By Siva Parameswaran – World News Editor, The African Gazette
The jubilation in Juba was short lived. Drums, Dance, Drinks and the euphoria which erupted and gripped the nation a decade ago when it became independent on the aspiration of a ‘great future for the Christians of South Sudan’ ended up as a Mirage.
Internecine violence and killings became the order of the day for a decade. Those fought together for a ‘glorious future’ fought against each other in an inglorious way and the nation suffered.
What was promised together by Salva Kiir and Reik Machar of a ‘great future for our citizens’ was never delivered and it was nothing more than a lip service to the 8 million South Sudanese at that time.
Now the population has grown by at least 50% in a decade and stands at 12 million plus.
The World Bank report on South Sudan in April this year presents a very grim picture of the country.
“Some 8.3 million people in South Sudan are estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance in 2021. This is an 800,000 increase in absolute numbers from the 7.5 million people in need in 2020”.
Continuing conflicts, coupled with lack of will for a political dialogue and power sharing between the two leaders and their tribal militia has nullified whatever little was said to have been achieved, since independence in 2011 from the Muslim dominated north.
Even after a decade of becoming a free state South Sudan is still very fragile with economic instability in spite of its rich oil resources. The 60 odd ethnic tribes and sub-tribes are still unable to come on a common platform in the interest of a nation.
The President Salva Kiir has come in for strong criticism both within Africa and outside. He was never meant to lead the nation. The untimely death of John Garang leader of ‘The Sudan People’s Liberation Army’ propelled Salva Kiir into leadership. He had very little schooling compared to his leader John Garang who had a PhD in agricultural economics from the Iowa State University.
International attempts to make peace between Kiir and his erstwhile deputy Machar has failed to yield any results. Attempts to bring about a rapprochement was brushed aside by both the sides who maintained their uncompromising position.
The report of the South Sudan National Dialogue Steering Committee was even more scathing on the culture of revenge between the two leaders. Launched in 2016, this committee painstakingly collected information from grassroots up to the national level at various stages cutting across socio-economic class, tribal groups, religious sects, youngsters, business leaders, academicians’ et al. Their mandate was to suggest ways for taking forward the country through the democratic process and implement it. But the conclusion was terse.
“No transition or arrangement in which President Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar take part together will succeed; we believe that the most patriotic thing for them to do, is to prepare for their exit from politics with the honour, dignity and legacy of having been the founding fathers of the independent nation of South Sudan.”
Transparency international (TI) has ranked South Sudan very low in its global corruption index indicator. It just ranks one place above Somalia from the bottom on the list with just scoring 12/100 and ranking 179/180.
“The new state is dominated by the military elite which is strongly fragmented and marked by competing clienteles networks along tribal and ethnic lines” TI wrote in its annual report for 2020.
This view is corroborated by Cameron Hudson-Senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center, who was earlier Chief of Staff to America’s special envoy to Sudan.
“There are no institutions in the country; the only institution that exists is the army and it’s by and large a predatory institution”.
Corruption coupled with mismanagement has pushed South Sudan’s fragile economy into deep crisis. Majority of the nation’s 12 million population are in abject poverty. Food insecurity is raising rapidly.
Close to five million children – that’s two out of three in the country are in desperate need of humanitarian support, UNICEF has warned. One tenth of the nation’s children don’t survive beyond five years.
Sadly, Salva Kiir and his estranged deputy Reik Machar have failed to realise the importance of education. Around 3 million children are out of school and the drop-out rates are the highest in the world – a whopping 70% children of school-going age.
The leaders have also failed to prioritise agriculture with the eternal Nile River flowing through it abundantly and 90% of the country falls in the Nile basin. Water and oil resources are huge and yet most of the population cannot afford a square meal a day. Malnutrition is rampant as UNICEF appeals for more help with less coming, to feed the largely growing mouths of the South Sudanese people.
Writing in the Foreign Policy, its UN based senior diplomatic reporter Colum Lynch said “America’s greatest success story in Africa has degenerated into its biggest failure” and former Secretary-General of the UN Ban Ki-Moon said five years ago “The World has betrayed South Sudan”.
The newest baby nation on the planet is very sick and desperately needs global support and a good governance above all, for it to survive.
Siva Parameswaran -World News Editor of the African Gazette, is a senior international journalist with over three decades of experience in all forms of journalism across diverse subjects. He has travelled widely covering war, elections, and sports among others. His writings and Radio/TV programmes have been kept as reference materials worldwide including Columbia and Cambridge universities. He teaches journalism and trains civil servants on the use of social media.
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