The new cabinet of South Sudan
By Luka Biong Deng
August 23, 2013 – At last the President has formed new cabinet with his trusted team. The previous cabinet was almost paralyzed and dysfunctional as almost all members of the cabinet with exception of the President and his former Vice President were depicted as corrupt. All former ministers received a letter from the President requesting them to return back the stolen money of USD 4.5 billion. During the entire period of the interim period, the South received about USD 10 billion as oil revenues. The irony of this claim of almost 50 percent of the oil revenue was stolen raises question of the validity of such claim.
The office of the former Vice President commissioned an independent inquiry into this claim and found that the amount lost from the sorghum purchases and other contracts would not exceed USD 300 million. In fact the individuals who were involved in the sorghum saga purchases are now known and the list is with the Ministry of Justice. For other contracts, the periodic and annual audit reports of the National Audit Chamber will provide detailed information about any misappropriation of public funds and upon which the Anti-Corruption Commission will investigate the suspected individuals.
I hope the President would be able to exonerate his former ministers from such stigma unless there is a conclusive evidence to take the suspected individuals for further investigation. These former ministers deserved to be treated with dignity and as citizens who are expected to play role in building the new nation. They would have ideally resigned but they continued with their work to show respect to the President and to restore the unity within the party. The President may need to explore a possibility of designating some of these former ministers as his advisors or to head the foreign missions in some of strategic countries as did former Prime Minister of Ethiopia.
Despite the mix reaction to the new cabinet, the President should be congratulated for having at last a new cabinet vetted by the parliament. In particular the acceptance of the President of the final vetting decision of the parliament is to be applauded as the constitutional obligations are being exercised and respected. Indeed the parliament with its vetting process of the new cabinet has provided a glimpse of hope that the new country is on the right direction. However, it seems the SPLM has shifted the centre of its decisions to its caucus in the parliament and away from its relevant structures.
While international community welcomed the new cabinet, the regime in Khartoum was exceptionally and sinisterly jubilant of the new cabinet and described it as a team they can do business. With these signals from Khartoum and besides its increased international isolation, one would expect the smooth flow of oil of the South through Sudan for export. This will certainly provide the new cabinet with a sound financial resource envelope with which it can embark on programmes to meet the aspirations of the people.
The real question is what is expected from this new cabinet? The President is expected to provide more effective and accessible leadership with clear sense of direction and a clear programme with specific deliverables. Despite the unquestioned popularity of the President, the 2012 opinion poll showed that about 52 percent of the people of South Sudan felt that the country is on the wrong direction compared with only 42 percent in 2011. With this pessimistic feeling, the President will have a daunting task of creating optimism in the legitimacy of the state. This can only be achieved with the backing of the SPLM that can provide a clear programme for the new cabinet. Also the President may need to be closer to his people through regular visits to the states and counties and weekly radio programme and to listen to them and to communicate to them the new programme of his new cabinet.
On the top of the priorities of the new cabinet is the security as the core function of any legitimate state. One of the main reasons that made the people of South Sudan to feel that the country is heading to a wrong direction is insecurity. The increased insecurity in the country particularly in Jonglei state and the growing concerns over human rights situation are seriously tarnishing the image of the country and the legitimacy of the government. The letters from the long-time friends of South Sudan and some members of the US Congress are quite telling as the people of the South who were yesterday’s victims of human rights abuses are paradoxically seen today as perpetrators of the very values they fought for.
The various human rights reports painted a bleak picture of South Sudan and it may run the risk of being denied foreign aid or some of its leaders may face sanctions. The new cabinet, particularly the ministers of interior, national security and SPLA, has an uphill task to improving this appalling security and human rights situation. The real test would be whether the new cabinet will improve its current deplorable records and elevate its position in 20114 on the global indices on peace, civil liberties, political rights and freedom of press.
Despite the optimism of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of improving relations with Sudan as his main brief, the new cabinet should not take the risk of putting all its eggs in one basket by relying on untrustworthy regime in Khartoum. The new minister of foreign affairs may need to expand his diplomatic outreach to new countries such as some friendly Arab countries, India, Australia and Brazil. The Ministry of Petroleum is expected to continue with its plans as if the oil of the South would be stopped at any time by Sudan. The new minister of finance is expected to follow the footsteps of the former minister of finance in maintaining austerity measures with more prudent fiscal discipline and focus on agriculture. The real test of the new cabinet is whether it will sustain austerity measures, increase non-oil revenue, reduce food insecurity, have functioning refineries and start the process of building an alternative pipeline.
Also the new cabinet is expected to be seen exerting serious efforts in meeting the aspirations of the people, particularly the provision of basic services. The President has a better chance of winning the trust of his people if he can consolidate his independence legacy by working to put South Sudan on the path of fighting poverty as did the former Prime Minister of Ethiopia. The new cabinet is expected to focus on improving access to clean water, basic health services and primary education within an integrated infrastructure development.
The real test is whether the new cabinet will be able to put South Sudan on the track of progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). One would have wished if the new cabinet would be able to adopt radical decision of exceptionally motivating the frontline workers such as primary school teachers and primary health workers. This will certainly attract the best and qualified people to work in the rural areas. Having highly motivated teachers and community health workers, the new cabinet will be seen working towards realizing the dream of Dr Garang of taking towns to the rural people.
The new cabinet has a golden opportunity to live up to the selfless sacrifices of the martyrs and to strengthen its legitimacy based on justice, equality, respect of human rights and the rule of law and with the aim of building a united, peaceful and prosperous South Sudan. This can only be achieved if SPLM as the ruling party can put its house in order and to be legally registered and to convene its national convention to rejuvenate the sense of comradeship with a unified and confident leadership that is capable of putting the country on the right direction and creating optimism and confidence in a better South Sudan.
The author is a Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School. He can be reached at [email protected]