Work Together In Love Through 2024 For A Better South Sudan
Happy New Year 2024, compatriots, distinguished forum members, ladies, and gentlemen.
We thank God for the successful crossover. In times like this, we need to remember and share moments with the grieved families and friends, whose dear ones departed and are in the heavenly realm. May God Almighty comfort their families, friends and relatives in His divine ways.
My humble appeal is, we the handful who write on behalf of our civil and political organizations, our communities, our families, our friends, on self account, and on behalf of other well wishers and who closely follow and very well comprehend the political dynamics of South Sudan to kindly refrain from the blatant hostility towards each other. The history of our country has never been hereditary friendly, and we may need to foster a new normal of tolerance.
Many nations around the globe experience wars, but ultimately, factionalism ceases, and a common purpose of national transformation is embraced. Similarly, it can happen with us in South Sudan as it demands optimism and a sense of selflessness, a true reflection of our interest to end the suffering of our people. This gives our citizens the opportunity to reorganize themselves after nearly a decade of no peace and constant dislodged and realign their lives and livelihoods.
Families and communities that existed as self reliant, well established, peaceful, coexisted in ethnic diversity, food secured, with better social services before the 2013 crisis have been reduced to begging families and communities with their potentials to productivity terribly affected by the wars. Many of such families are spread across the country and beyond our national borders. They don’t deserve such living conditions and we need to deliver peace within the shortest time possible to allow them revamp and regain their robed dignity.
Our children and communities can’t afford to stay in foreign countries forever where children complete university education and other tertiary institution’s of learning but with no jobs. Consequently, patriotism, historical and cultural coding gradually fades among our young people who might easily get assimilated into other communities and nationalities civilization. This trend is associated with high capital repatriation, as evident in the number of holiday seekers who cross into these countries and the possible amounts of money being destined for extinction. Hence has direct impact on our domestic economic performance. Working together towards achieving a peaceful South Sudan should be our cardinal choice this year.
Greatly, South Sudan, despite its terrible prevailing definition as many may say is unsatisfactory in terms of Governance, unsafe for humanitarian workers, dysfunctional institutions, no respect to rule of law, persistent corruption, no adequate social services, limited developed private and public sector to create employment opportunities, prevalence of tribal conflicts, presence of armed cattle herders, under developed infrastructure and questions on observance of human rights, South Sudan still provides a much better opportunity to many young patriotic graduates and professionals compared with the countries of refuge or asylum that hosts temporarily thousands of our citizens.
While we appreciate other gains like education and skills development, health services, security and protection that our people get in those areas, It is absolutely essential for everyone who believes in his/her country and understands the potential of his/her country in improving the living conditions of the entire citizenry to remain connected back home regardless of the upheavals.
Our country is endowed with enough resources that can cause the wanted transformation if peace is given a chance and we work together lawfully. Our solidarity towards supporting the implementation of the Peace agreement be unlimited. Parties concerned should adhere to doing the right thing and focus on the plight of the people.
Largely, negative behavior and hate speech towards each other is a recipe for conflict. This phenomenon grows slowly into hatred and eventually into evil thoughts and intentions of harming and eliminating the purported advisory as circumstances have severally shown around South Sudan. No to hate speech and we promote coexistence in diversity. What is your gain who dwells in such mannerism that brings societal fragmentation and animosity?
We have registered such unwarranted actions among our own sons and daughters who mercilessly butchered themselves in defence of their ranges and parties or movements in the last many years since 2013. Energetic young people got extinguished, buried with pain because a reckless person has taken off their lives.
Sadiy, many live in fear of accountability yet we as elites and bigger community of South Sudan can not encourage ourselves to face the table of forgiveness and reconciliation but rather remain very sentimental in rhetoric. What do we want to get out with through such unhealthy relationships and disposition of unconstructive political submission that keeps us weak, unprogressive, and very unproductive? Let our people come together and enjoy the land God has blessed for them.
I honestly feel heartbroken when I sometimes read what we wish to regurgitate as residual droppings to shape our society either politically or otherwise with no iota of humility and passion. We are already tired and in absolute pain of stress due to the prolonged tribulations brought about by the unending disagreement between the Government and the antagonistic forces that have traded under the cover of liberation struggle but only to benefit a few at the expense of the suffering innocent majority citizens of South Sudan.
Today, some of our own family/community members are permanently held off consent to return home for fear of retribution following their participation in acts that tantamounts to criminality and abuse of power. This is as a result of poor political and military orientation, wrong indoctrination against fellow community members or a deliberate targeting of an area friend whom you just hate for what he/she believes in ideologically has remained a nightmare in their lives as perpetrators.
Adherence to conventional rules of engagement and warfare is important because it helps minimize unlawful future setbacks. Hence living in self isolation doesn’t exonerate one from evil deeds, but asking for forgiveness is the best way forward. Until when shall we live in the shadows of fear? Let us seek forgiveness among ourselves and allow healing and reconciliation take place.
Please, politics or political advocacy is not about vulgarity, extremism, hatred, intimidation, clustering, vengeance, settlement of scores but is more about competition in healthy ideas that gives hope to all including the few who might not agree with you in principle through holistic provision of services.
We belong to one beloved Country South Sudan, that all of us played a role directly or indirectly to achieve it after immeasurable sacrifices against the tri-apartheid marginalization orchestrated by the then successive Khartoum regimes against the predominantly Christian and black Southern Sudanese. Following such an achievement, we should have the least show of civility and remorse towards ourselves and our country. Millions of lives have perished and a sizable volume of properties destroyed. I wonder as to how many more lives and destruction do you want to see added to this fatten list? Let our words and actions serve lives and preserve material development instead of catalysing troubles among ourselves.
Our communities should be strengthened, advised rightly and consoled by us to rejuvenate their hopes and that they get strong to face the new year with full confidence regardless of their poor current state of living than the usual demoralizing style of representation by few elements coupled with hopelessness and ego being demonstrated at the peak of writing.
It’s incumbent on us to redirect our arguments and thoughts to narrow the uselessly created gaps by the devastating effects of the war since 2013 to date. Such an endeavour be spearheaded by the so-called political leaders and intellectuals who emanate from the affected areas and are active participants in platforms like this with heavy zeal for positive human transformation. We have the chance to interact and correct many unfortunate occurrences and adopt a reliable pathway.
A few of our people are able to sustain their families in urban towns like Juba which looks relatively peaceful with fair services and as well in the cities of other neighbouring countries while majority of the people we tend to speak on their behalf live in deplorable situation in the camps and other lower ends of our Country with poor social amenities if any.
Worst still, utterances by some comfortable elites sometimes seem to seek furtherance of the agony of the people in camps/IDPS and those poorly designed ends because of the bitterness being displayed as venomous as possible towards each other. This pushes compromise away, and I think it is a disservice to our desperate people who desire to live in a better condition in their locations of choice. Surely, conditions should be made favourable to all to live in peace under the protection of the laws of the land.
Let us avoid mental manipulation of the destitute for our selfish gains.
Experience has shown us that, most African countries have no permanent stable political future. But the only strong remedy is love among citizens that ultimately becomes that detoxifies in an event of uncertainty and lose of leadership equilibrium in a Country.
The presumed failures of the government in Juba to bring total peace on the land is not a one person’s or party’s responsibility, nonetheless parties be held to account for their docile role or over assumption of mandate to galvanize discipline. We are stakeholders, although loads vary in magnitude of influence on national matters from one person or party to another.
Let our Government admit where it has fallen short and aim this year on realistic deliverables in partnership with the other players such as CSO’S, FBOS, the media, academia, political parties, diplomatic corps, NNGOS, NGOS, global financial institutions, the private sector, regional and international bodies and all citizens irrespective of their political belonging. What do you tell your children, your neighbours, your colleagues, your friends, and your relatives about their role in bringing peace and stability in South Sudan? Bringing peace to the country requires our collective efforts.
It’s necessary to remind ourselves to build a solid ground of non pessimistic individuals and collectively hold our government to account in practice and principles as we implement the roadmap and try to leave out the blame games as previously has been the commonest practice. We need to encourage Government to open more windows and allow negotiations with other forces and parties that have not reached an agreement with the Government on the fundamental pending issues. Let us all become ambassadors of peace and I comment the President of the Republic of South Sudan for pushing forward to meeting the holdout groups to resolve the stalemate.
Can we have a responsible citizenry that is civilly empowered to cause dedication and pressure both the Government and the holdout groups to reach an amicable resolution to the conflict through a negotiated political settlement? The agony is too much and beyond bearing. Food ratios have been reduced in camps, mortalities both among the infants and adults have shot up, number of school dropouts are unprecedented, drugs are consuming the unguided young adults, early pregnancy on the rise among teenagers, violence is on the rise, children are getting disrespectful and hardly listen to parents and state of hopelessness is equally growing among our people in addition to the difficulty in acquiring land by most refugees to farm on making survival increasingly hard and unmanageable.
Let us fasten our move towards unconditional commitment to resolving this stalemate and our communities one day will go back to their cradle lands and use with no limit to the best of their abilities. Peace and security is the top most priority for the people of South Sudan.
We the citizens from our diverse professions and backgrounds have the moral responsibility to advise the parties to the conflict in order to get into serious discussions with the Government and secure a good outcome from this initiative to bring lasting peace. This matter shouldn’t be left for poltergeist otherwise attainment of peace shall remain a foreign matter.
Therefore, I call on all to approach our business with love. That 2024 will be a different year where most grievances get addressed through dialogue. That individuals will carefully measure their words before airing with enough inner reflection so as not to cause damages to our national cohesion by deliberate destructive utterances and that they replace the unnecessary fighting spirit flaming in them with compassion towards each other. Here, reconciliation becomes inevitable and forgiveness shall take a centre stage.
Finally, accountability is important to offer a new sense of direction for our country and deter further indulgence into actions that destroy the country. May we continue to engage each other on ideas and issues that will boast the future of our country, not only politically but in all dimensions. South Sudan needs to improve her records in the face of the globe and this requires national unity and understanding. We have more things that unite us than the few political indifference that divide us. We can choose living in peace with one another as opposed to politically motivated chauvinistic tendency.
May we cultivate the culture of respect to each other irrespective of status, love for each other and support our leaders to deliver to the citizen’s expectations.
I wish all our leaders and the entire citizens of South Sudan good health and that they lead us with love and fear of God into prosperity as 2024 begins.
2 Chronicles 7:14
[14] if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land)
God bless South Sudan!
Cde. Juma David Augustino
