South Sudan: What is expected of the State Governors?
5 min readBy Pal Chol Nyan, Juba, South Sudan
January 15, 2017 (SSB) — Hot on the heels of assuming office, the Governor or any political appointee is normally expected not to abuse the trust bestowed on him or her by the Head of State. It is conscientiously supposed to serve as an honor to diligently and satisfactorily discharge one’s duties in good faith. The Governors who are the appointees, but not people choices, are enjoying their powers as per the martial laws now in force.
It could be a political blunder or insult of one’s own intelligence to disagree with me that the SPLM Governors have failed to carry out their obligations as the laws of J1 require; to go down to the grassroots to preach peace and disseminate SPLM missions and visions which are more or less the Party commandments to the faithful.
Those who would have the audacity to disagree with me may be the daylight loyalists of the government, who at night, become fierce critics of the same government they claim to serve with unquestionable dedication.
The fact that they were appointed but not elected made them crazy with the unlimited decentralized powers they wield. It is a public secret that the President is being stabbed in the back for the negligence and failure by his assistants to meet the expectations and aspirations of the ordinary man or woman in the countryside. Sincerely speaking, service delivery means winning the confidence of the people and to pave the way for the future.
The SPLA commanders, turned politicians overnight, have in all honesty, no political experiences in civil administration and are novices in good governance. They need to have basic training of bureaucracy and management to equip them administratively as they take the mantle of power.
I challenge those who will say that this is not true. They have shaky and poor working relationships with the officials and the employees in their States; as they are overdosed by the emergency power and prerogatives which they use as tools to stay in power and to further their interests. Their informal disagreements outside the office are translated into gubernatorial decrees to dismiss and appoint as their whims dictate. They are supposed to be servants but not masters.
If Jesus Christ, the only begotten son of God, who has divine and spiritual powers, could be too humble to be a servant, why would it be difficult and an uphill task for a common man? Our big men conduct themselves pompously like monarchs. It is a shame to use the positions as means to top up the riches dishonestly accumulated from the army battalions and divisions at the expense of the ordinary and vulnerable South Sudanese.
The power they now enjoy, to the chagrin of the governed, is people. The SPLM visions and missions, as I always hear from the owners and if my memory serves me well, ought to be transformed into services. I have said it many times but it is being shrugged off by the SPLM aristocrats/elites and their converts who are unaware of the fact there will come a time when they would wish they knew.
The government money should not be used to buy loyalties and unnecessary and inefficacious missions which are just a smokescreen to confuse the situation marred by the hidden agenda to pocket per diems. The auditor-General should now begin to do his work with full mandate efficiently and proficiently so that we know how this money is spent as we can’t tangibly feel or see the results on the ground especially at the grass roots level.
My point concisely but precisely is that, the J1 disciples are failing and this must not be left to go unheeded to by the concerned authority. I thank the President for starting to fire the non-productive but hyper-active ones.
The lack of basic services delivery is a password for the downfall of the government being done behind the curtains by people, yet to be detected, who pull the strings behind J1.This man-made senseless war should not be used as a Trojan horse to curtail developmental projects. What is said when you place your hand on the Holy Book or Quran is a covenant between you and the Almighty God. I can’t believe that a mere man can deceive the Creator.
If it happens as is visibly now the case; then it is a disobedience of the Ten Commandments especially the one that said “do not call the name of God, Jehovah in vain”. We have no power to block the wrath of God in case you pick up a bone with him. You will carry your own cross to J1 for presidential crucifixion in whatever way. We are and will just be spectators.
I have nothing personal with the presidential appointees and I hope not to be quoted out of context by their cronies and the like-minded; the beneficiaries of the funds intended for development. As a believer, I don’t despise anybody as an individual but I am just appealing to the Governors to change their liberation mindsets to the one of state building.
I caution those who use foolhardy political equations including the use of the sorcerers to ascend to power to desist from it. Power is God-given. It is not by luck or gambling. No human being on earth can change what God has planned for each and every one of us.
The author is an opinion writer and reachable at palcholnyan@yahoo.com.
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