It is fashionable for South Sudanese government officials to hold multiple positions in the same government
By Malith Alier, Juba, South Sudan
August 18, 2016 (SSB) — W has recently got an appointment as head of an Independent Commission while at the same time an advisor to the President.
X has become a state Governor while being an MP in the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA)?
Y is a serving army officer but has also got an appointment to a political position, Mangar-rial County Commissioner, to which Y will return to the military upon losing that political posting.
Z is a serving party official but was recently appointed to hold ambassadorial position in diplomatic corps.
Eh, the salary and the perks are good. W, X, Y and Z are the chosen ones in deed in the republic. Many people who are not like them are struggling to make ends meet in this country of ours, called South Sudan.
Is there any law that bars people like W, X, Y & Z from holding multiple positions in the same government? This simple citizen is not a law Lord but he can read and interpret a few Acts of parliament that govern employment in the government and private.
The civil servants who contested the 2010 general elections were asked to resign before contesting those elections as per civil service Act of the old Sudan. After losing elections, some civil servants wanted to rejoin the civil service however, the law is an ass and they could not be allowed back on the same positions but they could if they applied for new positions.
The SPLA Act bars all military officers from engaging in politics. The political parties Act specified that members of armed forces, civil servants and members of diplomatic missions cannot be members of any political party. The same to civil service Act and other laws that are applicable in this country.
Besides that, there are other arguments against this practice of holding multiple positions in the Government of South Sudan (GOSS).
There is high unemployment in the country ranging from eighty to ninety per cent. If one individual holds more than one position, this means the others lead destitute lives. You can call it the economic argument.
Can the government afford to channel meagre resources to few specially favoured citizens on the expense of the others? Can this practice aggravate payroll problems?
The moral question is that, are the few chosen and over-employed guys better than the rest of the society? What makes them special, is it education, nepotism, favouritism or on what grounds do they enjoy the preferential treatment?
The third question is the so-called separation of powers as set out in the country’s Constitution. The three arms of government are the executive, parliament and the judiciary. One is not allowed to straddle these arms. In a country where there is total separation of powers like Kenya for example, even ministers are not MPs unlike here.
We also have some people who are in parliament and are at the same time practitioners in the judiciary. They’re lawmakers and at the same time interpreters of the law. It is not uncommon here in South Sudan to see judges as MPs no matter how outrageous it may be.
Another important consideration is that of productivity. In case someone holds both positions which are full time, how do you divide your time between or among these jobs? We have witnessed the delays caused by officials who are full timers working for a political party and are at the same time executives in the government.
One chair will always be empty while you’re occupying the other but your customers wait for you in the empty office many hours on end. They curse you and the day you’re born.
South Sudanese are people of ego. In addition to luxurious cars, a collection of titles also matter. I am an MP representing constituency number 100, I represent South Sudan in IMF & the World Bank, I am Commander of SPLA Special Forces for development, I am also the D.D.C, F.O.R and the overall R.F.E of the revolution!
This is just that – sinecure titles or mental challenge? You’ll also find that these types of people are always busy – doing nothing commensurate with those titles.
There is a concept in some countries which is known as “fair go.” everybody deserves to have a fair go!
There was a time before 2011 when the Secretary General (SG) of the SPLM, Mr. Pagan Amum was appointed Minister of Peace and CPA Implementation. He grudgingly accepted the appointment but resign a few months later on, citing his full time role as SG of the ruling Part.
That is the spirit some of us should emulate. God bless the Republic of South Sudan!
You can reach the author via his email: Aljok Deng <alierjokdeng@gmail.com>
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