Trust is an asset: South Sudan's public is losing trust in President Kiir Mayardit
By Maker Kuol Koryom, Melbourne, Australia
May 30, 2017 (SSB) — In leadership, trust is an asset. South Sudan’s public is losing trust in President Kiir Mayardit.
Let’s face it, people lost trust in President Kiir Mayardit. The evidence is in civil unrest seen all over the country. Major roads are dangerously infested with criminals, who practise heinous crime of killing innocent people. On these roads, travelers are being killed for no apparent reasons. It seems, every region has become a dangerous place to people of other regions.
As I am writing this piece, I heard of a car that was leaving Juba to Bor, which is destroyed by unknown criminals. A driver of the car was killed. Two days ago, on the same road, two vehicles were destroyed and two people were killed.
All these incidents happened barely a month after 42 innocent passengers were summarily killed. The victims of this incident happened to be from a certain tribe. In our country, it seems that tribal identity has become a justification for death. People are being killed because of their tribes, languages, dialects and/or accents.
This, of course, is very unfortunate for a nation of 62 tribes, who speak different language and dialects.
I became aware of people killed on Juba-Bor road because some of the victims are known to me. I have managed to speak to one victim, a very young girl, who survived the incident. Her narrations on how she survived made me shed tears. The level of brutality with how South Sudanese kill one another is something not seen or heard of in the past.
These days, in our country, one would not be wrong to suggest that a week hardly pass without a violent killings on roads, towns or villages. This is not the country we have had in our dreams.
This level of hatred, where our people took laws to their own hands, shows that South Sudanese have lost trust in their governments. They have lost trust in their leaders. Every community or tribe seems to have resorted to animal’s survival instinct. Every Community seems to have no trust for other community. This is not the South Sudan our people gave up their lives for. Such a hatred must stop or we will lose the country altogether.
The level of mistrust, which has befallen us, should be addressed by our leaders. It should be spearheaded by none other than President Kiir Mayardit. Everything rises and falls on leadership. President Kiir must change for the Country to change. He should begin to step out from J1 to tour all states. In his tour, Kiir should publicly deliver an apology to citizens. He should ask citizens to forgive him.
He should ask communities to forgive each other. Nicollo Machiavelli once said, “There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.”
In South Sudan, therefore, the first order of things to change is none other than my President. President Kiir Mayardit should come out with a change, new ways, to run the country. He should begin to portray a new personality that had never been seen in him. He must change the direction in which the country is heading.
If President Kiir change himself; his way of thinking, he will surely understand the challenge required to change the country. He should stop the paranoiac behaviour which kept him immobile in J1. It is said that, “self-cure starts with self-realization and confession.”
President Kiir should tour the nation to read people eyes. He and Paul Malong should go to Northern Bahr el Ghazel to talk to people there. He should take with him prominent members of Aguok and Apuk to greater Gokrial area. He should talk to this Dinka sections who are constantly engaged in communal feuds.
He should visit Abyei and Ruweng states to give people message of hope. President Kiir and Taban Deng Gai have to visit Nuer’s lands to ask for peace and forgiveness. He should export peace, forgiveness and hope to Boma, Jonglei and all states in Equatoria.
This dream tour is the only sure way to claim trust and confidence from South Sudanese. The tour will enable him to mobilise support for National dialogue. I believe, if President Kiir will honestly apologize, people will forgive him.
However, if he continues to violate trust that was bestowed on him; I am afraid, Kiir and South Sudan will not get settle sooner.
Let me end this piece with John C. Maxwell’s quote, “People tolerate honest mistakes, but if you violate that trust you will find it very difficult to ever regain their confidence.”
May God bless South Sudan.
Maker Kuol Koryom lives in Melbourne, Australia. He can be reached at mekakuol@gmail.com.
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