When I see leaders of South Sudan addressing a problem, it kills me with laughter.
They abandon the problem and shoot its shadow. They do not completely know how to put an absolute end to a problem. When a problem arises, it is always good to find its root cause. Once its root cause is found, then addressing it becomes as easy as ABCD. However, that is not the case with South Sudan’s leaders. They address the problem from its point of expression.
When someone develops stomachache and begins visiting toilet frequently, would you take a needle and thread to suture that person’s anus? The anus is an expressing point, but the problem is somewhere in the stomach or intestines. If you suture the anus, thinking that you have put an end to diarrhoea, then you have caused a fresh problem that may add up to put the victim on the verge of death.
The escalating violence between South Sudan and Sudan needs no closure of social media platforms, but it needs informed decisions and a neutral approach to the problem. When two brothers are fighting, the way the third brother approaches them can either worsen or bring the fighting to an end. Therefore, a mediator brother should be neutral. Once he takes side, the fighting escalates.
If the salaries for the civil servants and soldiers are missing, then the Ministry of Finance and Planning or the Central Bank of South Sudan is the point of expression, the problem is somewhere. The oil and nonoil revenues are collected and run away with, they are not deposited into the Central Bank as they should be. So, if the Minister of Finance or the Governor of Central Bank is relieved in the quest for looking for a solution, it is as if diarrhoea is being treated by closing the anus.
If, indeed, oil and nonoil revenues get lost on their way to the Central Bank, the people to hold accountable are the revenue collectors, not those who use such revenues for paying their salaries. To solve the problem of the salary delay once and for all, it should begin with questions, such as, how much money is collected per day? By who? Which bank account is it deposited into? Who controls this account? Whom does he/she report to? Is the report done weekly or monthly? There are so many probing questions to ask. The answers to these questions can provide a solution to the problem.
When a dollar rate rises, the government deploys soldiers to hunt for the people involved in the black market business. The government thinks what raises the power of the United States Dollars against South Sudanese Pounds is in the black market, little does it know that some government officials are shareholders of the black market. Harassing and torturing the people who sell dollars in the black market is the control of diarrhoea by closing the anus.
War is not ending, not because it is hard to put an end to, but because it is being ended from its point of expression. When war erupts, there is always a reason why it erupts. So, people mediating the cessation of war should not just force the warring sides to sign peace and think they have brought peace. Such peace is not durable because it has been ended from its point of expression instead of its point of origin.
South Sudan is full of problems, such as war, economic crisis, poor infrastructure and healthcare system, communal clashes and a lot more, because such problems are controlled from their points of expression. If diarrhoea is controlled by closing the anus, it will never stop. The best way to control it is to probe its cause so that a specific treatment is done. Shutting down the social media platforms is like controlling diarrhoea by closing the anus.
Thank you for reading “Sowing The Seed Of Truth”.