Lessons from the 2017 Kenyan election: Is democratic South Sudan 30-40
years away?
Posted: August 10, 2017 by PaanLuel Wël in Opinion Articles, Opinion
Writers, Philip Thon Aleu
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By Philip Thon Aleu, Juba, South Sudan
Ugandan election
The Ugandan election: do or die scenario
August 9, 2017 (SSB) — At the onset, I would like to make it clear
that no person in her/her right mind would wish for disenfranchised
and miserable communities, but realities must be said publicly to
prepare for the worst possible outcome. Having said that, it’s
necessary to try to figure out when will a democratic South Sudan, the
dream nation that generations of men and women fought for in about six
decades (1955 – 2011), be attained.
The SPLM-led war of liberation (1983-2005) and Interim Period in
Southern Sudan (2005-2011) succeeded partly because the most
marginalized people were promised a democratic, secular and prosperous
Sudan/South Sudan.
At Independence in July 2011, the new country had very remote from or
no single indicator of a democratic state. The SPLM leaders never
provided basic services like roads to connect villages to towns.
Babies in the countryside continue to die of preventable diseases like
measles, tetanus, TB, malaria and watery diarrhea because the free
medicines – supplied by World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF –
were never delivered to the people to save lives.
In towns like Juba and the state capitals, there was no clean drinking
water, no electricity, and no decent paved roads. Oil money was mainly
spent in Juba – a small fraction of the petrodollars was delivered
(often airlifted using aircraft) to state capitals and literally eaten
by the local politicians there.
The few drugs in health facilities and educational materials were
provided by the International Organizations and ‘donors.’ In 2010, the
SPLM leaders made clear their intention for a chaotic Independent
South Sudan during the first ever inclusive general elections in
Southern Sudan.
Voters were coerced to vote SPLM candidates and rival politicians were
given all bad names even though it was clear SPLM was destined for a
resounding victory. Unfortunately, those indicators did not bother us
about the direction of our future country because there was relative
peace though there were skirmishes like fatal road ambushes and cattle
raids and children abduction.
2011, 2012 and much of 2013 passed peacefully because the communities,
which never benefitted from security and other services expected of a
government, were held together by a tiny and fragile SPLM political
unity. Politicians were united in abusing the masses and held them
hostage by refusing to disagree on mismanagement of public resources,
nepotism, and abuses of public trust.
That unity collapsed in December 2013. At that point, the ground was
fertile to butchering ourselves. Any reason would have led to the
scenes witnessed in Juba at the onset of the conflict – targeting of
innocent people based their ethnicities – and elsewhere in the
country.
Let me repeat; all communities in the country – including those
villages from where top politicians were born, never benefited in any
way. Only a few top politicians and individuals connected to them have
been siphoning oil money.
Having given that background, I think it will take a while before
those beautiful dreams are realized in South Sudan: Justice, Liberty,
and Prosperity! Liberty would include democracy where citizens are
free to choose their leaders and/or recall them using peaceful means.
Thirty to forty years is an appropriate time frame to realize a
democratic South Sudan if a new approach is adopted today. That
radical approach has to include:
End the war: The primary reason for inventing government by humans
is to provide security to the most vulnerable and protect individuals’
incomes (being money, cattle or crops) from criminals. With war raging
on in the country, we shouldn’t even think about democratic South
Sudan.
Address corruption: This is the leading cause of war in our
country. Resources meant for development, provision of health,
education services and building of road networks, funding law
enforcement officers, are misappropriated. Without education, without
protection from criminals, without the infrastructures needed to
deliver services – and indeed democracy to the people, a democratic
South Sudan will remain elusive.
Provide Education: Going further downwards, you need informed
citizenry to have a credible democratic nation. With our maiden
education, the few elites who are able to read and write are in fact
the front runners in championing division and fanning tribalism for
their benefits. Our neighboring countries, well over 50 years into
their Independence, are still struggling to attain transparent, free
and fair elections. We need more than 30 years of good leadership to
build schools and education a generation of nationalists.
Build a national identity: We have to accept our identity as one
people, one nation. Not the political slogan we see on state-owned TV
but a truly inbuilt and accepted national identity – where my tribe,
my mother-tongue, should not be a thermometer of accepting my views.
Disciplined Armed Forces: It is common in Juba and elsewhere in
South Sudan for soldiers, police and other armed government men and
women to intimidate civilians. You need to train a professional army,
police and other security agents. This will take more than 40 years
because, by the time the Chief of the Armed Force was rising in the
ranks, he/she must have been going through all military levels, not
this system of jumping to the bush and returning as a military
general. Or this promotion by Presidential Decree. A disciplined
military officer must grow within the system.
The above points, in my view, will take not less than 30 years to
address. I bet that the political theories we learn in formal
education and foreign countries, and indeed in foreign languages, will
take a while to shape our future. We have a unique situation and it
requires a unique, a completely different approach.
A short route to stability would require the ruling class, in all
camps of the political divides, to think thousand times about the
legacy they want to leave behind when the creator recalls them.
Change, in any situation, is unavoidable and it will come anytime.
Currently, our fate seems to be at the mercy of God.
A change of heart from politicians is number one. A luck for the
country is the second. By luck, I mean a quick shift of management of
national resources. Realistically, luck and time cannot be factored
into political life. But a combination of factors mentioned above
needs more time to realize a democratic South Sudan.
Unbaked change – which is most likely in the foreseeable future, will
only hand over the country to another batch of opportunists, not
leaders with the intention to improve the poor living conditions of
South Sudanese people.
© PTA
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