Open letter to President Salva Kiir, of the Republic of South Sudan!
6 min readDear President, Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit, affable greetings to you and blessings.
By Sunday de John, New Delhi, India
May 17, 2017 (SSB) — It has been long since the team and I met you personally in Nairobi on your way back from United States of America. The meeting that we had with you was on developmental pillars. As a group we didn’t meet you so as to solicit for any material gains. Our thirteen point document was meant for the good of South Sudan. It was not based on any culpable conspiracies.
We gave you our multi-million dollar points on the national agenda for free. Categorically, we stressed for the need to harness our oneness as South Sudanese, the need for static security, the need for reforms, the need for lasting peace, the need for development and particularly on the serviceability of roads network, electricity and water.
We too stressed on the need for a grand goal of quality health care and quality education. Each of the big desired goals was hinted on well. With you we felt at home, you had not shown any supercilious character. For your information, you are a cordial president.
You calmly responded to us and on many counts affirmatively. Your answers were brilliant and you manifested the highest level of shrewdness and finally we gave you a useful book, in case you had time to go through it.
You promised that you would work together with your team to achieve some of our useful proposals for the good of our country and you as well espoused the need for some points to be charted as long term goals. Later, and that was, within a period of one month, you started gracefully with launching of roads construction but that faltered just within a week. We were first elated and the elation regressed as if it was struck by killjoys, almost immediately.
However, this letter isn’t meant to hold you accountable for the minutes of the previous meeting. In other words, I am not invoking any antecedent matter. As a concern member of the public, I am expressing my points as an act of benevolence to my top leader.
Dear Sir, it is true that our country is now at the peak of serious frazzle. Almost every nut and bolt have loosen. Your leadership is at a crossroads. Things are not in your favour. Your loyalists are being tempted by the state of the affairs and some are in the state of despair. Others have picked a quarrel with you even without a genuine trigger. This is a point in time when your last best ability must be applied.
Rebellions have eaten away the greatest portion of what we call a nation. The downturn of economy has birthed serious drawbacks. Cracks are visible; I am telling you in good faith. It seems, your friends are too abandoning you or rather, they seem to be shouldering their own crosses. Rebellions are increasing, economics has faltered, few are calling for your exit and famine is dipping its fangs for a lethal bite, are you in peace with all these? Caution!
Dear Sir, as reported by Reuters, all the rebels and some members of G10 have unified their rank and file for a robust force to oust you. A document addressed to the Secretary, United States, Treasury department, signed by nine American Congressmen and Congresswomen is in circulation detailing all the strategies in place to throttle your regime.
Likely, you are making more enemies by instituting reshuffles of derisory value. I trust, these are in your disposal. You ignore them and then engross your thoughts in settling cases of disgruntled individuals within your cabinet. Wasting your potential time responding to Facebookers yet vital matters that need attention are unattended to.
Sir, how do you revive your dead foreign policy? How to you at least attenuate or at most abate rebellions? How do you resuscitate the economy in coma? How do you enfeeble the strong famine? Forget about the development, and tell us, how do you detonate the time bomb regime change plan by the America and her allies? How do you revive people’s confidence in your leadership? All these questions beg serious answers and they are the nuisance, worse than Facebookers. Do you have answers to them?
If members of G10 are scattered worldwide, doing their own businesses, for example, Kosti Manibe, Oyai Deng Ajak are on course working closely with Dr. Riek Machar Teny or his remnants to form robust force against your regime, Gier Chuang maintaining silence in his new abode at the neighborhood, Pagan Amum Okiech busily suing a female Facebook ranter in US, shamefully requiring a translator, and Dr. Majak Agot Atem in his comfort zone fighting you intellectually with his tweeter handle, and Cerino Hiteng trading accusations on peace agreement violation here and there, knowing that all have a common denominator, to depose you of power, what do you think is wise in Deng Alor’s and John Luk Jook’s occupancy of the seats in the government? Do you think they will cease weakening your foreign policy? You need a Foreign policy of high competency.
Dear Sir, since when did Gen. Paul Malong Awan become your enemy? A man on the wish list of sanctions’ enforces sent to the streets of South Sudan would become angry even if he were to be the coolest man on earth. Again, with Gen. Paul Malong in the cold, do you think the already sanctioned Generals, namely Marial Chanuong Yol, Santino Deng Wol and Jok Riak would psychologically augur well with the act having witnessed you giving a cold shoulder to their Ex- Chief? Think about that.
Dear Sir, appeasement that you had and have been rendering to any heterodox is one of the tools being used not by anybody else but yourself to enhance the levers of your downfall. In another comportment, disappointing those who selflessly sacrificed in serving your interest is another reason why you are in trouble. Dancing to the tune of noise makers is apathy in itself.
Dear Sir, sit down and think towards solutions. Your supporters need stable country. If they continuously go to beds hungry, they will be angry. They will stop calling your name on good note. They may cry foul or cry over spilled milk and I think all these do not serve their earlier good purpose of voting you into the office for their service euphorically.
This piece is meant to communicate the grievances at hand. Basic needs are no longer obtainable. Wake up and try hard to piece some shreds. Wake your comrades up from their deep slumber and at least salvage your faces by doing something very little.
I don’t have time to talk about how the systems are rotting because of corruption. Truly it is a public knowledge that nobody has been arrested, tried and sentenced to a certain serving for corruption sake. It is also a public knowledge that prisons are full with people jailed arbitrarily that they have quarreled with your top Generals or Ministers, have written articles on bad governance or have refused to steal. Others have been murdered in cold blood for such non-criminal purported offenses and the corrupt are enjoying pudding in the expense of the poor.
Sir, I am a loyal citizen, I have no alternative nationality or alternative government until next elections. I don’t want you out, instead I want you to serve me per our contract terms. I hope this finds you in good health. Accept my belated revolutionary wishes for this May 16. Till then.
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