‘We have destroyed the gov’t ourselves’ Kuol admits

By Deng David Panchol

Senior Presidential Advisor Kuol Manyang Juuk admitted that they have failed to deliver services to the citizens since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005.

Kuol who was speaking during the swearing in ceremony of Jonglei’s new executive last week said since the signing of CPA the government has failed to construct schools, hospitals, roads and houses for the citizens in order to provide services. “We have destroyed the government by ourselves, when we fought the Sudan government for 22 years was for us to become independent so that we do what the government of Sudan was unable to do for us.

Since July 2005, the government of Southern Sudan was formed but what did we do? We did not built schools, did not build houses for our people, did not construct road and hospitals,” Kuol criticized. Kuol who is also a senior member of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) stressed that since southerners became independent, the government is still depending on the relief food from different organizations like World Food Programme (WFP).

He added that the government is failing to address the challenges that are facing the citizens of South Sudan. He further criticized the regime for what he called “failure to reconstruct what was destroyed by the war and instead destroyed what was left by the war.” “We killed ourselves, we hated ourselves and this is a challenge now we have made the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan.

I am not congratulating you until you prosper in providing services to the people you are serving,” he reminded the new leaders during his remarks. He also tasked the leaders to prioritize peace by disseminating peace to the citizens through radios and called for establishment of more radio stations as a means of preaching peace messages. Mr Kuol however, blamed the citizens for letting the foreigners do the small jobs that they can do on their own.

“Even a small clinic you want the foreigners to build it for us and yet this can be built by only one person. Is this not shameful. A police post that can be built by people we also want the foreigners to build it, is this their country or our country? There are things we can handle by ourselves and everyone should play a role,” Kuol advised the citizens. In addition, Kuol also warned the citizens of wasting time on playing games that are not beneficial to them.