The Best Gift the President Can Give the Nation "Now, the challenge will be to match those eloquent words with concrete actions." 11 August 2011
By Nhial T. Tutlam* (Gurtong edited and posted)- On July 9, 2011, like many South Sudanese in the Diaspora, I stayed up all night glued to the television screen watching the birth of our nation. As someone who lost a father and many relatives in the course of the liberation struggle—and was at times distressed when the struggle seemed to be faltering and it appeared that all the suffering and the blood spilled was all for naught—I was overwhelmed with joy as I watched the speaker of South Sudan’s Parliament read the proclamation of independence and the flag of the new nation being hoisted to the tune of the national anthem. It was only at that moment that I realized that my father and all the other martyrs did not die in vain. More importantly, as I saw the black, white, red, green and blue flag of the new republic rise to the clear blue sky of this beautiful land, I took enormous pride in knowing that the red color in the middle of the flag was not some abstract symbol of the blood shed for our freedom. That red portion actually represented the blood my father shed, the blood from which I came. For those of us, especially the younger generation, who have survived the brutal civil war and fortunate enough to see the dream of an independent Republic of South Sudan come true, this was truly a wonderful day. Having endured the indignity of homelessness and the stigma and trauma of refugee life in foreign lands for most of our lives, it was such a great feeling to finally have a country to call our own. Now, for the first time in our lives, we know what it means to be citizens of a country that accepts us as equal citizens and not targets to be bombed to oblivion or objects to be cleared from oil fields so that multinational oil companies could come and extract oil from the land of our ancestors unimpeded. Now that South Sudan is finally a free country and has taken her rightful place among the community of nations, the current leadership, particularly H. E. Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit, has a rare historic opportunity to lay a strong foundation for this young nation. The position he is in at this point in history is no less than that in which some of the titans of history like George Washington, the first president of the USA, Julius Nyerere, first president of Tanzania, and Nelson Mandela, the first black president of South Africa were in. As the first president, he has a unique opportunity and power to shape the direction of the country for centuries to come. He can, for instance, set a good example by voluntarily and peacefully transferring power to whoever the people of South Sudan entrust the leadership of the country to when his term is up, as George Washington, Julius Nyerere and Nelson Mandela did. Unfortunately, the president also has the power to drive the country down the drain of history and set a dangerous precedent, as has happened in too many African countries, and establish a government that is there to serve him rather than the people; stack important positions in government with people from one or two communities; form an elite presidential military force, just for his own protection and not the defense of the nation against foreign enemies (such as our neighbors in the north) and make himself president for life. Africa is replete with examples of leaders who were once great freedom fighters who then decided to turn against the very people they liberated. Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe comes to mind in this regard. This would be a catastrophic choice indeed for our country, given that we have a very volatile population that is already armed to the teeth. To his credit, in his beautifully crafted speech on Independence Day and subsequent public remarks, the president has openly talked about all the vices that have the potential to tear the country apart and the need to eradicate them. His words have assuaged the fears of many and raised the hopes and expectations of a nation greatly in need of inspiration and reason to look forward to a bright future. Now, the challenge will be to match those eloquent words with concrete actions. Perhaps, the best gift the president can give the nation—in addition to his impeccable legacy of leading his people to freedom through the turbulent period that was the CPA implementation interim period, just as Joshua led the Israelites to the promised land—is to leave behind a country in which, ten or twenty years from now, elections do not make major international news headlines as is the case when elections occur in precious few African counties like Botswana, South Africa and Tanzania. Let South Sudan not be a country where elections make the kind of headlines we saw in the recent past in countries like Ivory Coast, Kenya and Zimbabwe. This, of course, will only be possible through the establishment of strong democratic institutions, such as a credible and accountable legislative body, independent judiciary, transparent election commission, free press, vibrant civil society and many more. Finally, as the sons and daughters of South Sudan embark on the monumental task of building a free and democratic country, I hope and pray that the leaders of this young nation remember the price that was paid to achieve this independence. I hope as they wake up every day, they remember every soul that was lost in the course of the struggle and use it as a motivation and inspiration to build a nation worthy of the blood of all those brave South Sudanese. I further hope that the leaders understand that fate and not some extraordinary powers they posses, has put them in this position and learn to govern with humility in honor of their departed comrades. It is my fervent hope that they will use the memory of these heroes to weed out corruption, nepotism and tribalism and build a nation that, as engraved on the seal of the republic, provides true justice, liberty and prosperity to all her citizens. Anything less will be a betrayal of all those who made the ultimate sacrifice and will render July 9, 2011 meaningless. *Nhial Tutlam currently lives in Saint Louis, MO and works at Washington University School of Medicine as a Research Coordinator. He can be reached via email: [email protected] Posted in: Opinions -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
