By Deng Vanang,
April 14, 2016(Nyamilepedia) —- Times have changed from analogue to digital eras. Too, this is not any different with political ideologies over which South Sudanese still desperately scramble. These ideological confrontations among South Sudanese are not unique other than being spill over from the rest of rotating globe.
What is strange though is the fact that they cause violent conflicts here than witnessed anywhere far and away. Main culprits to blame behind this ideological chaos are the crude ignorance and idiocy more driven by naïve local citizens and some throne-decked political leaders.
The shared wrong doing of the two power driven groups is failure to clearly define positions and political points of view as collective enterprise placed in public domain but highly personalized commodities. And one in which negative attitude about leadership is so deep rooted and faultily perceived as inalienable divine right rather than a privilege honorably bestowed up on someone.
Besides timeless perpetuation in the leadership becoming yet another mindboggling menace right from the indispensable respective parties’ leaderships to the silently declared self-effacing life Presidency.
Poverty is one worse fraction added to ignorance and idiocy that form main social vices of our time. Especially, when political leadership is tied to the security from crimes and acquisition of public goods and services for a certain group and individuals in the society that hold it a sway, far from the desired means for the equitable distribution of such goods and services to all the rightful groups and individual citizens.
The same adverse mentality goes with pseudo application of democracy already conceived to be an alien thing parties’ leaders wish to carry out as an inter-party exercise at general elections when the contrary is true that it is an internal party democracy that slowly builds up to the holistic democratization of the country at large.
The likely thing to reverse such negative perceptions is the formation of the incoming TGONU that shall serve as a litmus test in the fight for reforms and reconstruction. Since it will more or less herald a turning point or a set back where battle against dreaded endemic economic corruption will be started, lost or won.
Spelling the beginning of the end of the parties’ leaders hitherto assumed to be pragmatic reformists is two-fold.
One will be if parties’ leaders lose sight on contentious issues that caused violence of 15th December, 2013 and recommendations enshrined in peace agreement on how they should be addressed. One of the outstanding recommendations is not to allow those individuals public previously accused of financial corruption to be part of the Transitional Government of National Unity, TGONU, meant to deal with the country’s current political, economic and social malignancies. While interim constitution still upholds the never enforced punishment for those engaged in moral fortitude that includes social indiscipline, criminal act and among others.
Another is to guard against paying more focus on already known anti-political reformists from without than spotting and dealing with anti-reformists in camouflage that have successfully sneaked into reformists camp and hid as they wait for an opportunity to strike.
Put paying to counter revolutionary effort to roll back self-less sacrifices contrary to reforms’ spirit which is not for the looted to reward their looters. As it is still inconceivably naive to think the same victims are too generous so as to die for their tormentors, instead of reforming and reclaiming from them what they had looted from the national, state and county governments to the barebones.
Failure to adhere to aforesaid public voice of reason until proposed hybrid regional court does it for them later will pose too many questions than can be answered. In which the self-styled reformists will serve to prove that they are common accomplices in the committed vices. While in part, such inaction shall as well construe lack of political will or fear for the unknown to live up to their words.
As are their flaunted credentials will not only be questionably exposed to closer scrutiny, if not out rightly dismissed as political gimmicks, but also to jeopardize their chances of no longer becoming saviors ever suffering country has been waiting for.
While legislative and judicial organs of the state on the other hand, shall remain to be seen whether this time around execute their legal functions in supervising their fellow executive arm {government} to fully operate within the scope of the law.
Not type of executive body some of whose members are legislators to deliberately undermine separation of power up on which democratic checks and balances are predicated.
While mindful of their past indifference when they chose to subordinate themselves to the executives at all levels of government that resultantly caused this on-going civil war through flared up blame games between two leading executives in the country.
For one man blamed another for government’s failures to deliver public goods and services to ever anticipating populace. Not taking it lying down, the blamed man couldn’t shoulder it, believing he was either right or not alone in all that he did. With their supporters joining the heated argument and ganging up behind them.
Subsequently conflict caused by legislature’s spectacular failure to do the necessary ensued that brought armed cattle herders to face off with regular army in town and vice versa. Simply because majority of honorable legislators had chosen fear over courage, treacherous life over heroic death, cash bribes – induced wealth over dignified poverty and ethnicity over nationalism.
With more than enough lessons learned hard, legislature must this time around bet thoroughly those that are nominated for political positions and senior civil service posts or recall them from public service via vote of no confidence when poorly performed.
As Judiciary will be hard pressed not to allow anymore the accuser, arresting policeman, prosecutor and the judge all combined in one man against the accused. That is in addition to ensuring fairness on the cases lodged against both government and legislature or be it their individual members in competent courts of law.
Playing up the excesses or complacencies of three organs of state and their members to assert checks and balances against one another will be open, none-side taking, articulate and fearless media and civil society advocates.
Only then, shortage of whistleblowers to report noted incidents of graft where spouses, Uncles, cousins, nephews and nieces dominate some public offices will come to pass by ensuring close relatives don’t share such public offices.
With no guaranteed protection for anyone from well-connected friends from above, as favoritism and more lenient sentences in court rooms that quickly bring back criminals to business as usual in streets will be forgotten vices of the past.
Deng Vanang is a political scientist, journalist and author. Reachable at:dvanang@gmail.com
The statements, comments, or opinions published by Nyamilepedia are solely those of their respective authors, which do not necessarily represent the views held by the moderators of Nyamilepedia. The veracity of any claims made are the responsibility of the writer(s), and not the staff and the management of Nyamilepedia.
Nyamilepdeia reserves the right to moderate, publish or delete a post without warning or consultation with the author(s).
For Opinions and News Reports:Â info@nyamile.com
For Technical Support:Â support@nyamile.comÂ
To Advertise with Us:Â advertise@nyamile.comÂ
For General Inquiry:Â nyamilepedia@gmail.com.Â
[ad name=”Google Ad”]
