By Wesley Kosa
Secretary for Information
South Sudan National Movement for Change
(SSNMC)
July 7th, 2019(Nyamilepedia) — Since we achieved our independence, freedom, equality and dignity that we fought for decades for which along the way over 2 million lives were lost have not yet been realized nor the building of South Sudan. The government of president Kiir, instead of building the nation on the democratic principles such as respect for human rights, promoting national unity, establishing rule of law and improving the livelihood of the citizen has driven the country to the total collapse. Kiir’s policies are promoting ethnicity, corruption and lawlessness which are contrary to democratic norms. Those are remedies for lasting conflict and we are already experiencing it. Therefore I believe that for South Sudanese to enjoy peace, freedom and dignity, the current government has to be replaced by a democratic government that respects the rule of law and promotes human dignity. The post-conflict government must recognize that we all South Sudanese are equal under the law. As soon as president Kiir is gone, the new government must initiate reforms in all institutions to comply with the democratic norms and principles and deliver services to the people. The new government must recognize the independence of the judiciary and promote freedom of speech, assemble and movement.
Post-Conflict Government
The new government should form a lean technocratic government to cut down the budget the government currently is spending on the federal and state officials. These funds will be injected in other services so that our citizens will begin to receive the most needed services they are waiting for. The government should move a motion to the parliament to reduce the number of states to help improve the country’s economy, promotes unity and eradicate communal cross-border conflicts. As our country is still struggling financially, we do not need huge number states, which will be too difficult to manage financially and even to provide services the citizens need as we are witnessing today. The government must promote national healing through reconciliation, establishing a court to deal with those who have committed atrocities and crimes against humanity. The government must promote economic development through transparency and respect for the rule of law. The head of state should not appoint the cabinet but rather it’s the responsibility of the parliament to vet those whose names are nominated for government posts and give recommendations to the head of the State to announce their appointments. To date, President kiir uses his appointment power to manipulate, bribe, and control and subject people to adore him. The government must promote free and fair election, introduce office term limit and establish independent Electoral Commission. The government must listen to the voices and concerns of the citizens and address them amicably to gain their trust and confidence. The government needs to restructure and rebuild all the institutions, because the current government has deliberately failed to do so and as a result South Sudan is experiencing a lack of tangible progress in every area. Tremendous efforts need to be put on rebuilding the national unity through education, awareness, laws to counter nepotism and favoritism, that all south Sudanese are equal under the law. No nation will ever stand if its citizens are divided.
Economic Policies
Corruption has already tarnished our national image and it has destroyed our country economically. So, the government needs to quickly come out of this by establishing an independent Anti-Corruption Commission to handle and deal with issues pertaining to corruption. The government must make sure that it lives by what it says, i.e. corrupt officials have to be dealt with in accordance to the law to send a clear message that the government has zero tolerance to corruption.
The government must promote transparency in its financial dealings and handling of the national revenue to enable government to provide social services to the people and eradicate poverty. South Sudan depends mainly on oil revenue, it is therefore important for the government to diversify the economy by promoting other revenue sources such as agriculture, forestry, tourism and mining to ensure secure source of revenue.
The government needs to invest the oil revenue in physical infrastructure such as roads, hospitals, schools, agriculture (food production) and technology. Improving the roads and communication will promote free movement of people and goods to boost our economic growth. The selection of South Sudan’s economic partners should be informed by our democratic principles e.g. those countries must have outstanding high moral standards, respect for human rights, and human value, and promote democracy. The government has to bring to light all the secret deal of Kiir’s current government because South Sudan belongs to all, the people have full and equal rights to know and have a say on everything regarding their Country. The money that the current government has stolen have to be returned and all those who are involved in such acts should be brought to book.
Security Sector
The post-conflict government needs to conduct major reforms in the security sector: The law enforcement agents must be persons who know how to read and write. They must be persons who are willing to be trained and educated in the basic laws of our nation and human rights. They must be trained to understand the meaning of law enforcement which is to keep peace amongst the citizens.
The government needs to recruit and train professional army who will be aware of their national duties of protecting the lives of citizens and their properties, and defending the country in the face of foreigner aggression. As the new government takes over, the military barracks have to be relocated immediately far away from the residential areas.
The duties and responsibilities of the intelligence community are to gather, analyze, assess information and submit them to the relevant authorities. The intelligence agents have no rights under any circumstance to arrest and put any person behind bars. All the security forces must undergo continuous training and education. They must not be affiliated with any political or ethnic organizations, to maintain fairness in carrying out their national duties and responsibilities.
The current security forces are used as tools of intimidation and silencing the voices of reasoning that disagree with the leadership and to manipulate the citizens to surrender to the regime. Reforming the institutions will positively reconstruct our Country’s regional and international image hence it will encourage others to do business with us. Once this happens, then our country will begin to experience development and progress, the pendulum of rebuilding will never again be stopped.
For more information you can reach Wesley Kosa, Secretary for Information of South Sudan National Movement for Change, through his email at wbkosa@hotmail.com
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