Three days after President Salva Kiir Mayardit, on 16th May, recalled the tremendous contribution of the heroes and heroines who sacrificed their lives for freedom of this nation, more blood spilt.
The Friday murder-suicide involving Vice President for Economic Cluster, Dr. James Wani Igga’s bodyguards at his residence was not that ordinary, for the persons involved and location, are breath taking.
According to the police, one disgruntled bodyguard opened fire, shooting indiscriminately at his colleagues. He eventually killed one soldier instantly and injured two others, before turning the barrel of the gun on himself, this becomes Murder-suicide.
Gun violence and murders are common in the country, and this is related to several factors, which includes the decades of civil wars and unaccountable number of firearms in the hands of the civil populations among others. Trauma, economic, cultural and other personal factors then compel individuals to misuse the firearms in their procession.
But the Friday issue in particular, which involved government soldiers, who were supposed to protect a man, wielding state powers next to the head of the country, and in the heart of the capital city, Juba, is pretty worrying. National government weapons were also misused against her own personnel, “human recourse,” lost. Eleven cartridges were recovered on the ground at the scene of the crime, meaning bullets belonging to the nation, misused, besides the loss of lives.
Vivid memories of the demise in 2011, of then, minister of rural development, who was shot and killed along with his bodyguard, still lingers in the minds of the citizens. The gunman, who happened to be a brother-in-law employed as a driver, later shot himself.
Murder-suicide refers to criminal acts by someone who after murdering others follows the homicides with suicide, like the Friday case. Under this light, though, the triggering factors to the act which were only known to the actor remain unknown but only criminal to all.
As the legendary Thomas Sankara said, “Without patriotic political education, a soldier is only a potential criminal,” we might have just witnessed an iceberg of a bigger mountain underneath. This sounds a warning bell for the government to initiate mitigation measures against future recurrences.
According to The Institute of State Effectiveness, the State (government) has 10 fundamental functions. These are Governance, Market Engagement, Security, Infrastructure, Rule of Law, Human Capital, Public Financial Management, Citizen Engagement, Asset Management and Disaster Resilience.
It’s therefore upon this that we look forward to the state (government) to live up to her obligations for citizens to realise peace, unity and development.