By Malek Arol Dhieu
I thought I was building a chicken’s house; little did I know it would cost me that much. If a chicken’s house would cost me 2 million USD, how about my own house? My family members never believed I spent such an amount of money until the day we sat down to do auditing receipt by receipt. Thereafter, they proved I was more transparent than transparency itself. Then we put all the blame on the economy.
Before we dispersed, I cited a good example where a gate of a certain house called August House was built with 5 million USD. People shook their heads and went their way home. Then I remained behind staring at the ceiling, begging God for an opportunity to address the parliament. I wanted to tell Members of Parliament that if a chicken’s house costs 2 million USD, a gate would cost 5 million USD or more.
Why was it news when the Speaker announced that the construction of the August House’s gate cost 5 million USD? Some Members of Parliament went far, so far that they requested the Speaker to make a detailed breakdown of 5 million USD; a move which sent off some MPs to date. I was having a very good question for them, but I had no chance to reach them. I would ask, why would money spent on something be questioned that much?
What about that money they just chop and enter their bank accounts without you knowing it? If God keeps touching their hearts to construct gates and small houses like that and eat part of the money, then it would be a positive sign that they are becoming satisfied and that, they will abandon stealing and turn to developing the country in the near future. Maybe they will become satisfied in 2080 or 2099, who actually knows?
Of course, the whole game was, “set a thief to catch a thief”. Things are truly expensive in the market as the dollar rate rises day in, day out. So, that huge money might have been spent on the gate. It shines so glaringly like it is built with made-in-China materials, but who knows it is made of gold and that, it would cost that amount. In fact, anyway….
One thing to know is that a fish can’t swim in the river without water getting into its mouth. If water has entered into the speaker’s mouth, then that is a normal routine for them. But why was an MP who requested auditing sent off? Could this be a sign that what has entered the speaker’s mouth was too much? Yes, it could be.
When I doubted that my chicken’s house did not consume 2 million USD, I did not wait to be asked for auditing. I knew every work needs auditing and I came out openly to make auditing. It was from there many people got convinced and put the blame on the economic crisis.
Some of them even suggested I be appointed a Minister of Finance and Planning to keep money safe, but I told them that the newly appointed minister is my twin brother. He has specialized in economics, and I have specialized in medicine, but we have a natural instinct to give Caesar what belongs to him and to God what belongs to God.
If you have ever heard of a man who came late after corruption was distributed all, that is our biological father. When a chicken’s house costs, for instance, 5,000 SSP, we request exactly 5,000 SSP. We do not over-budget for a small development like a gate and when the time for report comes, we report it to have cost an amount a Gate of Heaven could not even cost.
The author is a medical student, University of Juba.