike Biar Ajak, Dr. Luka Biong was one of the first Ministers of the first ever cabinet of the Republic of South Sudan and had it been that weak institutions impede progress and generate conflicts, I would hold Dr. Biong responsible for failing to strengthen the institutions he today refers to as weak.
Dr. Biong is a PhD holder and a fellow at Harvard University; he could have used his vast knowledge and experience to strengthen the institutions for all those many years he spent as a minister in the office of the President. His recent words aren’t preventing any conflict and they aren’t a solution to it either because they sound helpful but too late to salvage the salvageable.
If our institutions are weak, then it should be attributed not to the office of the President but to all those other individuals who have been entrusted with the task of establishment but who miserably led down the nation by converting their establishment budgets into personal wealth.
Politicians of high qualities have been given a platform to exercise their knowledge and experience only to be blinded by wealth and wandered into thievery routes that have eventually created not development but current state of anarchy. Political arrogance clad with backwardness is creating more drawbacks that shall cumulatively stagnate South Sudan.
In spite of constant prayers by politicians asking for miracles to change the state of anarchy they have intentionally plunged the country in, tentatively, I should tell them that their prayers aren’t acceptable to God.
It is to be conceded that God loves those who have repented and turn away from their sins. Failure to admit that they have stolen South Sudanese wealth is in itself not acceptable to God. Inability to return it is worse than the former and more so, continuing with theft is the nastiest of all. I hope this serves your day.
Till then yours truly, Mr. Teetotaler!
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