R-TGONU should Not Repeat The Mistakes of The Past in Economic Development

By Ariik Atekdit – Wau, South Sudan

Saturday, March 7, 2020 (PW) — With all these riches, we still cannot do much as a country to rescue our economy!!! South Sudan is a great country only with not very Great people to improve it! We have done too little to get improved & too much to damage our economy and our image in the world’s face.

We import the ready made Juice from as far as Dubai (Sahara Land) for consumption in South Sudan; while our Manga Fruits (Mangoes) get damaged and eaten up raw in Greater Equatoria & Wau Regions without being manufactured for future consumption and exports.

We drink packeted milk imported from Uganda yet this country has three 3 animals against each one of us (animals per capita), making South Sudan the leading country in Africa with more animals compared to none, (Zambia comes next) to SSD in 2013’s report.

The World’s Largest Swamp (Sudd Region) is in South Sudan yet we import fish from Uganda!!! Our own fish we fetched end up in Maulah Kombo! We have refused to internationalize our own Maluah Kombo dish but we struggle to promote Ugali and Matoke instead!!

We have many cows but we only pay them off for wives as we end up embarking on negative attitudes using cows for: forced and under age marriages against child and women’s Rights. As if we should have been feeding on our cows’ meat even when Our beef remains the most tasteful & the natural type; we have resorted to bring Ugandan bulls to be auctioned in Juba for meat in Juba hotels.

Sudan buys our bulls at Amiet Border Market at pity prices and in return sells them to Saudi Arabia at international trade and hard currency agreement and prices. We are still looking up to Sudan like as if we are not independent enough!! Why can’t we sell our beef directly to Saudi Arabia at our own internationally negotiated prices?

Our so resourceful materials of: animals’ hooves, horns, hides and skins are being ignored and being eaten up by white ants as we just continue to wear the Chinese crafted nylons belts.

We can’t think big to invest on animals products because we thought oil Money is enough to be divided among the cabinet members & MPs, yet we assume that the formation of RTGONU will automatically eradicate the popular dollarization of our economy!!

Our land is very fertile but we import Dura (sorghum), groundnuts, flour, maize from either Uganda, Kenya or Sudan. The fewer groundnuts we produce in Bahr el Ghazal areas only end up in Madamas and Maluah Kombo without any bigger benefits to the Farmers.

The Nile water is running in Juba town but we are hiring Ethiopians and Eritreans to deliver water to our homes for our own domestic services only in tanks.

With many hotels in the country, we thought that most of our country women & men should have taken jobs of catering and managerial posts but Eritreans, Ethiopians, Kenyans & Ugandans are bringing their own workforce for these jobs. SPLM thinks that it is a diplomatic relations matter as they assume to pay back the support the above mentioned gave us during the war. What else will they give to UNHCR who was directly involved with assistance?

We have enough and better rainfalls but we made no better strategy to use our water while Egyptians enjoy irrigating their environment and crops and we become preys to eagles during dry seasons as we kill ourselves over water points & grazing lands.

Boma Parks and many other places would possibly attract tourism and investments but we are investing tribal communal fights over those territories!!! They have turned Upper Nile Region as war zones while they don’t know that it is the Africa’s largest food basket! If the oil money can’t bring peace to Malakal, Bor and Bentiu, then the elites should stop spilling oil on our environment!

Our children are born deformed and our people’s health has deteriorated without healthcare strategy. Enough are the infrastructures destroyed and lives lost in the region but we cannot stay over environmental health complications connected to oil spilled and mismanagement!

Our youths have studied many meaningful careers but they are still being looked down and rejected employments, until a year ago a foreigner was identified working disguise in our FVP’s Office (Taban’s).

Several Generations have grown big and now have their grandchildren yet they are being denied political assignments because Uncle’at (Uncles in the system) see them young. We are attending to cousins & nephews’ marriages as elders but our own leaders define us as boys and girls just to deny us political assignments!

Remember, South Sudan is leading in Africa in Teak Plantations yet we cannot report its annual tax collection?? We are the largest teak plantation bordered to the Sahara Desert Region while we cannot sell it to Sudan, our nearest Sahara country for export. The elites assume that our oil money is enough and they can continue to fight over its pocketing.

Once again, since May 2011 Sudan is producing and selling our oil in Abyei Region but South Sudan shies to ask its rightful shares or the complete of it. I cannot talk of Panthou/Heglig oil production, it is just a day light robbed property.

The leaders have continued to accuse tribes of being responsible for the damage of our social fabrics in the country while I can directly accuse their lack of political wisdom and political ideologies that can set the people together!!!

Yenakan! Nhialic köny Ok!

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