This remains an overriding question in all government and private institutions, national and international organizations, and business centers that have created suggestion boxes and put them in reachable places for the public. Without fear of contradiction, I am going to bravely mention a few institutions that should activate, revise, and get used to their suggestion boxes. If they think the contents of the suggestion boxes are too many to read, let them employ workers of equivalence to sort the contents into those that are negative and those that are positive, and then jot down the positive contents for the institutions to take into consideration.
Suggestion boxes are generally considered mirrors of the institutions to evaluate and rectify themselves, and more importantly, they are preferable to stakeholders as many of them hardly decide on their own but wait until either the situation or somebody else decides on their behalf. The government, on the other hand, may have suggestion boxes for cowards—I mean, non-partisans and other dudes who like to talk in darkness—but there may be no need for that as parties in opposition are big suggestion boxes and mirrors of the government to know its social and political correctness.
Two years ago, when things did not yet unfold their true colours to me, I was an active customer of Eco Bank, Koita Branch, located on the right-hand side next to EBC Radio station as one comes from Juba town following J1 road. Bodaboda riders are stationed on either side of the Eco Bank’s gate, and people say that these bodaboda riders are said to have been connected with robbers, or more frankly, they are the robbers themselves.
Because of the shortness of the wall fence at Eco Bank, bodaboda riders directly watch customers in the queue for ATM cards and other customers that go for withdrawal using forms, and when they come out to depart, the bodaboda riders signal to ride them to their destinations, where the safety only lies in the hands of God. It is regrettable to unchoose one bodaboda rider and foot towards where you are going, as they may coordinate with robbers to find you unaware on your way and rob you, but a better choice, but still unproven, is to stop an unaware bodaboda rider coming from a distance after taking a few steps away from the bank.
Because of this, I had written two polite and suggestive notes to the Eco Bank administration to remove the spaced metallic fence through which bodaboda riders and other criminals watch customers and slightly raise the wall fence to obstruct them. Up until today, the fence was in the same shape, and I guess my suggestions and other people’s must have been read but ignored, and the only thing that makes robbers fear the bank is the location of the bank along presidency road (sharia resiya).
Otherwise, this could have been the robbery zone as queuers with ATM cards withdrawn not South Sudanese pound but the desired United States dollar, which Mr. Malek Arol Dhieu vividly terms “many in one” currency. A similar condition is observed at Stanbic Bank, Ivory Bank, Eden Commercial Bank, and other banks where places for ATM cards are so naked that customers are seen standing, which may make them targeted and robbed for nobody’s mistake other than the aforementioned banks.
I muchly concentrate on banks because every robber is after money, though they rob cars, phones, pieces of jewelry and other valuable materials, they still sell them for physical money. All police stations should have suggestion boxes so that they are told that professional police never beat up perpetrators, but handcuff and bring them for investigation as beating may make them refuse to vomit the exact information needed by the investigators.
Torturing is, of course, part of the police wants of information, but it is not done at the site of the occurrence of the problem but in the custody of senior personnel. Traffic police should also have suggestion boxes to suggest to them that they stand at the common roundabouts and busy junctions; one should not just wear his or her uniform and stand at random with the intention of making a living. Every institution should have suggestion boxes and in conclusion, the contents of the suggestion boxes must be read, for they may contain outstanding suggestions which are of central importance in the propulsion of the institutions to the next level.
The author is a medical student, University of Juba.