Suzanne Jambo
In their assessment of what went wrong, the people of South Sudan blamed the crises in the country on the failure of political leadership and the state. They largely blamed the ruling party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), for taking the country back to war and for failing to deliver the promises of the liberation struggle.
The blame on the SPLM is collective, as the crises occurred before it broke up into many factions as they are known today. It is the basis of this failure that they called on both President Salva Kiir Mayardit and opposition leader, Dr. Riek Machar, to resign and step aside from the leadership. President Kiir appointed Riek Machar as his vice president since 2005 and they worked together until April 2013 when the President dismissed Riek as his Vice President. The failure of leadership is manifested in the following areas:
Lack of strategic vision: Since independence, it is not so obvious what the vision of the SPLM and the government it leads has been. The political project of building a new political system in South Sudan was never initiated or it failed. The development that was envisioned through the SPLM Framework for peace and development, was not followed. The improvement in the lives of ordinary people, which was the hallmark of the liberation struggle, did not materialize.
The initially declared strategy of taking towns to the people in the form of services, infrastructure and the use of oil revenue to increase agricultural productivity was never pursued. This explains why the resources went to waste without achieving anything tangible. Without a vision, everything else human beings become unguided and aimless.
Our leadership did not only fail collectively to provide a vision for the country and lay a strong foundation for a more stable political, security, and socioeconomic systems, they conspicuously gave into the temptation of power and money and got distracted from the goal of building a new political dispensation in the country. It is no wonder the country is in so much mess now.” END.
This statement and resolutions are our tool to early (2021) elections without Kiir and Riek Machar. Ours is to ensure to sensitize all, internally and Africa-wide to rally behind these resolutions.