The first think-tank in an independent South Sudan
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By Zechariah Manyok Biar
January 27, 2012 — I have been too busy to fulfill my promise to the
nation that I was going to write some articles as part of an article I
wrote some weeks ago about the reduction of tribal conflicts in South
Sudan. I was busy with the preparation for the launching of the Center
for Strategic Analyses and Research (C-SAR) that took place on January
24-25, 2012. I will now write something about the think-tank before
turning to my promise next week.
The Republic of South Sudan was born less than seven months ago and is
faced with many challenges that resemble the challenges faced during
the civil war between the North and the South of Sudan. The difference
between then and now is that people now believe that they are in a
free country that should deliver services as opposed to the time that
people were struggling with liberation while hoping for future
happiness in a free country.
But in reality, South Sudan is not yet free from war. The tension
between the Sudan and South Sudan are very high, the “dissatisfied”
South Sudanese are still rebelling against the Government, cattle
rustling and its results are becoming disastrous in states like
Jonglei, among other challenges. These tribal conflicts and the threat
of war between Sudan and South Sudan are threatening to development in
both countries as witnessed few days ago by the closure of oil
production in South Sudan.
The economic decline and the lack of developmental activities that
meet the expectations of the citizens will lead to frustration in many
rural communities, increasing tribal conflicts. It is for this reason
that the C-SAR is founded to try to contribute experimentally based
recommendations to help both the law-makers and the law-implementers
make informed decisions in their efforts to try to solve pressing
problems in the country.
There are four main deliverables for the think-tank to work on in
2012: a) a fragility analysis with focus on security, b) budget
analysis and allocation of public resources, c) statistics/data
collection and analysis (with the NBS), and d) capacity and
ideological building with focus on strengthening consensus within
different political parties in South Sudan.
The two keynote speakers during the launching of C-SAR, Prof. Paul
Collier of Oxford University and Dr. Shantayanan Deverajan (former
professor of Economics at Harvard University and the current World
Bank Chief Economist for Africa Region) stressed the need for the
importance of keeping citizens informed about what their government is
doing. Politicians should take this advice seriously during this time
of crises and thereafter.
The keynote speakers and the panelists agreed that the current crises
are great opportunities for positive changes in how government
activities are run in South Sudan. The crises will help us consider
using our other resources, including the collection of taxes. Taxes
will then give the taxpayers the rights to know how their money is
spent by the government, increasing accountability in all our
institutions.
Our citizens, as Prof. Collier puts it, should not sit idle and see
other people build the nation for them. Our pride for our younger
generation would be to tell them that our fathers and some of us
liberated the country and we built it. The building of the nation
needs the involvement of every citizens and that means developing
positive work attitudes towards every area of work, not only
government offices. We should be ashamed when other people are taking
care of us while we are able to do any available work.
If many South Sudanese are working, they will be able to take care of
their families and pay taxes that would give them the unquestionable
rights of holding leaders accountable in how they deliver services to
the citizens.
The work of the government is to make sure that every institution and
business operating in South Sudan creates jobs for our citizens,
ranging from managerial positions to cleaners’ positions. Politicians
should often campaign in their constituencies on the importance of
doing all jobs and the paying of taxes. The only bad thing is to be
jobless, not being a taxi driver or a car-washer.
The C-SAR and the institutions of higher education here in South Sudan
will work together to keep the politicians informed about the existing
problems and their possible solutions. This can be done through
research, surveys, opinion polls, among other methods.
It is important for our legislators to start making informed decisions
and then educate the public on those decisions. It is not enough to
have good laws on our shelves, it vital to have these laws implemented
by informed citizens. That is why we will start thinking hard on our
own like the rest of the world in the 21st century.
Zechariah Manyok Biar lives in Juba, Republic of South Sudan. He can
be reached at [email protected]
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