Watchdog says ‘power-hungry’ politicians to blame for suffering not God

JUBA – South Sudan’s civil society watchdog, the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), has dismissed – as untrue – comments by a senior government official that God has cursed South Sudanese citizens and as such the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement SPLM faction should not be blamed for the ongoing suffering in the country.

Speaking during a thanksgiving ceremony for appointment of former oil minister Stephen Dhieu Dau into SPLM top organ, former defense minister and senior presidential advisor Kuol Manyang Juuk claimed that South Sudanese are suffering because they are cursed by God and that they shouldn’t blame the ruling SPLM party.

“I am not frustrated with the current situation – the wars. I tell people we [SPLM] are not responsible and not to be blamed for this insecurity. This is something prophesied by the prophet Isaiah. God punished Sudan and we are the Sudanese,” Juuk said.

“The prophecy was before even Christ, how do they know that there is the country that is going to be called Sudan at that time, even when we became independent. We clicked on the word Sudan, we don’t move out of Sudan name, and we don’t create a new name and we are Sudanese,” he added.

He continued that: “We knew very well that Sudan has been cursed in the Bible. So, this curse continues to be until the time God will say enough is enough, now then the people of South Sudan become free, I don’t blame us as a punishment of God.”

But in a statement extended to Sudans Post, the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) disagreed and said that it is the political leaders known for power struggles that should be blamed for the suffering of the people of South Sudan and called on Juuk not to blame God for politicians’ failures.

“CEPO is urging uncle Kuol Manyang not to blame almighty God the creator for our political failure in administering the political process for state and nation building since we obtained our independence from Sudan on 9^th July 2011. Our political leaders just decided to avoid to work with political vision but turn more to work with influence of individual and group of individuals interest above the common interest of the nation,” the statement said.

Edmund Yakani, the Executive Director of CEPO, said most SPLM leaders do not have the traditional political culture of discipline in which they are required to respect party and national constitutions and accused South Sudanese political parties of perpetuating culture of splits which he said always end up in violence that would kill citizens.

“Majority of SPLM leaders lack political discipline that is prescribed by their political basic documents. The party have system and procedures but some members want to engage in short- cut business approach in the affairs of the party and this is a common disease of most of the political parties established in South Sudan. This is why no single that from its day one of the establishment remains one for over 10 years. Almost all political parties in South Sudan after 5 to 10 years from the day of establishment will spoilt into pieces or branches. This is clear political indicator of indiscipline political leaders acts,” Yakani said.

“One of our independent curses is having indiscipline political leaders entrusted the primary political responsibility to drive the process of nurturing the state and nation of South Sudan. Almighty God blessed us with. Independence from the rest of Sudan at right time where we have a lot of experiences around us from other people independence management and administration of political process for building state or nation. But because we have a lot of political elites who never believe on the political principle of peaceful and Honorable transfer of power and this is demonstrated by the continue splits of political parties/grouping in our political history.

“If our political elites never abolish the practice of political indiscipline always, they will be making ridiculous decisions that constitute political curse in our process of nurturing the acts for building the state and nation of South Sudan. We just decided to act in political immature manner from immediately after gaining our independence from the rest of Sudan in July 2011. This practice of political indiscipline if it is not stop by the political elites through respecting, be bide by and enforcing their internal party democracy before administering government office political responsibility, it is a long political disease that make South Sudanese missed a lot of opportunities for nurturing model and success state and nation building process at this age of economic intervention and globalization of public and private affairs,” the activist stressed.