Thumb-up for minister Gier Chuang

By Zechariah Manyok Biar

September 11, 2009 — Sometimes we feel proud as South Sudanese when our government has done a good job. This is one of the reasons why we condemn lack of performance and praise excellent performance of our leaders. Democracy is a game in which success is rewarded and failure is punished. We know that our leaders are human beings like any other leaders all over the world, but we appreciate those who try to do the right thing for the betterment of our people.

On September 10, 2009, Sudan Tribune reported very encouraging news about the good job that the Minister of Internal Affairs Major General Gier Chuang Aluong is doing in Juba, South Sudan. According to the report, “Security forces have retrieved thousands of illegally possessed firearms after a comprehensive dawn search of weapons in the semi-autonomous Southern Sudan’s capital, Juba, on Wednesday.”

Minister Gier has started doing what many of us who know him expected of him. This is not the first time Minister Gier has done unthinkable in his career.

In Ethiopia in 1989, a crime became the order of the day in Panyido. We thought nobody was going to stop it. But when Gier arrived in Panyido, he controlled that crime within one month.

At the start of SPLM/A in 1983, Minister Gier was among the first radio operators of SPLA. He became the head of Signal Unit in the SPLA and did all he could to train signal personnel who became experts in intercepting the activities of Sudanese army. Not even the Sudan government expected a rebel like the SPLA to be capable of intercepting sophisticated system of government’s communication. But SPLA Signal Unit under Gier was smarter than Sudan government could imagine.

After Comprehensive Peace Agreement became operational in Sudan, Sudan government thought it would remote-control the government of South Sudan through technology, especially in the area of communication. Minister Gier, who in fact became the first Minister of Telecommunication and Postal Services in the history of South Sudan, did all he could to sideline the remote-control strategy of Sudan government in Khartoum. Minister Gier signed a contract with Ugandan Telecom, making South Sudan independent in communication system.

Minister Gier is not only successful in public; he is a good father and a good husband too, things that are wanted in a successful leader. Anybody who wants to prove me wrong should visit Minister Gier’s family. Minister Gier juggles public and family responsibilities at the same level. He believes that public life and family life are both important, a philosophy that many people will agree with.

The importance of private life of a leader is that a leader who loves his or her family will possibly look at the families of other people as important part of his or her work. Such a leader will see the children of other people as his or her children that he or she is obliged to take care of.

The insecurity that has become part of daily life in South Sudan is a great threat to normal life of growing children in our nation. Only leaders who understand the importance of their children would deal with it in the same way that Minister Gier is now dealing with the problem.

I cannot believe that some people were keeping 12.7 anti-aircraft weapons as their privately owned weapons. What were they doing with them? Was that not a threat to the government in Juba? Pistols would be appropriate for individuals to own, but why would individuals keep weapons like Rocket Propel Grenades (RPGs) and Pulemyot Kalashnikov Machine (PKM) guns as their private weapons? Have you seen the danger?

If Minister Gier will bring the current insecurity under control in South Sudan, then he will go down in history as one of the most effective ministers South Sudan will ever have. I give Minister Gier a thumb-up for a job well done even though our excitement could be premature.

Zechariah Manyok Biar is a graduate student at Abilene Christian University, Texas, USA. He is pursuing a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry and a Master of Science in Social Work, specializing in Administration and Planning. He is a regular contributor to www.newsudanvision.com and www.sudantribune.com. For comments, contact him at email: [email protected]