The Ministry of Labor and Public Services has left severe exploitation on South Sudanese Citizens by outsiders
8 min readBy David Matiop Gai, Juba, South Sudan
March 29, 2016 (SSB) — I always like quoting Dr. John Garang words because his words explaining our current situation in a young nation South Sudan, and he said, “I have found a man who will fight the war but I did not have somebody who can deliver services to the people equally and a gun that shoot by itself”. If we analyze this statement today, we can remark him right and absolutely a right prediction he has made.
Deliveries of services or social services have many ways on how people in a country receive services directly or indirectly to foster individual development to public development as well as nationwide. The delivery of services in other nations is to look after social services of one own nation and the interest of her people as first priority and not a pitfall of her development, for example, issues of job employment opportunities, education, healthcare, hotels and management, and other needs for social development.
Before I mention the itching sound of my message because some parasites will not be happy about it and for sake of our people, I have to said it, I would like to define the term exploitation and how the ministry of labor and public services allowed exploitation being exercised against the will of South Sudanese citizens in the new nation. In different sources, exploitation is the action or fact of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work; the action of making use of and benefiting from resources; the numerical value of capitalistic exploitation of the working class in workplaces or organizations, or from the Marxist theories, So-called “sweatshop” labor characteristically involves long hours, dangerous conditions, and very low wages. Many critics charge that such workers are exploited by the multinational enterprises that profit unfairly from the goods those workers produce. (Meyers, 2004)
From the above definitions, I hope my readers will take the clue of my writings and series of why this article is intended to be publishing. The ministry of labor and public services is the only government body tasked to regulate, supervise, examine, facilitate, and look into issues pertaining to the welfare of the citizens. This government unit again is the only qualified ministry to instruct public and private institutions on how these private sectors, NGOs, and UN agencies can employ citizens in favor with the rules, regulations, and policies of the country. This mean South Sudanese as citizens have in mind of the ministry of labor as the key workforce in the country by rules of national labor and international labor organization, (ILO).
The ministry had left severe exploitation being exercises in South Sudan against South Sudanese will in term of job employment. Citizens are suffering in their own country with too much labor, and less payment, and the tale of private companies occupying jobs all over Juba city, and the ministry is looking with a close eye and deaf ear, not claiming and proclaiming the rights of citizens. We liberated ourselves from the bondage of Arabs but we need to liberate ourselves again from hand of our fellow South Sudanese men and women who are trying to oppressing their countrymen down in term of wealth accumulation. For example security companies in Juba, and behind are some south Sudanese shareholders. These security companies came from East Africa, some from South Africa, and others from the Western countries. As fellow South Sudanese became shareholders, the companies materialize their markets and displaced South Sudanese who working in GNOs, UN agencies, Business companies, government, and private residents. The goal and mission of these companies is to take important places of companies and well pay agencies suppose to help South Sudanese develop their long devastated economy to recover into their pockets and went away with money instead of South Sudanese benefiting. This policy had happened already in 2008-2014 in UNHCR, WFP, UNCIEF, RED CROSS, and UNMISS and it is still happening up to now in NGOs as a process, but what is the stand of the ministry of labor and public services in South Sudan? These companies came in through some South Sudanese citizens, and make them shareholders to exploit the public, while they operate through the protecting shadow of self-interested corruptists against the will of South Sudanese community.
To be specific, I want the ministry to understand me well and to know how citizens are exploited and being exploiting at the moment. In June 2013, the Warrior Company took over in charge of UNMISS premises in Juba and lay off ordinary citizens who served the UNMISS for seven years, but the company signed a contract of what the ordinary South Sudanese who were working in UNMISS earned money. The company signed 1500 USD per a guard, and later pays the guards in local current 600 SSP. What a great cheating of letting innocent person sleeps at night, doing all things on behave of a company and cheats him/her with less portion of their labor? But the ministry is blind about this news or maybe they are being brief to ignore loses of their people! To know the fact, South Sudanese do not want this cheating at all, so the employees or majority of the employees of these companies are foreigners with few south Sudanese. How will the nation grow and develop if these exploitations are being exercises on face of the ministry and we keep quiet? These people took advantages on our rights and for our money for their own development and they defined us as, “fool south Sudanese”, simply we don’t know our rights.
My appeal to the ministry of labor, and public services, and the specialized committee in the parliament is to look critically into citizens grievances. South Sudan is not fitting for capitalism, where an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state. In capital states, rich people increase their profits on labor force of the weak people in economy. We don’t want these citizens who had suffered for decades to be underscored by the color of companies with less payment. In South Sudan, the foundation of South Sudanese wealth is destroyed by war of more than fifty years. Therefore, this is the right time south Sudanese should develop their economy by themselves without their salaries being minus by companies. It is better to employ citizens right away from their home without company intervention. If the ministry dare not to solve this problem, it is a serious violation of human rights and everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment, ( Article 23.1, 1948). This society is not ready for companies to cheat people, looting them, or briefing people concern to deny public interest, and source of corruptions rooted in people profits, and capital state where companies exploit people in trade, and industries, or multinational corporations; South Sudan is not a right ground for such businesses because citizens are to be building their economic status on their available resources.
Again, the parliament should assist the ministry of labor and public services because multinational corporations do not work according to laws of countries where they came from but with rules of the hosting country. I hope all members of parliament are aware of south Sudanese suffering, and why do they keep quiet? Are they signs boards in parliament? Are they not law-makers, or policy-makers? Why do they set back interest of the country and the people? Am sure it would have been better to understand South Sudan as a home of widows, orphans, disables, or name them, and if widows are employ for example to clean offices, and being paid at end of the day to pay schools fees for their children, feed them properly and later on these majority of orphans become educated because their mothers could able to educate them this time, and then they turn later to be resources of the country, is it simple? Why don’t we see this clear picture now and we allow those whom we don’t know to act badly on citizens?
Furthermore, it is good to identify the nature of our ministry, and policies of labor in a young nation. I had been challenged by Dr. John Garang’s statement, and services delivery to our communities in South Sudan. The nation is people, but development is done by people, and development begins by well stated set and wealthy persons for the purpose of economic status. Is it only Dr. John Garang who was daring for the affairs of South Sudanese people? It is absolutely challenging. I know the ministry is still under SPLM government in Transitional Government of National Unity (TGNU) to be form soon, but please remove the cover veil on your face and let the citizens enjoy the fruit of their land otherwise development will never happen since money flow into foreign pockets and develop their own countries than South Sudan.
The author is a co-founder of National Mental Health Care Organization; He holds Bachelor degree in Social work and social Administration from SSCUST, Bachelor degree in Theology from CLT in Kalispell, Montana USA, and a fellow researcher. He can be reach at tonggaid551@yahoo.com/ davidmatiopgai@gmail.com.
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