PUF Chairman Message on Veterans Day
Dear Veterans,
I greet you in the name of Almighty God, who protected you during the wars of liberation. You had lost many strong comrades at different battles to the enemy, some of you were wounded, and others were arbitrary arrested, tortured, humiliated, and denied access to basic needs such as water and food, but you stood firm to pursue the course of the liberation struggle. I congratulate you on achieving your dream of independent South Sudan.
Dear Veterans, though you have achieved the dream of having an independent South Sudan, the freedom that we all hope for is yet far from reach; if you are governing a state and there is insecurity, people are dying every day, and there are no schools, no health facilities, no foods, no road, then you should know that the freedom is not yet achieved. If you are heading a ministry and no ongoing projects being implemented to benefit the citizens, then you should know that freedom is not yet achieved. If you are commanding an army division and your soldiers have no monthly salaries and are surviving on the sale of charcoals, then you should know that freedom is not yet achieved. If you are a parliament member and you are not free to speak on behalf of the people you represent, then you should know that freedom is not yet achieved.
The freedom we have not yet achieved needs our collective ability to liberate ourselves from illiteracy, ignorance, violence, tribalism, intimidation, oppression, corruption, and mismanagement. To achieve the freedom we want, we need to speak out against the evil that is preventing us from achieving our dream. We need not adopt a gossiping mode and hide our voices from facing the few colleagues who have stirred the country in the wrong direction. If you were able to sacrifice your resources and time to fight the enemy, why is it difficult for you to tell your brothers and colleagues what they are doing wrong to the country? It is a hypocrite to hide your voice in public and continue gossiping against those mismanaging the country. If you believe they are your colleagues who had once suffered with you for the course of this country, then you should speak out against their misdeeds.
Dear Veterans, some of you have taken up arms to fight the current regime. We need not to take up arms and kill innocent citizens in their villages and along the road in the name of freedom. You left the enemy here in Juba, and you are terrorizing civilians in their villages and along the roads. We need to stop violence and focus on how we can achieve the last phase of freedom in our country.
The last phase of freedom needs us all to exert our efforts to fight intimidation, ignorance, tribalism, and mismanagement. We can achieve the last phase of freedom if we unite and speak one voice as South Sudanese, not tribe so and so. I call upon all the veterans still carrying arms in the bushes to stop fighting and negotiate how they should return to Juba. If you are fighting for a position, negotiate how you will join the do-nothing RTGoNU. If you are fighting to achieve freedom in South Sudan, then you should return to Juba. The last phase of freedom of South Sudan does not need armed conflict. The last phase of our freedom needs us only to speak out against evil, intimidation, corruption, mismanagement, and mobilize citizens to know their rights.
