We drink direct from the Source!
By Sunday de John– Nairobi, Kenya
August 16, 2015 (SSB) –– They say, when there is war, there must be no development because development flourishes in the expense of war, this means, peace nurtures development. To project this genuine case in good light, one would from the bottom of his lungs claim that continuous wars of liberation struggle from oppressors in the former Sudan have hampered development in this part of the world.
It is factual that tyrants have played their role effectively in disfiguring South Sudanese by soaking them deep in obnoxious waters of hatred. On this, you have this from history: South Sudanese were conquered, oppressed, maimed and let go with irreparable scars of history. These historical scars have been reopened into wounds hard to treat with existing medicaments of our current politics of tribalism. There is something wrong here in South Sudan. Tribal sentiments are the bane of our national coexistence and undeniably, they are what went wrong from the start.
In a country where political correctness surpasses the law of the land, there is always imminent disquiet. Geeks and lawyers from Sudan have adequately and correctly predicted the fate of this country before independence. It has been mentioned by Arab wiseacres from Khartoum that South Sudanese will fail to govern themselves. Rightly, if we are sincere, we can’t deny that fact.
Their predictions have been made factual by the Mighty Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in the watch of everyone. It is the SPLM top echelon that has heartbreakingly failed us. Undeniably, Riek and cohorts, Kiir and loyalists are all but senior SPLM cadres. Their disagreements culminated to current war and hence the war consequences are what we feel as citizens. We are nowhere closer to development for the reason that we are at war. We are at war because we are the SPLM and our reasons behind liberation struggle are smaller than our quest for power and of course, much smaller than self-enrichment.
Our abundant resources braggingly revealed in the national anthem aren’t benefiting us in anyway. The greed for power on Riek Machar Teny’s side has deprived us of a chance to hurl our blames on President Salva Kiir for his shortcomings. The rebellion has indeed insulated the government from answering questions on underdevelopment.
The current war and inherent disinterest in development are scapegoats that our government would use to shield off our blames without becoming ashamed. The government will always have an excuse to escape from all the blames hurled by the citizenry. The practical consequences of this impounding disinterest in development will be permanent underdevelopment, increased human sufferings and continuous war.
This is not pessimism; it is a bare truth that one mustn’t shy away from. Commenting from angle of sincerity, one would say, practically, we drink direct from the source. Our difference with animals is that, we drive luxurious cars and sleep in tents. Animals drink from the source but sleep not in tents or drive luxurious cars. If we drink direct from the source, get medicated across the continent, accrue wealth through shortcuts, then why would one wish us more development when that means more than enough for people who have been in wilderness since creation? This sounds like a metaphor from a geek, however, it isn’t it is a true thinking of a wealthy kleptocrat.
Kleptocracy as I once defined in this space: is use of power by people in authority to stash away their national wealth. This is what Riek Machar and cohorts did. It is what some senior government officials are happy with. The fight of titans is endless and too our sufferings are endless. Practically we shall remain drinkers of naturally unpurified water. We shall remain sufferers of curable illnesses. We shall remain users of potholed roads. We shall remain inhabitants of tents. We shall remain divided on tribal lines.
All these anguish disdains are because our resources have been channeled for security. It is because we are suffering from leadership crisis. It is because we lack nationalism. Haplessly we were born to suffer, suffer from bullet wounds and even gullet worms. Despite our huge wealth from our oil money, we still remain behind in everything including mere purification of water. Another harmful dimension is of course dependency on bottled water.
On dependency on bottled water, I bet we have created another quick dimension of increasing our suffering and there is this to say: let’s believe in God’s mercy and sough his protection from diseases and environmental hazards consequent to our uncalled for harmful activities.
Till then, yours truly, Mr. Teetotaler!
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