An Open Letter to President Kiir: Make a U-turn and save your government from an uprising

AN OPEN LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT KIIR MAYARDIT.

June 15, 2020

His Excellency,

President of the Republic of South Sudan

Your Excellency,

Saturday, June 20, 2020 (PW) — I am writing this letter to call to your attention the problems that are facing us as a country and maybe make a U-turn in solving these issues before it is too late for your government.

Your Excellency, the country is in the state of anarchy to the extent of most young people becoming impatient and if I am not mistaken, if people were to be given a chance to plebiscite  a motion of no confidence, 90% of young people would vote against your government.

Your Excellency, our fathers fought together with you and your comrades during the 21 years of struggle and in that respect, they lost their lives hoping that their children would enjoy the fruits of their sacrifices. Today, the son of businessmen and women, together with your few comrades are enjoying the wealth of South Sudan yet we watch the graves of our fathers wishing in our hearts that they shouldn’t have sacrificed only for the few to enjoy the wealth of their sacrifices.

Mr. President, South Sudanese fought for 21 years because of the injustices, marginalization and segregation the Arabs imposed on us. We today, under your administration are witnessing the same problems that made you and your comrades pick up guns and join the civil war yet your administration forgot these things. Your comrades, mostly close family members and your friends started throwing expensive weddings, birthday parties and driving expensive cars at the expense of the masses yet this shouldn’t have been the idea.

Professor Woodrow Wilson once said that every man sent out from a university should be a man of his nation as well as a man of his time. Thus in your time you joined the civil war and fought for the rights of Southerners therefor it’s worthy to note that it’s just a matter of time before we ; the young are sent out of universities and  our time will come. Will you expect us to join a government of expensive weddings, driving big cars and throwing expensive birthdays?

Refugees question. There are thousands of Southerners who were displaced first by the Sudanese civil war and then after independence, the 2013 civil war displaced more people yet the government has no plans whatsoever to re-settle these people and put programs that are tackling their crisis. Your Excellency, I am a Dinka who is not pleased by the policies that your government is implementing. The policies seek to implement tribal interests rather than human interests. Human interest of considering all South Sudanese as humans rather than viewing people with a tribal lens ;”This is a Nuer and that is a Dinka !’’ and implementing policies that are unprejudiced . As a concerned citizen, I wish to live in a country where a Nuer is treated like someone from Bahr el Ghazal, where someone from Bor is treated like a Nuer, where an Equatorian is treated like a Murle .Today, the refugees in the camps depict this sad reality in terms of tribes and sub-tribes, does this mean that there are no people from Bahr el Ghazal in the camps? The answer is no, there are but few as compared to people from Bor and Nuer who were mostly affected by the 2013 war. Your government should shift the focus to these most vulnerable communities affected by the war of 2013.

Land Grabbing in Equatoria. In accordance with the South Sudan constitution of 2011 with amendments through 2013 in article 170(5), it states that Community land shall include all lands traditionally and historically held or used by local communities or their members. They shall be defined, held, managed and protected by law. The constitution is clear yet it has failed to solve the land disputes that are all over places like Yei, Nimule and Juba.

John Adams, 2nd US president once said that a constitutional republic was “a government of laws, and not of men”. After 2011, we expected a constitutional republic where we are to be governed by laws rather than men. Today, South Sudan is not led but ruled by few men, we therefore urge you to make a U-turn and set the rule of law to stop the anarchy in the country.

Distribution of resources countrywide .Your Excellency, under your leadership, Juba has become the only region in South Sudan to build thus making resources concentrated within the capital city and scarce in rural areas ,leaving those citizens inhabiting rural areas without proper roads, hospitals, schools, electricity and clean water. Mr. President make an urgent U-turn and start providing for the nation as a whole before an uprising emerges. Your government is currently surviving because of the few generals who defect reason being they knew they would be given rewards and were promised better positions but young people will rise and it is just a matter of time.

Therefore I’d like to kindly exhort you to :pay the soldiers on time, organize the army and unite the country ,eliminate the unknown gunmen, solve the border disputes and pay the civil servants on time.

Mr. President, these issues have made many governments fall in the world and your government has finally reached the stage especially with the rumours of Egyptians having a military base in the country.

Mr President make a U-turn and save your government from an uprising.

Sincerely yours,

Kuol Abraham Tong.

Kuoltong4@gmail.com.

Law student at university of Nairobi and a concerned citizen

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