BY: Maciek Gabriel Gum, JUBA, SEP/11/2014, SSN;
As the National Assembly is ringing the warning bells of elections, there is high need for President Salva Kiir Mayardit to be concerned. President Kiir’s legitimacy, according to the Interim National Constitution that brought him into power in 2010 will end in April 2014 and as a result, he will have to seek the approval of the Citizens of South Sudan if he is to continue as the most powerful man in South Sudan.
To do this, President Mayardit will first have to ensure that there are no leaks or loopholes in the Dinka barricade under which he hides. But will this wall be as intact as it was 5 years ago? This is the million dollar question.
In 2010, when the countrywide elections were held, President Kiir went to most of the States and Counties of South Sudan and campaigned for his election and that of all the SPLM candidates contesting for various political positions.
He got a hero’s welcome in every State and County that he went to with bulls falling at will at his feet and ululations filling the air announcing his arrival and welcoming him to a successful campaign.
People placed their hopes on him so that he could lead them well, the first South Sudanese to be elected President to lead the South Sudanese.
In Lakes State, the Incumbent President Kiir Mayardit won by over 90%. Over 90% of the contesting SPLM candidates (whom Kiir campaigned for) were elected into office “that there was even a saying that even dogs with SPLM tickets could win these election”, and indeed they did.
This brief account of events is to show how overwhelmingly Lakes State contributed to electing President Kiir into power. It should not be forgotten too that during the struggle, Lakes stood as the stronghold of SPLM/A and as such acted as the movement’s headquarters.
It’s citizens fought bravely, selflessly and unconditionally during the war so as to liberate the country to what it is today. Of course every other State contributed, but my focus remains on Lakes, at least for the time being.
So when these very citizens who made history by first fighting a liberation war and later on electing Kiir into office, suffer from the cruel hands of a cruel, ruthless and irrational dictator, and they cry out pleading for help from the last person they have put all their trust in (by voting him into office), they expect their ills to be nursed but instead they have been quarantined and forgotten like people suffering from a contagious incurable disease.
Lakes has been suffering since the onset. Even before independence, we have had successive handpicked Governors who have failed miserably in fulfilling their mandates of serving and leading the citizens.
This has been entirely the President’s fault in not identifying leaders who could lead well. Others may argue that the citizens of Lakes State will never go down well with any Governor but I argue otherwise.
It is probably the wealth-eyeing, semi-literate and nepotistic leaders that don’t go down well with the citizens.
When the president took Justice Telar Ring (the current legal Advisor) as Caretaker Governor, Lakes enjoyed a spell of peace and progress; this renders the above argument baseless and thus cannot be used to derive conclusions.
Another scenario where the citizens of Lakes State liked the Governor was when Eng. Chol Tong Mayay was elected as the Governor of Lakes State. The people had a sense of ownership of the position and believed that the new Governor would listen to their woes and bring about security, which would lead to peace, prosperity and development.
And indeed, Eng. Chol Tong Mayay was progressing really well before his short-termed termination. He encouraged women and Youth as peace agents, encouraged Education by sponsoring Lakes State capable students and infrastructural development (a goal he was pursuing when he was a Minister of Agricultural in the previous State Government).
Although he was removed because the Insecurity was escalating in the State, he was not given much time to address the situation. Instead a swift move was made and a decree aired out announcing his removal.
This, sparked mixed reactions from the State citizens but the majority of the population was pro-Mayay and thus didn’t like his removal at such a short notice without giving him a chance to prove himself capable in handling the situation.
Instead Kiir appointed Military Caretaker Governor Matur Chuut Dhuol to address the insecurity in the State and has failed tenfold compared to the removed Governor or any other Governor before him for that matter.
Dhuol’s reign in Lakes has been a complete nightmare to the citizens of Lakes State and all the other residents of Lakes. When appointed, Dhuol completely sidelined the State Legislative Assembly in any decision making issues.
His decisions were made without consultation. His decree concerning the ban of alcohol in Lakes State for example, has caused a major economic decline in the State. This alcohol ban led to closure of businesses and lack of investment in the state reducing money supply.
The reduction in money supply ultimately led to high commodity prices which the State Citizens cannot afford. This led to poverty and starvation for the same people he wants to rule. This was in complete contrast with the policies of Mayay.
His decision also to cancel all the capacity building programs (including programs concerning released employees for further studies) was a very great miscalculation on Dhuol’s part.
Most students who were released under Mayay’s regime dropped out of school. This is a complete undoing of the progressive steps that Mr. Mayay took.
Dhuol has been quoted as saying that no government sponsors people for further studies and if anyone wanted to go back to school, he/she should consult his/her parents. This lack of enthusiasm in education encouragement in Lakes State will lead to backwardness and economic stagnation or decline adding to the existing poverty and lawlessness in the state.
Dhuol’s atrocities are numerous and uncountable including the creation of torture centers like Langcok, his daughter turning into a murderer, forcing students and employees to demonstrate, enforcing a pay cut of 5% to those employees who didn’t clean the airport and so many more that went unmentioned.
All these costly mistakes that Dhuol made affected the Lakes citizens in one way or another thus prompting the call for his removal. But President Salva Kiir, the only person in South Sudan responsible for his appointment and removal has been dragging his feet.
A while back he was quoted as saying that anybody who didn’t like Dhuol should leave Lakes State. This clearly demonstrates that the president of South Sudan disregards the will of more than 600,000 Lakes citizens, of whom a great percentage voted him into office.
And that his will to keep Dhuol in office supersedes the wish of the more than 600,000 Lakes citizens who want Dhuol out of the office. This clearly is dictatorship in its crude form.
The citizens of Lakes are a very patient people but they have had enough of this suffering. 2015 will be their chance to demonstrate their will by voting into office individuals that will fulfill out their wills.
It’s high time that they look beyond the Dinka or SPLM (whether in opposition or proposition) walls where bad leaders tend to hide. They should and will look deep into personalities and identify leadership qualities that will bring national unity, peace and economic development not leaders who fill their accounts with blood money and exploit the majority of the South Sudanese citizens who contributed wholeheartedly for the liberation of South Sudan.
And this time round, I doubt whether the incumbent president will win by over 90% in Lakes State. Of course, his support will not only decline in Lakes alone but in other states too. But it would have been comforting for him if he had the total support of his tribesmen come elections.
So, Mr. President should do something within the short period of time that he has before elections to ascertain the loyalty of Lakes citizens and all the citizens of other states if he wants to retain his current position, else he will lose it.
Maciek Gabriel Gum
Juba South Sudan
Email: gummaciek@gmail.com
This post was originally published on this site
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