What would President Salva promise again during the 24th Convocation?

By Malek Arol Dhieu

Of all the promises made by President Salva Kiir Mayardit during the 23rd Convocation of the University of Juba, two   outmanoeuvred; a promise to pave all the roads within the university and another promise to employ graduates on merit.

Neither of these promises was fulfilled, and here now nears another convocation scheduled for Saturday 26th November, which needs other promises to be made. The fascinating part of this unfulfilled promise is that, the person entrusted to bring the promise to life was none other than the former Dean of Students’ Affairs and the incumbent Minister of Roads and Bridges Hon. Simon Mijok Mijak.

Imagine the beloved son of the University of Juba failing to remind our forgetful Chancellor to fulfil his promise, what would sons and daughters of other institutions do if entrusted by President Salva Kiir to carry a task in the University of Juba?

Looking at the streets of Juba, graduates move here and there applying for this job and that job, but all in vain as employment policies continue to remain in an inverted position. This clearly shows that, President Salva Kiir Mayardit did not fulfil his promise of employing graduates on merit, and if there are graduates employed, they might have been employed on something else, not on merit.

The failure of the construction of roads in the University of Juba could be counted not only on President Salva Kiir Mayardit, but also on the Vice Chancellor Prof. John Akec and Hon. Simon Mijok Mijak.

This is because, who knows perhaps H.E Salva Kiir Mayardit might have released the money, and on its way to Simon Mijok Mijak, the money disappeared. Or Simon Mijok Mijak released the money, and on its way to Prof. John Akec, the money disappeared. Any of the three people aforementioned must be responsible for the unfulfillment of this developmental promise.

There are so many promises President Salva Kiir Mayardit can make again during the 24th Convocation, but people say a roared lion never eats people, I mean a person who has not fulfilled the first promise never promises for the second time unless he is a politician. And if he does, then he does it on instalment.

The University of Juba also suffers underestimation to perform duties of a national university just like the University of Nairobi, Makerere University, University of Dar el Salaam, to mention a few. The level reached by the University of Juba can allure a well-wisher into contributing what may propel it to the next level.

It does not need a Chancellor to wait until a fundraiser is organised for him to contribute for development, but Chancellor Salva Kiir Mayardit takes his Chancellorship for granted.

As a Chancellor and President at ago, he would do two things for the whole nation and one thing for the University of Juba if not all the universities. It’s his obligation to see that all the public universities are in good shape developmentally, but this, to him, is a daydream.

I thought President Salva Kiir Mayardit would differentiate between a graduation ceremony and a political rally. In a graduation ceremony, an invited guest should tell what’s told to academicians unlike a political rally where a guest, especially a guest with a political background, may tell a million lies and people consume them at the angle of politics.

The author is a medical student, University of Juba. He can be reached at malengaroldit@gmail.com or +211922332811.