How long Must the people of Duk Continue to Face Death?

On Monday November 27^th in the afternoon, Pajut of Panyang county was attached by armed men who later were confirmed to be from Boma State; and on the morning of November 28, we woke up to the news of Duk-Payuel being under attack from the same criminals from Murle community. So far, over 40 people have been confirmed dead, more than 50 women and children abducted and countless herd of cattle stolen.

The most worrying part despite swift unofficial relay of the news of the attack via social media and other medium of communication, was little respond from neither the state security apparatus nor the United Nation Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), which have a fully pledged contingent based in Bor town—the headquarters of Jonglei State.

This begs the question: is UNMISS mandate only the protection of urban dwelling South Sudanese and not those living in villages and yet vulnerable? Or does the UNMISS mandate provides for protection against particular crimes only?

The people of Greater Duk do not enjoy peace, whether in time of peace or war. Since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005 to independence on July 9^th, 2011, Duk-Padiet alone was attacked more than eight times with countless number of people killed and animals taken. On January 16^th, 2012, 103 people, mainly elderly men and women were massacred in cold blood by criminals from the Murle community in Duk-Padiet. The motive of that attack was only to eliminate innocent people, a death they didn’t deserve.

At the height of the current conflict in 2014 and 2015, the whole of Duk County was a battlefield of Government and the SPLM/IO rebel forces, People were displaced and houses torched, with damage extending to felling of historical trees.

If the government and the UN are serious about ending perennial conflict relating to cattle rustling and child abduction in the former Jonglei State, which most the of the time is perpetuated by one community against the rest, the protection forces must be stationed in flashpoints for inter-ethnic strife.

Former Duk County borders Boma to the East and Nuer communities to the north and north-west. The army base in Pajut should be equipped all the times with the capacity to respond instantly to cattle rustlers and child abductors who often terrorize the people in that region.

The UNMISS should also establish a base in that area for early detection and recovery should such incidents like the one that has just happened in Panyang and Duk-Payuel occur. The Government and the UN should work on long-term solutions that will put an end to this. The Boma state administration should be equipped to help educate their people against the dangers of primitive practices like child abduction and trade. Social amenities should be provided: schools built for their children, health centers, water points among others. These will help in getting the needed buy-in on the part of the government and prompt the abolition of these vices.

The state government and the local administration of areas where criminals are identified to have originated must be held accountable to produce the criminals. If such heinous acts are left unpunished, any effort to stop them will never bear fruits leading to cycle of revenge and counter revenge.

The UN should organize another peace conference involving the Gawaar and Lou Nuer, Dinka Bor and the Murle, preferably to take place in Likuangole. The Murle were conspicuously absent from the recent Peace conference that brought together the Nuer and Dinka Bor in Duk-Padiet. A sustained peaceful negotiation among these tribes will be the only mean to end decades of recurring old feuds.

The government and the UNMISS should take immediate actions that must lead to the return of the stolen cattle and abducted children and women as well as arresting the ring leaders and chiefs of the criminals that attacked the two counties of Nyarweng section of Dinka Bor, this is the only way to reduce the chances of revenge. Any failure to take a concrete action might lead to further escalation of hostilities and futility of any future peace initiative.

Isn’t it Time for The Financial Sector Road Map in South Sudan?

South Sudan is still immersed in conflict, which started on 15^th December 2013. The August 2015 peace agreement brought some hope to the final resolution of the conflict. The hopes were later raised upon the formation of the Transitional Government of national Unity (TGONU) headed by President Salva Kiir with the former rebel leader Dr. Machar as 1^st Vice President of the republic.

This relative peace was short-lived as fighting erupted at the Presidential Palace on July 8^th 2016.  This fighting resulted to the ejection of the then 1^st President Dr. Machar out of Juba. The TGONU has since been reconstituted and functioning harmoniously.

After the July incident, many South Sudanese have been displaced, mostly from the Equatoria region, which was not very much affected during the December 15^th 2013-August 2015 conflict.

The economic situation has deteriorated with a very high rate of inflation reported to be around 800% in November. Currently there is a very serious liquidity crisis facing the financial sector, banks have run out of cash, the central bank (Bank of South Sudan) isn’t able to inject cash into the financial system, printing more cash has been mooted and is believed to have been executed as evidenced by new SSP 5 notes circulated at the beginning of December.

South Sudan’s economy has been standing on a very shaky foundation, there has never been strong foundation laid, especially in the financial sector to be able to support the take off of the private sector and to help it withstand shocks in the event of any crisis unravelling. A strong financial sector can help in promoting economic growth in this country.

This sector has never been given the attention it deserves; no resources have been channeled to streamline it even during the oil boom years when the revenue from oil was very high. In crisis situation like this, even talking about developing such a sector would be laughable from certain quarters. There are often other priority areas cited at the expense of strengthening of the sector.

The peace agreement in itself recommended key economic reforms, among which included restructuring of the Bank of South Sudan to enable it render efficient and effective services.

But we can’t talk about economic recovery without taking care of the financial sector. Development requires private sector participation and a lot of public-private sector partnerships. The only driver for such partnership is a strong financial sector; banks, finance companies, insurance firms, leasing companies among others.

But how do we promote this sector without a national strategy on developing a financial sector? The relevant government agencies must put their act together and institute a credible plan that can lay such a foundation. The strategy will articulate the mission of creating a very competent financial sector that can compete with the more established East African Financial institutions. A plan that will help promote a strong foundation for a vibrant private sector.

Since the war started, South Sudan’s major development partners: The TOIKA, European Union, World Bank, IMF, Japan, China among others have either stopped or scaled down developmental programs; and channel their support to humanitarian assistance. This in my view should be a wake up call, because as a country we have now realized how much we depended on the development partners to fund key projects and program that are fundamental to the prosperity of the South Sudanese.

The donors have built our main road linking South Sudan with the East African nations, but we must remember we still have thousands of roads that need to be built, we might be constructing a major bridge across river Nile, but we must also remember that we have many more bridges to be built to connect our cities, we might be building a water system in Juba, but many other towns need piped water. These donors funding will not always be there, a lot of things need to be put in place for the citizens to enjoy the fruits of the liberation struggle and the resultant independence.

I would encourage the Bank of South Sudan and the Ministries Finance & Planning; Trade & Industry to make it a priority to put together resources and come up with a financial sector development plan. This will help those interested in assisting the development of a private sector to come in. This too will encourage private investment in the private sector because the plan will identify the opportunities, gaps and challenges in the financial sector. This will inform formulation of key policies and regulations that will smoothen the operations in the sector and remove the barriers.

South Sudan has a very huge underserved population that must be empowered to access financial services to enable them participate in the economic development and national recovery. We must broaden the financial services sector which has diverse financial sector providers to cater for the various needs.

A financial sector road map involving participation from all the stakeholders, both public and private sectors is urgently needed.

Elijah Chol Yak is the Managing Director of South Sudan Microfinance Development Facility; A Microfinance Apex Institution that is tasked with promoting access to finance (Financial Inclusion) for the low income earners in South Sudan.

As the world celebrates financial inclusion week, what is the status in South Sudan?

Today, 17^th October marks the beginning of Financial Inclusion week under the theme; “ keeping clients first in a digital world.” Through out this week, various stakeholders all over the world will embark on various activities and discussions on how the progress towards financial inclusion is being achieved.

In the African continent, various actors in financial inclusion here and around the world will converge in the Rwandan capital Kigali on 20^th-21^st October to attend the annual MasterCard Foundation Symposium on Financial inclusion, (SoFI2016) where client centricity in financial inclusion is the key agenda of the discussion.

The Centre for Financial Inclusion at ACCION has also planned an exclusive webinar for Harvard Business School- Accion Program alumni focused on innovations in financial capability this Friday 21^st October.

The center for Financial Inclusion defines financial inclusion as “access to a full suite of financial services, provided with quality to everyone who can use financial services with financial capability, through a diverse and competitive market place.”

The sad reality is that, we in South Sudan are far from attaining the theme of this week; unlike many in our neighboring countries whose digital solutions to financial services are taking roots. Many Fintechs are emerging in the East African markets offering a wide range of financial services to the people digitally.

Many rural people and those previously excluded from the financial sector are accessing not just money transfer services, but also savings and credit through the help of mobile money. Kenya’s equity Bank’s M-Kesho and Equitel; CBA’s M-Shwari and KCB’s M-Pesa loans are key striking progress made in digitalizing access to finance for the people below the pyramid.

South Sudan’s financial sector is struggling and lagging behind in adoption of digital solutions to the provision of financial services. In 2015, the Bank of South Sudan through funding from the World Bank took a bold step to introduce Mobile Money. Regulations were formulated and assent to by the Governor of the Bank of South Sudan, but the roll out has since not taken place.

The current security situation which has led many branches of commercial banks being closed in far flung areas from the capital Juba has resulted into many parts of the country not getting financial services. Mobile Money would play a key role in helping people marooned by the conflict access, albeit not full suite of financial services. There are people who want to help their relatives but have no means of sending them the money.

Microfinance institutions have been hit hard by the recent flare-up of conflict and the ongoing harsh economic conditions, which has led to the exodus of the majority of their clients to neighboring countries. The non-performing loans have increased beyond reasonable industry standard. This threatens sustainability and the continuity of provision of financial services to the under-served. But financial institutions that started in countries facing fragile situations seem to have inherent shock absorbing mechanisms that make them to shake off such abrupt occurrences that threaten their very existence.

The Microfinance institutions have responded well to the current economic meltdown and the preceding conflict situation. We are hopeful that the sector will emerge out of the current predicament just like was the case in 2013.

The MFIs are responding to the needs of the clients well; the demand for huge loans is the new problem the institutions are facing. This is as a result of the devaluation of the South Sudanese Pounds (SSP). Some suspended disbursement after the fighting at the Presidential palace in Juba on July 8^th, which had a reverting effect across the country on the peace implementation. But committing to the cause of client centricity in financial inclusion, most of these MFIs have resumed disbursement in the affected towns.

Many experts would argue against the promotion of financial inclusion in a country facing fragile situation because of the numerous risks that are associated with such countries. This could be true for Microfinance investment vehicle (MIVs) that seek a return on investment in frontier markets, but for developmental programs and in-country Microfinance Apexes with high risk tolerance, there are a lot of work to be done.

Our experiences at SSMDF have taught us that Microfinance can survive in conflict state, and the demand for the various products continuous to mount, notwithstanding, the risk associated.

So as we celebrate this financial inclusion week, we must exert more efforts to provide client centric services to our people even though we might not at the moment be able to provide the services digitally.

On the other hand the Bank of South Sudan should expedite the roll out of mobile money to allow innovation around it, install a national switch, come up with national payment system regulations and that of agency banking.

Despite all the political and economic setbacks, South Sudan can still rise from the ashes and join the rest of the regional countries and the world at large in pursuit of the financial inclusion agenda 2020. But a lot of assistance is required in terms of resources and human capital in this area to make this a reality faster.

Mr. Elijah Chol Yak is the Managing Director of South Sudan Microfinance Development Facility (SSMDF).

 

 

4000 Destabilzation Force: US response to what Dr John Garang told them about oil in 2005

PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd - South Sudan

By David Aoloch Bion, Juba, South Sudan

UN Flew Riek Machar to DRC Congo

“Resources in foreign lands had to be  militarily captured to keep them out of the hands of commercial rivals in opposing nation-states  who would use them to defeat our nation-states. If your own nation was to be wealthy, it could only be so by making other poorer,” Victor de Mirabeau.

“It is clear that a country cannot gains unless another loses and it cannot prevail without making other miserable” Voltaire

“The USA is destabilizing South Sudan to deny China oil”  writes Thomas C Mountain

August 24, 2016 (SSB) — Some weeks  ago US proposed 4000 regional force to be deployed in South Sudan as protection force to come quell down the violence in Juba. It was approved by the UN Security Council.  The US Secretary of State yesterday reiterated that the 4000 had…

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After Juba, July 2016

thoughtsonthesudans

This is my first article about South Sudan since I was expelled by the GRSS in late April, at which point I was part of the JMEC secretariat. It is also the first time I have written publicly about South Sudan since I joined the IGAD mediation team in May 2014, and became part of the messy world of the peace process.  

After I left Juba, I felt that anything I might say about the implementation of the peace agreement could have been counterproductive, given the animosity some felt towards me. I did not want to create any complications for those who were continuing to work for peace.

But in light of the calamitous events in Juba over the last few days, the little I can do is to offer my knowledge of the process, in the hope that it can contribute to a way forward. I agree with Matt LeRiche

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Why The Current Economic Crisis in South Sudan Won’t End Soon

It’s now almost two months since the formation of the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU), all the new Ministers have taken over their assignments, we have seen a good working relationship at the Presidency; the trio holding direct meetings and speaking to press usually by the two Vice Presidents. This sends a positive image to the public and the international community.

This public show of a working relationship at the highest office is a departure from the peace negotiation period where the spokespersons of each camp were seen to be intransigent and not communicating any positive information to the expectant public.

Unfortunately the formation of the TGoNU is yet to have a positive impact by way of resolving the resultant implication of the war; there are still many active armed groups all over the country and lives are still being lost, the economic crisis is even getting worse as witnessed by the continuous depreciation of the South Sudanese Pound against the US dollar, quoted as 295% at the end of May.

As reported by media last week, the information, communication and Postal Services Minister Hon. Michael Makuei has admitted that the government has no money to pay salaries for the civil servants for the last three months. This even worsens the suffering. Even though the salary’s value has terribly reduced, it still would provide a moral support had it been received regularly.

The admission of near bankruptcy by the official government spokesperson shouldn’t be ignored; it’s an acknowledgement of a deep-seated situation of dire need. The oil revenues have drastically reduced because of reduction in production output and the decline in the crude oil prices internationally, the little that is being received goes to settle short-term debts incurred during the two years conflict; the leaks of corruption too have not been plugged yet.

The hope was pegged on the promise made during the peace negotiations in Addis by the peace ‘guarantors’ on the signing of the Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (ARCISS). The peace is not being implemented to the spirit and letter of the agreement itself; the donors on the other hand are conditioning their assistance on the full implementation without any abrogation.

This week media reports are already emerging that the key Peace Partners and long time ‘friends’ of South Sudan are demanding for change of personnel in key economic sector institutions: Ministry of Finance and Planning and at the Bank of South Sudan; however, this was later denied, although the government is yet to comment on this.

Several meetings made by the Presidency haven’t produced any tangible compromise or a more practical statement that will lead to a leap in the ironing out of the contentious issues; there was a promise to form a 15 member committee to look into the 28 States decreed by the President before the Formation of the TGoNU which the former opposition termed as going against the spirit and content of the agreement. The committee announced on June 6^th was supposed to report back to the Presidency within 30 days; I have no knowledge about the formation of the said committee and its terms of reference or whether it has already started its work.

The donor money in which the hope to fund the peace agreement was hinged on has not materialize, the soldiers from the SPLM-IO have not yet moved to cantonment sites, the key institutions earmarked for reforms have not been formed, key being reforms at the Bank of South Sudan which would ensure a roadmap to the economic recovery.

Until key provisions of ARCISS are met and actually implemented, finding a workable and sound economic recovery program will be a tall order. The logical thing that should have been done under the current circumstances would be trimming of the inefficient workforce and the bloated civil services, which is draining much of the meager income that we continue to get from the oil and non oil revenues.

But with the new SPLM-IO forces and their civil servants waiting to be absorbed into the army and the civil service respectively; this becomes unrealistic to envisage. Reducing the wage bill will require a radical approach and a lot to do with the political will for it to be achieved, there are a lot of political implications, which the administration must have the courage to take on.

The country is slowly marching towards the ‘gallows of economic death’ and the government is just watching the country goes through this imminent economic collapse and doing nothing. Invoking sovereignty when you cannot defend it isn’t a strategic way to solve the crisis; it’s like a person drowsing in pride by not asking the neighbor for food to help his dying children from hunger.

If the government doesn’t have the means to salvage the country from the economic crisis, it should turn to the willing international community for assistance and relax their stance on the pre-conditions that may precede this assistance.

South Sudan is bigger than anyone and the welfare of the citizenry should be put above anybody’s personal interest. The country’s leadership must show commitment and intent to end both the political and economic crisis that has been hurting this country. The people have been pushed to the limits, people are literary begging for cooked food, the resilience that has been associated with the South Sudanese is fading away, the tell tale signs of a nation gasping for salvation are all written on the walls, on every street and villages of this country, something must be done before the situation gets out of control.

Address High Youth Unemployment

We are just fresh off the celebration of the 33^rd Anniversary of SPLA Day on May 16^th. A day many of us who were born and grew up during the liberation struggle quite remember with nostalgia, the army parades, the speeches that were delivered (and if you happened to be where Dr. Garang was celebrating that day, you get inspired), the liberation songs and the shooting in the air which was very scary for us the kids those days.

This is the day to remember those who sacrificed their lives to give us an independent South Sudan where we are supposed to live in peace and harmony, where we are supposed to enjoy the fruits of the liberation struggle, where the families of martyrs should have access to basic services like healthcare, education, water and sanitation. Our fathers offered their lives so that we could have a freedom and access to opportunities that an independent, free and democratic state can provide.

Today youth unemployment is very high; every graduate in this country lives in Juba, where the government, businesses and even non-governmental organizations have centralized their operations. The states do not offer many opportunities to skilled workforce, the only available government positions have since 2005 been filled up giving no room for the younger workforce.

This has created a very high dependence on the few employed individuals. This will impact negatively on the economy in the long term. High dependency leads to low marginal propensity to save thereby resulting to a low investment.

Lack of government projects to absorb the young workforce is to blame for high unemployment; the negative political climate has contributed to the investment by government on only security sector. Now that peace has come, it is high time to reverse the resource allocation so that priority sectors are promoted in order to create job for the youth.

The cycle of violence will not stop unless the youth are fully engaged in constructive ways; and giving them job is the number one thing that needs to be addressed. Many of the youth have families to feed, children to educate and even a future to save for. If the future is not guaranteed, many would easily be tempted to engage in criminal activities or follow disgruntled politicians to cause havoc.

Entreneurial centers need to be opened to train youth to be self-reliant; this will change their mindset from only focusing on paid employment and instead make them entrepreneurs. The only available job opportunities shouldn’t be joining the armed forces only as has been the case for many years.

If the government can devolve more resources to the lower levels of the government like states and counties, this will help create more jobs for the youth and many can relocate to work in the countryside where real work should be. Allocating resources to the central government is killing the spirit of devolution as advocated by both the government and the former armed opposition.

Diversification of the economy is the only hope to create more employment opportunities, with the creation of a separate ministry for Mining, it’s high time this sector is developed to shift our focus away from the Petroleum sector. South Sudan’s mining sector has a huge potential and can boost the fledgling economy tremendously We should let the curse which led to the underdevelopment of agriculture sector creep into this sector.

The government needs to target areas that have mining potential and provide the much-needed infrastructure to make this sector take off, provide security to the mining companies and create an enabling regulatory environment to attract foreign investors.

It should be a government priority to institute plans that will bring more educated and talented young people into the workforce. The new government must really come up with a youth empowerment program that will help reduce the high unemployment rate among the youth. A country that invests in her young population stands a better chance of attaining prosperity for all in the near and long terms.

What need to be included in South Sudan Economic Recovery Plan

With the invitation of International Monetary Fund (IMF) to come and help the Transitional Government of National Unity draw a workable economic recovery plan; the Government has a chance to redeem itself from the lack of results from the Multi-Donor Trust fund, which was implemented from 2005-2012.

At that time the government structures were weak, the capacity of the civil servants was very poor, but with too much money put into capacity building not just by the MTDF projects but also by other agencies and development partners, we hope that should there be a similar arrangements then there will be improvement in the capacities in government departments.

The government should come up with a very ambitious plan that it should strive to implement during the next three years of the transitional period; this plan should be coupled with a definite commitment to put in some money into capital expenditure and strive to fund to completion some of the major projects that needs to be undertaken.

Since the semi-autonomous period until now, the government has not embarked on very serious projects that can spur economic growth directly from the budget funded by the resources generated nationally. As many people know, the bulk of the national budget goes to funding salaries and recurrent expenses of the government, leaving no or little room for development projects. The result is what everyone living in this country is seeing.

Going forward, the government must draw up a plan to develop key areas like infrastrure; roads, bridges, railways as well as oil infrastructure; natural resource development like the wild life and tourism, a key revenue source for many African countries. South Sudan has undiscovered or not popularized wild life tourism potential. Yes we must provide security, build roads and hotels in and around the national parks to tap into this sector.

Private sector development is key, when an enabling environment is provided that allows investors and foreign direct investment into the country, employment is created which will reduce the current high youth unemployment. More employment will mean increase in the tax base not just from Personal income tax as a result of increment in employment but also from the expansion of businesses and flourishing business environment.

We have been singing from top of our voices about agriculture being the backbone of this country; how we can be a food basket for the entire East African region, how we shall use ‘oil resources to fuel agricultural growth.’ But ten years later we have little to show for these slogans. Yes last year the President donated 100 tractors, which is a good gesture and show of commitment by the President to development of agriculture.

Without good road network, storage facilities like silos, lack of access to finance and modern farming equipment by farmers, agriculture will still remain as a pipe dream. For the smallholder farmers, the farmlands in many parts of the country are insecure.

We must put a very clear short term and long term plan on providing energy to light up the country. If we can’t generate power from Fulla falls, then let’s buy from Ethiopia or Uganda and even Sudan. This will drive down the cost of doing business drastically.

We must overhaul the public service, as it is, am afraid there will never be results regardless of how much money is pumped into the government coffers. People who have attained retirement ages are still occupying positions of influence when majority of them do not have the necessary skills and competency to continue working. We know the national pension fund for the government employees is not functional and has often been cited for lack of retirement. This too should be part of the new plan to free the payroll from ineffective and unproductive retiring and even unqualified civil servants must be retrenched.

A serious capacity building program should be instituted for the younger employees who have just joined the civil service to bring them up to speed with provision of efficient services in the civil service by providing them with tools that will enhance their productivity. Capacity building programs like the one implemented by Inter Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD) if structured well can be of great help to the country.

The government must actively be involved in drawing up the plan including the specific projects that will be implemented as part of the recovery plan. Government participation is key in helping the ownership of the project. Most of the MDTF projects were considered ‘World Bank Projects’ because of the way they were structured as independent units within the government departments and staffed separately.

Above all the government must commit own resources to implement the plan, donor money or loans from international financial institutions should only be used to augment government resources.

 

 

 

Views from the Top: Africa Board Fellows on the Challenges of Inclusive Finance

What Are The Key Priorities for The Transitional Government of National Unity?

This evening the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) will be formed to be headed by the President and his 1^st Vice President as per the Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (ARCISS).

The TGoNU is already cash-starved and its effectiveness will be in limbo unless the much needed and anticipated donor funding is availed in time. The oil production levels have, since the start of the crisis in Dec 2015 gone down to below 200,000 barrels per day; the international crude oil prices are not improving and the non-oil revenue is still negligible or being misused and can’t plug any budgetary hole.

The TGoNU therefore, will be faced by a myriad of competing priority agenda and also competing political interest of the coalition government. Each part of the government will be fronting the regional agenda of their strongholds and will be putting forwards programs to appease their support base as a reward for standing behind them during the last two years’ conflict.

The bad road networks across the country will remain as a headache to the government. Unless major roads connecting the country with neighboring countries or interstate roads are built, the country will continue to reel from underdevelopment and lack of reach of rural populations. The government must priorities key roads within this transitional period.

The cost of doing business in this country has been astronomically high. High cost of transport because of poor road network has been one of the major causes; but lack of electricity is also another major direct cause of the high operating cost. We can never run even slight industries with generated power from diesel-powered generators. It’s high time we focus on a national grid.

Fulla Dam in the border of Nimule must be made a priority. Several feasibility study reports are there and even development partners who earlier showed interest to develop it should be courted again to resume this crucial project. Even if in the interim period we manage to light up Juba, this will boost efficiency in the economy and reduce the cost of operations for major corporations.

The government should resume the Thiangrial refinery project in Unity state so that we can refine crude for the domestic consumption. It’s sad that as an oil producing country, we still depend entirely on imported refined petroluem products. This even drives up the cost of operating businesses further and a period of uncertainty should there be a drop in the supply of diesel and petrol as currently being witnessed across the country. It’s sad that even government institutions are closed when there is no fuel to power the air conditions and important office accessories that need power.

Public primary and secondary education should be a key agenda of this government. Many parts of this country do not have functioning public schools; this is leading to waste of key skills this country needs in the long term. As a country that has undergone decades of conflict and underdevelopment, it’s unfortunate that the government since 2005 has not embarked on a serious national campaign to put kids back to classrooms. The structures are not developed; there has never been a deliberate government program to train schoolteachers on a large scale apart from the pockets of interventions by development partners in the education sector whose areas of interventions the level of security prevailing effectively determines.

The list of priorities is long, the government should work on the insecurity for all these to work; the communities must be reconciled to ensure all the citizens work together without mistrust and suspicion. The president and his vice Presidents should lead the nation on this front as both pledged during the swearing in of the 1^st Vice President on Tuesday.

Critical reforms will be needed in the institutions that are tasked with the management of the economy. Even when the guns will finally be silent, the economic battle will rage on for a while until certain measures are taken to ensure the little resources that we get are utilized in a way that will improve the economy.

The two Principals must tackle the endemic corruption that has been denying us the much-needed development. The negative results of not prosecuting public officials who have been implicated in corrupt scandals have been seen. The assets looted in the past should traced and repatriated, this can be a key source of funding major developmental projects; this is possible it just requires a political will which should be easier if we are serious about the future of this country.

I hope the TGoNU will make sure it forge a united front and face the problems afflicting the nation patriotically and combine efforts to find durable solutions that will liberate us from our suffering forever. It’s time to not focus so much on IO, FDs or Salva Kiir’s arm of the government; we are all South Sudanese aspiring to provide services and bring back peace and stability to our people and country. South Sudan will always remain a republic regardless of who are in charge of the government. Let’s begin a new chapter devoid of political machinations and shenanigans.