N. Bahr El Ghazal: Cousin mourns the removal of his cousin
By Ngor Arol Garang
March 27, 2008 — As the whole community celebrates the appointment of Major General Paul Malong Awan as governor of Northern Bahr El Ghazal State, a relative of the former governor mourns the removal of his cousin and so began to attack the relatives of the newly appointed governor for congratulating him. The appointment of the new governor is perceived by the relatives of the former governor as an opportunity to the family and clan of the new governor. This is the first time Northern Bahr El Ghazal State experienced such mixed feelings about the appointments that are made without popular consultations as stipulated in the comprehensive peace agreement. General Malong Awan as a military minded person is expected to play a lot of roles in security matters especially the on going border conflict which prompted his appointment to curve the growing tension between Northern Bahr El Ghazal and Southern Kordofan states.
As a military leader, Malong is expected to cooperate with at least those developmental conscious and distance himself away from individuals whose primary interests are plans of how to cooperate to loot public funds, properties without thinking of basic services delivery such as the provision of clean drinking water, health units, good roads to link rural villages with urban towns, support for free primary education to all and encouragement and support of private sectors as to help in the fight against poverty eradication in African and Sudan in particular. Northern Bahr Ghazal State as one of the ten state of Southern Sudan has a lot of challenges which needs an immediate concern from the government with prime support from the local people.
These challenges include but not limited to security and development which are at the door of all other nine states of Southern Sudan. Security and development go together as is always the case with complementary goods which if one is missing the work of the other is affected. The example of such goods is a care without fuel though there is a driver can not move unless fuel is provided. Meaning there can be no development if there is insecurity in the area. To success, you must seek assistances from the competent, interested and committed individuals to serve the society without having to worry or prioritize their affairs and mindless of public concerns.
The good example to share with the public to explain the meaning of the two terms called security and development is the on going border conflict which started in December 2007, this is the conflict which has displaced our civil populations from their original lands to where they are now struggling with their daily lives unlike where they were comfortable in their homes eating their grown and harvested crops. This reported conflict has in recent months displaced innocent civilian who were ready to develop their original lands with whatever limited resources they have. Now with this conflict, civilian are no longer interested in development matters but security affair. Therefore it is necessary that someone who is security minded be appointed so that security is ensured while idea for development becomes the second priority.
Already the said conflict is known to have claimed hundreds of civilian lives, destroyed millions worth of property as well as displacing thousand of people along the border. With the hope that General Malong will bring security situation to normal, I, like any other citizen from Northern Bahr El Ghazal State who have been greatly disturbed by these frequent attacks against our people, appealed to the newly appointed governor to find a lasting solution to this needless carnage. This, i hope, you will accomplish in many ways including giving necessary support to the would-be Dinka-Messiriya Peace Talk due to take place in Khartoum later this month.
I also appeal to you to coordinate with the Government of Southern Kordofan, so that the security on South-North border is brought to immediate normalcy. As a security minded person, you are well suited for the job, go ahead and the people of greater Mading Aweil will stand solidly behind you.
On the development side of the equation, we have seen a number of areas that we can aggressively improve on: food security, provision of clean water, renovation and building of schools and hospitals, improvement of roads, good governance, war against corruption, and elimination of disabling, chronic ghost employees with an intention to loot public funds by individuals who are less concern with public interest.. This is a daunting task, but with solid, competent ministers, advisors, legislatures, commissioners and secretaries, a lot of positive changes can be accomplished within a reasonable amount of time. I wish you the very best in your new role as Governor.
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