Kiir’s ‘Banana’ Republic of South Sudan

Quote: A Bleak Future in perpetuity for Kiir’s ‘Banana’ Republic of South Sudan? By Dr. Peter Wankomo QUOTE: "If the money is eaten by a few, all the rest will go hungry, and a hungry citizen is an angry citizen. This is as true in the Counties and States as it is in Juba. ..in order to fight this endemic disease in the courts we must have the laws to do so. Until these laws exist, our hands are tied in fighting corruptees, while they betray our commitment to serve and provide services to our long-suffering people." Pres. Kiir at Governors Forum, Juba, OCT.,02/2008

Quote: July 3, 2012 (SSNA) -- Our nation’s First Independence Anniversary arrives sadly with President Kiir’s perilously steering the country down the path which many typically failed states in Africa have gone before. And like many of these African countries that are still wallowing in the abyss of bad governance and abject poverty, South Sudan has outstandingly set the worst record as a top corrupt country in the shortest time ever. However, unlike many of these countries which embarked on independence with little or nothing, South Sudan, regardless of what Kiir’s apologists might erroneously assert, didn’t start from “scratch,” its treasury was awash with blissful abundance of billions of real American dollars. Furthermore, unlike Congo which achieved Independence in 1960 with only on engineer, South Sudan had already qualified pool of technocrats, professors, civil servants, UN experts, etc.. which Kiir injudiciously sidelined in favor of illiterate soldiers and unqualified fellow tribesmen and women. Acceptably, the Kiir SPLM/A regime started on a wrong footing, which thus accelerated its descent into the situation of a ‘banana republic’ that became totally dependent on a single resource (oil) and governed by corrupt thugs.

Quote: Looking back to the one year of total independence, the majority of the citizens of the newest nation see no exhilaration to celebrate a hollow ceremony. Painfully, they’ve become less assured of the prosperity that they had rightly hoped would come with independence for which they made tremendous sacrifice. Kiir’s legacy as leader of the new nation will be remembered for the calamity he has effectuated that includes massive corruption blatantly perpetuated by top SPLM/A leaders. Tragically, after eight years in power, "with his hands still tied," Kiir has abysmally failed to persecute not a single suspect despite personally being cognizant of more than 75 'thieves.' This blame is equally shared by a utterly compromised parliament which can’t pass the needed legislation that would expedite the arrest and prosecution of the 4-billion-dollar thieves. Typical of failed banana republics, our attenuated parliamentarians pay more allegiance to president Kiir personally than to the nation

Quote: More inimical, however, is Kiir’s absolute failure to achieve pacification and resolution of the ceaseless inter- and intra-tribal slaughter, often of genocidal proportions like the ever recurrent Nuer and Dinka against Murle or vice versa. Thus, since SPLM/A assumed power in 2005, our nation has been bleeding unforgivably despite the nation having a massively overblown army (SPLA) and other security organs, all consuming nearly half the national budget. By persistently avoiding constituting the often-called-for Truth and Reconciliation Commission which in essence would have led to the resolution of these tribal aggressions, president Kiir and his SPLM/A party will be held responsible for the ongoing tribal killings. This disharmonious aggressiveness has unfortunately even trickled down to students who're as easily agitated to fight mini-wars against other tribes, as disgracefully exhibited at the national Juba University, a foreboding development for so-called future leaders. More puzzling for the young nation is that nearly seven years after signing the peace accord (CPA), multiple anti-SPLM/A rebels still operate in those states of Jonglei and Unity, and instead of resolving holistically the problems causing these rebellions, we see the Kiir regime naively reintegrating piecemeal these rebel ranks into the SPLA.

Quote: The future is even more bleak and uncertain in regards to the projected rehabilitation of the oil industry as there are inexplicable complications: will South Sudan build 1, 2 or 3 pipelines and will the oil be wholly or partially exported through Kenya, Ethiopia or Djibouti? Another related issue aggravating the economic woes facing the peoples is the total domination of the economy by foreigners emanating mainly from lawless and failed states of Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia along with unscrupulous traders from Lebanon and East Africa, all colluding with corrupt officials to under develop South Sudan.

Quote: Finally, if our nation is to progress in peace, all outstanding land grabbing or territorial expansionist polices by other belligerent tribes against other so-called non-dominant tribes must cease immediately otherwise we shall never achieve national cohesion. In light of the inevitable economic mess brought about by a messy ‘kirronomics,’ one wonders how much the common man and woman will bear in the second year of independence. Yes, we’re now a free country, but in our long struggle that cost more than 4 millions lives in totality, South Sudanese had hopefully anticipated that the freedom gained would translate not into more suffering in perpetuity but into tangible dividends. The Author is the Editor-in-Chief of southsudannation.com. He can be reached at [email protected]

Quote: The GOSS has deployed secret tactics of committing genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity as well as ethnic cleansing under the pretext of the UN Disarmament, Demobilization and Rehabilitation (DDR) Program in the last few years and drastically failed in the process because the DDR had been conducted unfairly. The notorious unelected Governor Kuol Manyang Juuk, the State Government and the GOSS in Juba concentrated their efforts on disarming the Nuer majority, the strongest and potentially the richest nationality because of oil and gas discovered in the Nuerland in the late 1970s-1980s and then became the ‘oil hub’ of Sudan then and now the ‘oil hub’ of the banana republic of South Sudan.

Quote: متظاهرون بجوبا يطالبون بإعادة الوحدة مع السودان الأربعاء, 28 أغسطس 2013 13:50 التحديث الأخير ( الأربعاء, 28 أغسطس 2013 13:51 ) المتظاهرون حملوا جثتي قتيلين جابوا بهما شوارع جوبا شهدت عاصمة دولة جنوب السودان جوبا، تظاهرات شعبية احتجاجاً على تردي الأوضاع الأمنية وتزايد جرائم النهب والقتل بشكل واسع. وردد المتظاهرون حسب وزير داخلية الجنوب أليو أيانج هتافات تطالب بإعادة توحيد السودان وجنوب السودان. وحمل المتظاهرون جثتي قتيلين جابوا بهما شوارع جوبا حتى وصلوا إلى البرلمان، ونددوا بضعف الأجهزة الأمنية في الحدِّ من جرائم القتل اليومي خاصة في الأمسيات. واعتبر وزير الداخلية أيانج في تصريحات نقلتها صحيفة "الشرق الأوسط" اللندنية يوم الأربعاء، التظاهرات بأنها سياسية، وأن المتظاهرين كانوا يرددون هتافات سياسية ضد الحكومة. وتابع "معظم المشاركين في المظاهرة كانوا يتبعون للجيش السوداني سابقاً ومن المليشيات المناوئة لنا". وقال أيانج إنهم "يريدون تسييس جرائم السرقة والقتل التي تحدث في جوبا وسنقوم بمتابعة هؤلاء وإلقاء القبض عليهم قريباً". تورط شرطة وجيش " وزير داخلية جنوب السودان يقر بتورط مجموعات من القوات النظامية في الشرطة والجيش في الجرائم التي وقعت، ويقول أن السلطات ألقت القبض على عدد منهم " وأعلن أيانج عن حملة تفتيش كبيرة ستقوم بها وزارته لجمع السلاح من المدنيين في الأيام القادمة، لافتاً إلى أن الدراجات النارية التي تستخدم وسيلة مواصلات في جوبا أصبحت واحدة من أدوات الجريمة، خصوصاً أن من يقودونها من الأجانب. وأقر بتورط مجموعات من القوات النظامية في الشرطة والجيش في الجرائم التي وقعت، وأن السلطات ألقت القبض على عدد منهم، متهماً جهات لم يسمها بأنها تعمل على خلق الاضطرابات الأمنية في عاصمة البلاد وأن أهدافها سياسية. وذكر أيانج أن هناك مجموعة ظهرت تطلق النار على المواطنين من سياراتهم وليس هدفها السرقة، وأضاف: "هي ترسل إشارات أن الأمن منعدم في جنوب السودان وهؤلاء هم أعداء الدولة الحقيقيين". وعلى الصعيد نفسه، شدد نائب رئيس جنوب السودان الجديد جيمس واني إيقا، في أول حديث له بعد توليه المنصب رسمياً، على ضرورة مخاطبة مشكلة الانفلات الأمني في بلاده، مشيراً إلى أن حوادث النهب والقتل الليلي التي تشهدها العاصمة جوبا تشكل هاجساً كبيراً للدولة. وكالات

Quote: The GOSS has deployed secret tactics of committing genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity as well as ethnic cleansing under the pretext of the UN Disarmament, Demobilization and Rehabilitation (DDR) Program in the last few years and drastically failed in the process because the DDR had been conducted unfairly. The notorious unelected Governor Kuol Manyang Juuk, the State Government and the GOSS in Juba concentrated their efforts on disarming the Nuer majority, the strongest and potentially the richest nationality because of oil and gas discovered in the Nuerland in the late 1970s-1980s and then became the ‘oil hub’ of Sudan then and now the ‘oil hub’ of the banana republic of South Sudan.

Quote: red]Dr. David de Chand, Chairman South Sudan Democratic Front Party (SSDF

Quote: became the ‘oil hub’ of Sudan then and now the ‘oil hub’ of the banana republic of South Sudan

Quote: Disney-Land, South Sudan Earlier on the week, my mind was running through possible scenarios for Africa's newest nation of South Sudan. One of the possible outcomes I imagined was for South Sudan -- within a short space of time -- to become a hellish, Banana Republic, bang in the middle of tropical Africa. This Banana Republic would also come complete with a shortage of bananas. South Sudan would thus become a "reverse Disney-Land", a hellish "paradise" for NGOs, chancers, crooks, con-artists, and all sorts of fly-by-night "Africa Experts". For these unsavoury characters, South Sudan will be the ultimate "catch", a dream-date so to speak. Once ensconced in their Juba luxury with SUVs, servants, and gated villas, this flotsam-jetsam of mediocrity --the scum of the Earth -- will fight tooth and nail to make sure that South Sudan remains a basket-case, thus ensuring their continued, luxury existence. This is a nightmare scenario with a high probably of turning out to be true. Let's wait-and-see.