There lived three rams: black, white and brown rams. They were united beyond union.
They used to move, graze, and sleep together. Making the long story short, they were each other’s keeper. Their common enemy tried to kill them, but it failed miserably. One day, the enemy approached the black and brown rams and told them to chase away the white ram, saying they are spotted at night because of the white ram. The black and brown rams chased away the white ram. The enemy attacked the white ram and killed it.
Then the enemy approached the black ram and convinced it to chase away the brown ram on a charge that the brown colour appeared at night and that the enemy could easily spot them. The black ram chased away the brown ram. Then the enemy attacked the brown ram and killed it. Finally, the enemy attacked the lonely black ram and killed it. “United, we stand. Divided, we fall”. The “Divide and Rule” policy became “Divide and Kill” policy. The three rams would not all perish if they remained united.
Youth are the muscles of movement. With youth constituting 72% of the population, South Sudan was expected to propel itself very quickly to a heightened level. Unfortunately, a political thunder struck youth to the point they broke into pieces. A large number of youth took up arms, following an influence of their uncles, and went to the bush to fight youth whose uncles were in the government. I tell you, they killed themselves to vultures. Trust me, some families were on the brink of extinction.
Another piece of youth ended up being jailed on charges, such as 10,000 SSP debt, theft, possession of a knife, consumption of illicit drugs, rape, murder and many other crimes. You could find that youth are living below the line of poverty. Some youth are mentally enslaved, others are frustrated beyond frustration and a majority are pretending to be okay, but they are actually not. A pocket of youth, those who pretend to be fine, but not, go out to look for opportunities in solitude.
Youth lobby for positions individually. Most of whom end up being denied such opportunities, and a few who get the opportunities also end up being relieved after a few days in office. One youth was relieved after 18 days in office in the state. Two youth were relieved after three weeks in office in the national government. To a worse point, a certain youth was appointed in a presidential decree, but revoked just a day later and dumped completely. Damn!
South Sudan is destroying the aspirations of young people to become leaders of tomorrow. The leadership of tomorrow begins today. So, if young people are not included in today’s leadership, they would not be competent for tomorrow’s leadership. It is something that is not ending soon. It has reached the level where young people are frustrated by giving them leadership opportunities, but shortly revoking them, which can have a profound psychological effect on the minds of youth.
This further creates a new version of frustration on top of the old frustration. The future is robbed because youth are disorganised. They claim their tomorrow individually, which shows the leaders of today that young people are not ready to take up the leadership of the country. There is a need for youth to come together, unite under one umbrella and speak with one voice.
Thank you for reading “Sowing The Seed Of Truth”.