New hope in South Sudan’s ministry of interior

By Zechariah Manyok Biar

August 10, 2013 – Cautious people rightly argue that it is always too early to either criticize or praise a leader who has just taken over an office. That is why presidents in advanced countries are evaluated after 100 days from the days they are sworn into their new offices. The same thing applies to newly appointed ministers in the Government of South Sudan. It would be too earlier to either criticize or praise them today since they were sworn in as ministers less than a week ago.

Even though it would be too earlier to praise the new ministers, the promises recently made by the current Minister of Interior Aleu Ayieny and his Deputy Augustino Jadalla to improve security in Jonglei State (as reported by Gurtong on August 9, 2013) encouraged me to write this article. Hon. Aleu, in particular, is quoted to have said: “We are going to make Jonglei a different place.” It is this kind of confidence from him that makes me write to praise Hon. Aleu and his Deputy Gen. Jadalla at this early stage of their leadership.

I am, however, aware that my praise of these two leaders (especially Hon. Aleu Ayieng) will make some of my readers disagree with me. Keen observers of our leaders would argue that Hon. Aleu Ayieny has weaknesses that must make anybody who does not want to risk being taken less seriously praise him at this earlier time in his role as the Minister of Interior.

I would respect such argument. I am aware of the weaknesses of Hon. Aleu Ayieng and I once criticized him in my writing. However, those of my readers who know Hon. Aleu better will agree with me that his strengths are equal to, if not more than, his weaknesses. So, I am not afraid to praise him at this early time in his role as Minister of Interior because I know examples that show him as a very action-oriented leader.

For example, the promise for action reported to have been made by Hon. Aleu is often made by many politicians in Africa in order to get into an office. The fact that Hon. Aleu made such a promise after having gotten into the ministerial position shows that he means what he said.
I believe Hon. Aleu will implement his promise because he does not like criticisms. People who do not like criticisms always do everything they can to succeed in order to avoid or reduce criticisms.

There are examples which show that Hon. Aleu is action and success oriented. When he took over the leadership of what was known as the Red Army of Agareb in 1994 before we attacked the town of Kapoeta, for example, he did everything he could to prepare them for success as fighters. He trained them in a short time to be marksmen. Some of them became marksmen as a result of that training.

Aleu who was then the Alternate Commander became one of the first commanders to attack the enemy around Kapoeta in 1994 when his forces attacked Jebel Dhorob al Nahar. What he did with his forces in those attacks is known by many even those of us who were in Commander Pieng Deng’s Jamus Brigade on the other side of Kapoeta. He did very well. His main focus was to succeed in capturing Jebel Dhorob al Nahar. Even when he was wounded in one of those attacks, he still wanted to fight on and lead the success of his forces against the enemy.

A person like this should be taken seriously when he says that he is going to do something because he has great ambition. I should point out that it is Hon. Aleu’s ambition to succeed that is sometimes counted as his weaknesses, and I think he is aware of it.

Putting Hon. Aleu together with Gen. Jadalla and Gen. Pieng in the Ministry of Interior brings new hope for the improvement of security throughout South Sudan. Gen. Jadalla, for example, used to pay attention to internal insecurity even when he was in the army. Since he is now in the Ministry of Interior, he will work hard to make sure that death in the hands of anybody who kills innocent people for whatever reason is stopped. Gen. Pieng who is currently the Inspector General of Police is also known by many as a man of success.

Since I believe in successful backgrounds of leaders, I am hopeful that the combination of Hon. Aleu Ayieny, Gen. Jadalla, and Gen. Pieng in the Ministry of Interior will result in positive changes. They will not allow anybody to destroy their legacies. Even if those who kill innocent people in many parts of South Sudan (especially in Juba) could be powerful individuals, they will find themselves clash with Aleu, Jadalla, and Pieng in their efforts to improve security. Cattle raiders and revenge attackers will be in trouble too in both Jonglei and Lakes States.

Zechariah Manyok Biar can be reached at [email protected]