Will this dire economic and political situation ever change in South Sudan?
4 min readBy Pal Chol Nyan, Juba, South Sudan
January 17, 2018 (SSB) — Analysts and journalists/writers wrote and spoken loud and clear about the deteriorating economic situation. Why torturing and starving people to death when the solution needs just a stroke of the pen? They said and complained on behalf of the people that it is bad. The designers and the beneficiaries of this chaotic situation picked it up and allude all these talks to an incitement.
It cost even senior technocrats their jobs. They are now on the run. Who doesn’t know that our own pound is dead? The only lifeline is American dollars, which is for the hoi polloi, like mining a gold. Families have broken up. Children left their homes. They dropped out of schools as their parents cannot meet school requirements nor afford medical bills.
These kids are roaming about in Juba and involved in committing crimes. The government employees have run to private sectors to seek for well-paid jobs, of course in hard currency. Despite what we all see and feel, there is no any plan in sight by the wielders of power especially the economy clusters which include the Central Bank on how to revive it.
We are tired of watching and listening to empty promises by sycophants and backstabbers in Western suits. We need a quick fix in the same it was worsened by you who did it. The economic situation is getting dire as each day passes. Life is getting harder. I and many others have been, on more than one occasion, dwelling on it.
The answer we get from the government is that it is attributed it to war which has begotten falls and drops in oil prices. The mental and physical capacities of South Sudanese professionals have been exhausted. The energy being used is much more than what one earns at the end of the day.
What boggles one’s mind is that it seems this situation is not bothering those in positions of authority so long as they have their balanced diet as schedule and when they need it. The ordinary citizens carry their crosses. Informed sources disclosed that the coffers are being dried up by some self-styled VIPs who have hidden agenda against the occupant of the highest office.
The salary is not on time. It is provided at will according to the timetable set in our treasury. The government employees walk to work daily on foot, yet they are held to account for coming late or not coming.
Prices are appalling and have overshot the sky. The Chamber of Commerce is nowhere to be seen. The salaries do not match the prices of the commodities. Close here, a Grade One senior civil servant like medical specialists with double specialties gets roughly 7,000 SSP. It is about $35USD.
Can that sustain him and his kids plus other dependents? The people have been forced to live below poverty line. If it is the war that causes this as claimed, let it be stopped. If there are people behind this, they had better stop such practices.
If we can’t see its badness because of fear of the unknown, the ghosts and those who felt during the war for this country are watching over you. Like it or not, It is hunger that causes insecurity, armed robberies in the town and along the highways.
When the livelihoods of the citizens and security sectors are improved by reviving the economy, all will be well and the focus will be elsewhere.
The author, Pal Chol Nyan, is a Graduate from the College of Radiological Medical Sciences from Sudan University of Sciences and Technology. He also holds a Diploma in Teaching Methodology and a Diploma in General Medical Sciences. He was a red army soldier, a former Primary school teacher, currently serving as a General Medical Practitioner in Juba Teaching Hospital in Juba, South Sudan. He is a columnist with local newspapers in Juba/South Sudan and contributes in many websites about social, security and economic. You can reach him via his email: palcholnyan2016@gmail.com
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