South Sudan relief for Kenya, utter madness

By Alfred Taban , the Khartoum Monitor

Mar 8, 2006 — Reports that the government of Southern Sudan has given 1m dollars to Kenya to purchase relief aid for its needy is utter madness. We are fully aware of how much Kenya stood with us at our hour of need. Kenya provided us sanctuary, food and comfort at a time when we were being chased like rats in our own country. Kenya hosted our peace talks, even if many of us were not very hospitable, until a deal, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CAP) was signed. That is very much appreciated by all Southern Sudanese.

But to give one million dollars to Kenya at a time when millions of Southern Sudanese are going naked and hungry is nothing short of madness. For God’s sake, Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) soldiers have not been paid a penny since they emerged from the bush more than a year ago. We have ongoing outbreaks of acute watery diarrhoea which so far killed 127, according to the WHO. Our begging bowls are still dangling precariously on our heads as we move to Paris to find out from the donors what they have done for us since Oslo. What if the donors learn that we have abandoned the wretched group of aid recipients and just joined a new club of aid donors, dispensing one million dollars in a spin?

Kenya is not a poor country. It is often struck by calamities such as drought, as many countries are, but Kenya does not need aid, it requires markets and less corruption. Kenya needs improvement of its surface transportation to reach food and services to most parts of the country and less politics. Donating one million dollars to Kenya at this time is not an act of charity, it is an act of criminal disregard for the suffering of the people of Southern Sudan, for which we will pay dearly.