By Sirir Gabriel Yiei Rut,
Opinion.
August 21, 2014(Nyamilepedia) — When one flies back into south Sudan, it is like going back in time It is depressing and difficult not to be angered on how President Salva Kiir Mayardit has over the years destroyed opportunity and development of our beautiful country The sad part is that most poor south Sudanese have gotten used to this poverty and those who continue to support a Salva Kiir dynasty clearly demonstrate that they cannot even imagine a better south Sudan that some of us want.
I am amazed, intrigued and certainly disappointed that we are letting Salva Kiir treat south Sudan like his backyard. Now we have the very likely possibility that south Sudan will belong to Salva Kiir while we stand aside and look.The exuberant support of the pending appointment of General chief of staff certainly demonstrates that constitutions and competence do not matter anymore and poses a huge risk to democracy in south Sudan.
Having said that, I guess members of SPLM -Juba faction, like any other political party, have the choice who becomes their leader. I am still to understand their thinking and motives, but poor masses hardly make informed decisions. However, we who are outside SPLM -Juba faction can only anticipate the impending self-manufactured leadership disaster which, unfortunately, will have a negative impact on our country.
Our only responsibility can therefore be to ensure that SPLM -Juba ceases to be a majority political party in south Sudan; in fact it would be preferable with them completely out of the political picture because this organization has destroyed livelihoods and continues to pursue policies that are arresting our potential as a country.
In order to achieve that, we must only have fresh new round of fight after fight then reforms which will paved our way forward to the peaceful election. These reforms must take away sole control of the voters’ roll from Reconstitute the south Sudan Electoral Commission (SSEC) and, as far as I am concerned, (SSEC) chairperson Justice Chan Reech Madut should go. We also cannot have a partisan police force which means that Police Inspector Lt. Pieng Deng Majiok must go.
We must also see a totally free media. These are the tools of oppression that SPLM-Juba Faction continues to use and as long as they control them, we are wasting our time and building unachievable expectations for those south Sudanese who want change.
No dictatorship has ever been negotiated out of power. What is critical is for a broad base of democratic forces to emerge and force for political change.
I expect that a convention of democratic movements and civic bodies will happen soon. We must ensure that such a body achieves its objectives and that it is led by credible people with no vested interest in achieving personal political ambitions. That will remain our challenge.
I continue to point out to many south Sudanese that unless we each take the responsibility to change our country, nobody else will. What we will get instead is the entrenchment of the Kiir’s relatives that is utterly disheartening because they have nothing good to offer to this country.
As the economy collapses, we have seen that Salva Kiir does not really care nor does he have the capability to turn around our economy. We must also realise that ex-Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny does not have a concrete plan to destroyed this nation instead to entrench himself as the president of the south Sudan as soon as possible so that we may experiences changes.
The renewal team is certainly promising, but again, in my opinion, they cannot have the sole responsibility for the task ahead. Opposition parties have no resources to speak of and most do not have a vibrant membership base and can only fight through Press conferences. Those in the Diaspora are ready and willing to make things happen, but are waiting. We cannot fight a dictatorship through Press conferences, what we need is decisive action on the ground.
We can only build a sustainable inclusive democracy in south Sudan through a fundamental change in our political institutions; this will then lead to the emergence of an inclusive economy in the future. Unfortunately those who created these exclusive political institutions are not about to go away.
Personally I do not accept that Salva Kiir represents my future anymore, I also do not accept that First Lady Ayen Mayardit represents the future and can lead progressive women in so. In fact the south Sudan I do not accept that SPLM –Juba in its totality and anyone associated with it for that matter can create the south Sudan we all want.
I know many of you out there agree with this, but without unity, action, purpose and courage to save our country, we will not prevail. There is really nothing stopping us except our imagined fear and the pursuit of selfish ambition by most of our political party’s leaders.
South Sudan can prosper, but only without President Salva Kiir Mayardit and his relatives at the top.
The Author is a Student of political science living in Cairo-Egypt; you can easily reach Him through his email address: sirirgabrielyiei3@gmail.com or +201115133229.
