South Sudan: ‘When liberators become predators, hopes for a better life are dashed’

By Tito Tong John, Nairobi, Kenya

Tuesday, 11 April 2023 (PW) — The political leadership in South Sudan has been marred by a litany of challenges that include alarming levels of unemployment, economic deficiencies and corruption.

Once, I spoke with one of the leaders. He said South Sudan had not been spared the trauma of liberators becoming predators that gobble up resources, including hollowing out state enterprises as rewards for sacrifices made during the struggle in the bush.

The reality of this, “For our esteemed president to put his conscience aside points to the kind of political culture or cultural ideology which makes it difficult to fight corruption in South Sudan.

“Post-colonial Africa has yet to produce leaders whose mission is to advance the common good by promoting participatory democracy, social justice and prosperity for all,” he lamented.

He argued that if there were no people in leadership and citizens who understood how they had been wounded by centuries of humiliation and abuse, they would not be able to understand why corruption has set in so deeply.

“Our leaders remain rooted in greater loyalty to their political parties and comrades in the struggle than to the nation they’re meant to serve the people. He regretted why we chose or voted for an independent nation; he lamented and said we were not intending. The founding father, the late Dr John Garang, never dreamt that the New Sudan leadership wouldn’t be in this lineage of corruption, tribalism, and nepotism.

“The conflation of the president, the party, the government and the state lies behind the shameless state capture characterising governments across most opposed colonial African countries. “There’s no hope for the multitudes whose hopes for a better life are dashed daily,” he said.

Meanwhile, controversial SPLM and many other parties did not think political leadership was engaging honestly with the challenges South Sudan is confronted with, especially when dealing with issues of economic growth, restoration of human dignity and the unemployment rate in South Sudan.

He believed South Sudan’s bilateral trade agreements with other countries boiled down to political leadership.

“For as long as we have morally compromised leadership, there is no way we can review the bilateral trade agreements that are not necessarily benefiting our local industries.

He was concerned that families would bear the brunt of the suffering.

“Political leadership matters because behind the unemployment statistics are people who yearn to have their dignity restored.

“Theirs is no way we can restore people’s dignity for as long as they are unemployed. There’s no dignity in unemployment,” he said.

Earlier this year, he tried to engage with some of the young men from his constituency who waited desperately for job offers. He recounted their qualms and sought to paint a picture of the reality of youth unemployment in South Sudan.

“One of the young people asked him: ‘The one thing that your politicians don’t understand is that I am 35 years old but have never been employed. If I happen to get an odd day’s job, I return home happy to earn my family’s respect because I can at least buy a loaf of bread.’”

He said another young man spoke of how he would resort to crime. “When political leadership is indifferent about the plight of these young men, who have never worked, I think as a country we are missing the point.

He said that the impoverished and jobless were being left behind 65% of the unemployment statistics that we talk about comprise the youth, some of whom form part of the protest campaign.

“Protest is not only a university issue. All these issues, including unemployment, are interrelated and boil down to the capacity of our leadership in South Sudan.

“Can this leadership transition to the new democratic, constitutional dispensation?

“To restore people’s dignity is about the material benefit they will derive from this new South Sudan they’ve been waiting for. In other words, he said we betray the mission and vision of the liberation movement when we become corrupt and indifferent about the people we are supposed to lead.

He said if political leadership were severe about prosperity for every citizen in this country, they should address unemployment, or the scourge would persist.

President Salva Kiir Mayardit always reshuffles the Cabinet he said: “We are a small, open economy operating in this international financial space, but it was easy for the president in a country with a double-digit unemployment rate to decide to reshuffle his Cabinet in the middle of the night and kick out everybody at National Treasury.

“We can talk about economic growth and draw graphs, but if we don’t understand that whatever we are doing is about people, we have a problem in South Sudan.” This courageous leader said he would not be intimidated by anyone for raising a dissenting voice against the current political leadership.

At the same time, SPLM treasurer-general and presidential hopeful conceded that South Sudan was plagued with corruption, with several leaders charged and removed from their positions.

He said the state capture was a severe concern that must be dealt with expeditiously and transparently through the proposed judicial commission of inquiry.

“The issues are a major concern to South Sudan as they erode public confidence in political leaders. Abuse of state resources must be avoided at all costs,” he said.

“President Kiir shouldn’t seek another term in office, and a new credible leadership should emerge after the elective in the ruling party.

“There’s a crack in the party which erodes the growth opportunity. We, the SPLM, acknowledge our weaknesses of divisions, factionalism and the manipulation of structures,” he said.

In inclusion, he insisted on clean governance, job creation and economic growth. “We have committed to radical economic transformation in South Sudan to build a new and prosperous country,”. We pray during this Easter period to change our hearts and to give young people chances to be in the system to govern too.

The author, Tito Tong, holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Nairobi, Kenya. He is pursuing a Master of Business Administration in Human Resources specialisation in the same academic institution. Previously he worked with different radios institution under Catholic Radio Network in South Sudan and is currently an opinion writer at Dawn News Paper frequently. He can be reached via his email: <tongkhamisa446@gmail.com>

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