Where is “Tomorrow” in the Republic South Sudan?
By Joseph Achiech Mathen, Juba, South Sudan
Thursday, October 01, 2020 (PW) — “Joseph Stalin, premier of Russia and USSR (1878-1953), once ripped all the feathers off a live chicken as a lesson to his followers. He then set the chicken on the floor just a short distance away. The chicken was bloodied suffering immensely and couldn’t fly anymore. Yet, when Stalin began to toss some bits of wheat towards the chicken, it followed him around. He said to his followers – this is how easy it is to govern stupid people, they’ll follow you no matter how much pain you cause them, as long as you throw them a little worthless treat once in a while”.
In the context of South Sudan, during the liberation struggle, we had some leaders who joined the struggle with different motives. In the same breathe, the struggle was almost weakened by ideological differences due to the conflicting levels of education – the movement was endowed with PhD holders, university graduates, high school and primary dropouts, pure illiterates and something in between.
The group with the motive of liberating our impoverished peoples, though some had little education, did their part exquisitely. Trouble came when with a pride, they selfishly wanted to milk the cow alone, divorcing their obligation to those in the farm – whom they had fought for. As if that wasn’t enough, they pretended and indeed frowned at those who attempted to touch the wheels, as they curiously longed to drive the vehicle alone despite their nagging level of experiences.
In the front pages of those with selfish ambitions – disguised in similar quest for self-rule for the Southerners – their presence was disastrous from day one. They stabbed the struggle at the back by collaborating with Jalaba and signed fake agreements which betrayed Junubin. Militias produced by the mothers of the soil became barricades to the struggle. Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) brought these divergent minds together, but little did it reckoned that cats and rats don’t cohabitate!
“Some” even carried infectious viruses – corruption, nepotism, tribalism, incompetency and, political treachery and trickery – which were diagnosed and treated earlier by the “visionary leader” in his camp. Henceforth, problems were again watered by the inclusiveness of the CPA. Besides, one problem was ignored and it remained trivial among all the warlords, the moral decay – many of these warlords grew up in the bush and became stubborn or notorious militarily. The level of this moral decay can be signaled by the stubborn sabotage of the countless peace agreements amidst the suffering of the vulnerable citizens, whom they claimed to serve.
With the waves of infections at its apogee among the warlords, coalesced with other factors, the motives increasingly became implicit or explicit at gripping to the political seats at the expense of the masses – you either kick or else be bribed off contrary to the political melody in the country. Greedy political games became trump cards to dominate the political spaces. As a result, the country was put in the frying pan, top most leaders resorted to Stalin’s ugly strategy above – to deliberately held citizens in the veil of ignorance and poverty, signified by the following indicators in the country today:
1. Where the government informs the nation that it has ran shortage of funds and, therefore no payment of salary for all the civil servants, despite not paying them for the last seven good months. But still, shamelessly, you find the employees rushing for work. Famine and hunger are intenifying, and people are happy and comfortable with government information.
2. There is dollar crisis in the country which will soon trigger hyper-inflation – as the rate stands 100$ = 52,000 pounds. The government has patently and honestly informed the citizens that the Central Bank is short of foreign reserves – albeit the information is diluted recently. In addition, corruption, well known to the citizenry as our major curse, has been admitted as the sole cause of the shortage for the reserves.
However, and unsurprisingly as a routine, the president used the ministers as scapegoats, and all the citizens myopically celebrated their dismissals – as if it will be the solution to the crisis.
3. Our refugees were butchered by our disrespectful neighbors, and only to hear the government spokesperson in the media reporting about their disagreements on the number of Counties – something which will delay their repatriation. Surprisingly, citizens only sent their pity condolences without even attempting to pressure the government so as to pave a clear path for their return.
4. Open defilements and violations of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) – the only hope for the country apparently – and the nation seemed not bothered at all, because citizens were made to be totally ignorant about their Rights, liberties, and the obligation of the government. Recently, only foreign international organizations – IGAD and TROIKA were at the forefront of pressuring the parties to the R-ARCSS to fully implement the agreement.
In conclusion, as you read this brief text, have you ever taken minutes of your time and think of the direction where our beloved country is driving? Sincerely, where is the future? And what does tomorrow hold for this already devastated Nation? Let’s think twice compatriots, before disappearing together as fools chained in the veil of ignorance by the warlords.
°FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY!
The author is a South Sudanese, and a student of Law in Nkumba University, Uganda. Reached via josephaciec66@gmail.com (+256 774973700 / +211 925360990.)
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