The Forgotten Vision of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-SPLM (Part 3)
By Dut-machine De Mabior, Nairobi, Kenya
December 4, 2015 (SSB) — As this writing intensifies, “The Strategic framework for war-to-peace transition is anchored on the transformation of the SPLM into a political organization that is capable of managing the process of overhauling the Sudanese state from a theocratic state into a democratic country of liberty, freedom and prosperity.” With this promise, anyone in South Sudan would go to the streets and talk anything about their government. But hasn’t that been a cause of life lost in the country under the watch of the SPLM led regime?
One cannot think of being tempted like this particular author to point out the failures of the SPLM. But whereas this writing acts as a solemn reminder, there is no true democracy in the SPLM if the party can be dissolved by a single man in the name of being the chair, then the SPLM has a long way to go. If the party officials are only the appointees of the chair while the world democracies are exposing their parties to the delegates for elections of official and proudly, still we say that we in the SPLM are democratic, then we can pride ourselves over anything.
The SPLM led government till the present day claims to provide liberty to the citizens, but for as long anyone who speak their minds are termed as ‘rebels’, we are still very far from political tolerance which is the basis of fundamental freedoms and political pluralism.
Remembering how the SPLM conducted itself in December 2013, signed the agreement of reunification, overhauled its structures again recently in the name of biting the dateline with the Political Parties Commission, then you don’t have to be an SPLM leader to figure out the SPLM vision has been forgotten.
In one of the SPLM documents titled; “Manual of Public Service Procedures”, published in February 2007 by the ministry of Labour, Public Service and Human Resource Development of South (ern) Sudan, the procedures on how the public service would function are outlined very explicitly. It is imperative though to mention that the document was signed by Hon. David Deng Athorbei.
Page 6, article 1.3.1 of the document under selection criteria quotes, “Selection and appointment of personal into the public service of the GOSS (Super Grades and non-super Grades), shall be through free and fair competition and merit and in accordance with approved criteria.”
The above is a succinct statement that displays the public jobs are available on meritocracy. With that at the back of our minds, we expect people with very similar qualifications to even be told to sing the national anthem and anyone who recites it better than the other is better qualified for the job. Has this been the case in the allotment of public appointments? The people of South Sudan led by the SPLM have proven to be inborn nepotistic where the jobs are available based on know-who not the agreed principle of know-how.
It pains to see a primary dropout instructing a diploma holder, the former is professional enough to be instructed by the latter but since the system was reverted to political patronage; anything can happen where there is no shame in putting our country at the risk of being worked for by men and women with no skills. This patronage has pushed people to the extreme ends of not correcting their appointing authorities in the pretext of loyalty.
With the mushrooming tribal council of elders acting as advisors to their sons and daughters in political position; the NCE, MCE, ECE, JCE and so many others obstruct national leaders in thinking straight about things of national concerns, then someone seeing the critical angle must worry. It’s this patronage that has forced retired politicians to resort into unapproved councils. But instead to handle things that concern the tribes they emanate from, their business become lobbying to avert the ways of how national matters should be addressed. This is forcing oneself back into the system even if one is too old to be relevant in the contemporary politics of any modern country.
The young professionals of South Sudan are loitering on the streets of Juba and state capitals doing nothing yet we see the SPLM led government import Uganda’s civil servants in the name of ‘we don’t have the experience.’ How does one gain the experience if not employed anyway? It simply dictates that the SPLM led government has forgotten the veterans have no experience too in nation building because they were only fighting.
Since the aged compatriots are selling the jobs of young South Sudanese to East Africans for politically driven agenda, then we are soothed with the lies of being trained, South Sudan should then hire a former president and ministers because South Sudanese have no experiences in any field. Else, if the former is not to hold, then the young people must be allowed to work, make mistakes and gain the required experience from within, only then shall we have an assured future.
In totality, the public service is being driven by patronage and political interests to cling to power not meritocracy anymore. If you see all these happening, you need not to miss a political patron to realize that the SPLM vision has been forgotten.
The SPLM in its endeavour to have a just country where the rule of law is accessible to all, the system of justice only favours the politically placed individuals. There is no way a commoner wakes up one day hoping to sue a minister and expect justice to prevail in her favour; that is a dream to be achieved. The people of South Sudan, in fact the legal minds have argued that the president is the final decision maker and his verdict isn’t available for public debates. Oh! Really?
The truth is that the constitution is the final judge in whichever setup. But in our young Republic, looks more or less the presidency is directing the constitution whereas the reverse would be true. This is best explained by the Establishment Order that should have had the constitution first amended in the National Assembly before the order, the inverted was done.
This tells one that things are not right when the judges are congratulating some authorities and the case against those authorities are before them. One can’t be a scientist to know the complainants will never win a case in such courts. The judicial system has just been engulfed in the political sycophancy.
Part Four comes soon.
The author is a student of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Kenyatta University, Nairobi Kenya.
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