Opinion,
By Dhuor Reath Badeng,
Feb 15, 2019(Nyamilepedia) — Honorable Members, first and foremost allow me to convey my New Year greetings and best wishes to you, your families and the constituencies that you represent. May this year brings you more joy and wisdom to execute your legislative duties.
Honorable Members, the essence of writing this letter to you is in regard to the task that the President of the Republic, Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit has assigned to you; dissemination of peace messages to your constituencies, to which he has allocated funds (est. 1.2 M SSP) to each one of you to help in the facilitation of the meetings and conferences you will hold with your constituencies. This is an incredible step towards the implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan’s (R-ARCSS). However as a concerned citizen and one of the constituents you represent in the National Parliament, I want to draw your attention to some of the challenges facing the constituents you represent -which may also require your due considerations alongside the task that has been assigned to you by the President.
What are these challenges?
As communities affected by the civil war that broke out in 2013, Uror and Nyirol face a lot of challenges that ranges from social, economic and political. These problems or challenges vary in acuteness and priority. Nevertheless, as we move towards R-ARCSS implementation, we hope that our people accept the peace that has been signed as their own and anticipate that all the warring parties silence their guns so that the would be Government of National Unity can then focus on service delivery to all the citizens at the grassroots levels. Nonetheless, at this particular point in time, these challenges that I shall highlight here are the ones that require your immediate attention (in my view).
- Most of your constituents still live in UN camps or in Refugees camps outside the country. Some are willing to come home but due to some constraints (e.g. means of transport back to their homes, what to use to re-establish themselves…etc.) they are still stranded in the camps.
- The people in the constituencies you represent have not had access to proper education, better health care and clean water for drinking since the outbreak of the war, except for the few emergency assistances being provided for by the National and International NGOs operating in the areas currently occupied by the opposition forces of Dr. Riek Machar and some parts under the government control. Â
What to do (Recommendations)?
These recommendations may sound deviating from the mandate that has been given to you by the President but I think they are worth doing because they will complement the peace messages that you are carrying to the constituencies.
-  Form a  committee comprising of five MPs, Elders, Women, Clergies and Youth representatives to consult with the IDPs/Refugees and asses how many are willing to go home so that you work on how best you can help them.
- Â I am of the opinion that, you all contribute at least 200,000 SSP each from the amount allocated to you for peace dissemination. This amount will be used to renovate Yuai Secondary School, buy books, furniture and other requirements for the functioning of the school. Although this amount may not entirely cover the cost of all the above requirements, it will be a starting point for a much bigger project in the future.
Conclusion:
It is worth citing that the above two activities (recommendations) above cannot be achieved concurrently with the President’s task of disseminating peace messages to the grassroots given the finances at your disposals. However, if one project is chosen, it can be accomplished in concert with the President’s task. So it is up to you to choose between the two proposals. Personally, I think the second recommendation is worth doing jointly with the President’s task.
God bless you all. Â
Sincerely,
Dhuor Reath Badeng
A concerned citizen of Bieh State.
Tel: 0917141499
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