By Sirir Gabriel Yiei Rut,
July 28, 2014(Nyamilepedia) — I have thought a thousand times on why my country, so endorsed with both human and natural resources, is failing. I have arrived at only one conclusion: President Salva Kiir Mayardit no longer has the capacity to think beyond a certain point nor has been able to extricate his brains from the past which hugely influenced who he has become today.
He is now a leader unable to think beyond a certain time frame because the times we live in are significantly different from the past in which he was quite successful as a military commander in the frontline.
We then add liberation diehards made up of security chiefs, retired generals, SPLM alumni and praise singers who have occupied this vacuum solely to their material advantage and not in the interest of south Sudan at all.
Their role is to maintain the status quo by isolating the president from reality that he is even shocked by the state of our roads. Their interest is to ensure that one of them occupies the throne on order to maintain their comforts and safety. All this fuelled by fear of any alternative. They will therefore protect that throne to the death.
Those who have an opportunity to make money have done all they can and we have seen an elite comprador class emerging; people whose sense of responsibility and ethics leaves much to be desired. These elites, in partnership with their political masters, have bled the country dry and continue to be “successful” through murky deals and pervasive secret corruption. This can be evidenced by the flashy cars (V8) and huge mansions that one sees in Juba town.
In these circles, it is not about the work ethic nor is it about conscience, but it is more about making as much as one can now by any means and at all cost.
The business sector which is reeling under SPLM in Juba‘s fear and unwillingness to see an apolitical national black bourgeoisie emerge, remains blocked up in a condition which they can hardly change.
Over three years now our business sector has been weakened as a change agent. We have seen those who want to survive the day choosing to be complicit and partnering with SPLM cronies; corruption is their creed, apathy and fear is their disease.
In civil society we have struggle fatigue. The last 8 years since 2005 just after the signing of comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) have been years of struggle and anguish for the majority of south Sudanese adults. Change looked like it was coming in 2009-2010, but it never arrived.
Unfortunately most adult south Sudanese who have live through terror and loss have run out of energy and motivation to fight. This has certainly entrenched SPLM in Juba while it has weaken other political
parties whose only remaining power is to praise president Salva Kiir to remained in his throne and keep singing the song of no “tribal war” which they don’t know it meaning themselves.
The international community seems to be collaborating with this so called president. Who order his own people to kill themselves; they should put their eyes on Salva Kiir activities. President should be force to step down by the International authority because he is finishing one ethnicity which is Nuer tribe. How can they allow one man to do whatever he wants?
We also have non-governmental organizations that must now fight for relevance and resources. The mandate to fight Salva Kiir is shifted to the other side and they must come up with new ideas and new mandates of how to operate in the emerging geopolitical landscape.
Increasing unemployment levels have added to the weakening of organized labor; a voice of the workers which continuously challenged the status quo in the past. We have seen a lukewarm approach to confronting this regime, a capitulation and lack of direction which can be blamed solely on the need of millions to merely survive on a day –to day basis.
Sadly our youths remains confused and misguided as this environment has not created any opportunity or hope for a better future. Those who can leave do so and those who can not are damned ad they search for meaning in a country with no values, no leadership and no hope.
The Diasporas continues to make the right noises through social networks, but is disadvantaged in causing change on the ground in south Sudan.
The rule of law has failed us because those who must implement the law have themselves become corrupted. Any social system that is not based on universal human rights and the respect of private property tends to regress, both morally and economically.
All this has resulted in money becoming a national god. Where talent and virtue offer no advancement and corruption has become the only means to survive. This culture has permeated all sectors of our society from the public sector, state enterprises, churches and private sector.
Our moral values have therefore deteriorated and life has become cheap, brutal, short and very boring. The numbers of the poor are increasing daily. The poor can hardly be agents of change because poverty disempowers and absolute poverty disempowers absolutely.
Our only hope is therefore for a few amongst us to reject this narrative and to realize that we are on our own.
There is no time difficult for any generation as our present time and yet we must remain hopeful and do what we can.
We must fight and not give up. We must never accept this dreadful narrative that has been created by SPLM in Juba.
The struggle continues!!
The author can easily be reach through his email address sirirgabrielyiei3@gmail.com
