By Taban Henry
The Vice President for Economic Cluster has warned South Sudanese against over dependency on imported goods.
The Vice President for Economic Cluster made his statement on Monday during the swearing ceremony of Deputy Governors of Jonglei and Upper Nile including the Chief Administrator of Ruweng Administrative Area.
Dr. James Wani Igga, the Vice President for Economic Cluster warned South Sudanese against depending on imported products adding that where possible to create conducive environment people shouldn’t rely on transported food.
He said people must produce their own food because now given the Ukrainian war things are going to be difficult even those supplying food will say no that he cannot sell all his food when his children have not yet eaten, because they only sell surplus.
“Soon food will have no surplus in the food producing countries even Ukraine use to produce 30% of the wheat requirement of the world including the blockage of black sea goods by Russia this has affected. Today the United States Congress is discussing about unavoidable trend of the world economy to enter not only in inflation but into recess,”Igga said.
V.P. Igga hinted that countries are already discussing about the food crisis brought about by the Russia-Ukraine war with the aim on how to salvage things to hope for the better.
He however said they should prepare for the worse in South Sudan citing that if they are to do something in the South let them get up in search of food through their own production.
“Uganda will soon not send the food it’s sending including Kenya they are already making reserves so we must take care of this we must put agriculture as the first priority then we say okay we have food here and how do we send to the consumption areas this is where roads become the second priority alongside transport, river itself” Dr. Igga emphasized.
“Now you can go to energy and power because our youth will always be angry with us as long as we don’t employ them but you know job is not always determined by one thing which is the road, electricity for the country. We need electricity otherwise we cannot industrialized without electricity and with that no industrialization because five batches of graduates without jobs so most of us with jobs we can go and dance let us take care of that,” he stated.
The Vice President for economic cluster hinted that there is need to emphasis on managing a political party while adding that they must clearly articulate the needs of our people.
“So what they want is what they are expecting you to do, of course everywhere at every time people might want two most important things” he said.
“First of all they want security and stability you will be briefed by those ones coming from their by asking how the security situation in Upper Nile, Jonglei and Ruweng because this is what they want to done first. Without security other things cannot come, event if you want to bring honey or milk cannot come because there is no security and peace and this is what our people want” Igga said.
“The second thing is socio economic welfare of the people, one people are talking that the SPLM has brought peace and stability yes, you should not go and sleep because at the end of the day after having being acquired is freedom the people did not want freedom itself, without that freedom you will be kicked off because people need food to eat that is why we talk of socioeconomic change,” he said.
Igga stressed that people cannot secure their economic needs without security saying it’s important that once you have done that then you can feed the people after that they will now want development to take place because they don’t want to stay in unhealthy place where there is no water, education, roads among others necessities adding that in any society number one priority is food.
“I was so happy when I came from Khartoum I met with the governor of Northern Bhar-El-Ghazal State, Aweil who has gone to look for food due to drought and flood which has devastated not only Aweil but the whole of the South. Including Upper Nile, Ruweng and Jonglei it’s obvious to produce food after security,” Igga lamented.