The toxic leadership of Lakes state’s deputy governor
By Michael Adenguek Aramweer
Toxic means poisonous or containing poison. If applies to human personality, it refers to a person having very unpleasant personality, especially in the way he/she likes to control and influence other people in a dishonest manner. If a person with toxic personality finds himself/herself in authority position, he/she would practice what leadership scholars called ‘Toxic’ leadership.
Toxic leadership is leadership behaviour which poisons, is disruptive, destructive, exploitive, dysfunctional and abusive. This covers workplace bullying and harassment in its various forms, deception and fraudulent dealings, forced imposition of unrealistic workload, fostering disruptive internal competition, misinformation, misrepresentation, and aggressive interpersonal behaviour.
Toxic leadership highlights the deliberate destructive and self-serving misuse of power. It describes a relationship which undermines the effective functioning of the system (organisation) and destabilises sound working relationships. Moral corruption, hypocrisy, sabotage and manipulation, as well as other assorted unethical and illegal acts, are part of poisonous repertoire of poisonous leaders. Toxic leaders, in this respect, are those leaders by virtue of their destructive behaviours and their dysfunctional personal qualities or characteristics; inflict serious and enduring harm on individuals, groups, organisations, communities and even the nation that they lead.
Mabor Achol Kuer, the deputy governor of Lakes state seems to exhibiting some, if not all of toxic leadership characteristics, especially with the advent of the care-taker governor, Maj. Gen. Matur Chut Dhuol into the helm of lakes state. Some of the ministers who have been affected by recent changes made by General Matur confided to me that immediately after Governor Chol Tong was removed, deputy governor, Mabor Achol called a cabinet meeting and suggested that the ministers and himself should unite in the face of the coming changes; now that they were going to be labelled as Governor Chol’s appointees. He promised the ministers that he was going to ’gossip’ on their behalf, since he will be closer to the new Governor. Instead, he went and gossiped against the ministers, leading to their removal. Now, the ministers who became victims are desperate to ask Mr. Mabor as to what happened to his promise! Until the time these ministers were relieved, Comrade Mabor did not come back to any of the ministers to tell what happened. Instead, he divided the ministers as Governor Chol’s loyalists and non-loyalists. He of course pretended to be non-Chol-loyalist when he was Chol’s No.2. He did that to endear himself to new care-taker Governor. This man believes in maxim that politics is a dirty game. But politics should not be regarded like that because it is the only way public life should be improved and harmony and stability are achieved.
By doing so the guy has proved to be practising bad leadership which is categorised as: incompetent, rigid, intemperate, callous, insular and evil. Mr. Mabor Achol likes to be acting abrasively which is abusive behaviour, insensitive to the needs of others, distant, aloof and arrogant.
In this short while of three or so months, he has poisoned Gen. Matur Chut with his toxic leadership behaviours. So, Lakes state is in trouble. Mr. Mabor is currently like ‘a dog with two tails’-he is very, very happy. He boasted the other day he has become stronger under Matur than he was under Chol, simply because he can easily manipulate General Matur Matur who is not literately functional, and therefore incapable of reading the constitution leave alone interpreting it.
The man is a power and money maniac. Besides being the deputy governor and a minister, he is also the chief rate collector in Rumbek market. He goes the cattle action every evening to receive the fees collected there, for he is also the treasurer of the local revenue collected by the ministries and counties. If he must handle money, the way he is, he should ask Matur to give him finance portfolio. To his disadvantage, however, the constitution provides that Ministry of Finance cannot be combined with deputy governorship.
He misled Gen. Matur that he (Matur) can make changes within the government of Lakes state during his care-taking period, when the Transitional Constitution of the South Sudan states otherwise. Article 165 (2) wrongly quoted by the General in his gubernatorial decrees of removals and appointments does not apply to his period of being a care-taker governor for 60 or so days. This article is meant for a legitimate governor, elected by the residents of the state in compliance with the requirements prescribed by the National Elections Commission as stipulated in article 165 (1).
What is happening in Lakes State is nothing less than organised crime, being orchestrated by the deputy governor and company, against the laws of the land and people of Lakes state in particular. I call it ‘organised crime’ because what is happening is a systematic and deliberate violation of the constitution and human rights. Lakes state is virtually under undeclared state of emergency.
Mabor Achol is out to deal a blow to his imagined or real enemies, which is not fit with a public office holder; because when in public office you are supposed to serve everybody, including your enemies.
I would like to end this piece of writing with these quotes: “The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.” Niccolo Machiavelli. “No man/woman can stand on top because he/she is put there.” H. H. Vreeland. “No man/woman is good enough to govern another man/woman without that other’s consent.” Abraham Lincoln.
Michael Adenguek Aramweer is the Chairman of the Knowledgeable Independent-minded Lobbyists in Lakes State (KILLS). He can be reached at [email protected].