South Sudan president equates leadership flop to soccer game failure

July 6, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudanese President, Salva Kiir, has equated his country’s leadership botch to a failure in soccer game, saying it should not be given to another person for free.

The president made the remarks in an attempt to justify the manner in which he has led the country since assuming the central role of the affairs of the people of the young nation before and after its secession from neighbouring Sudan in 2011.

President Kiir, according to a close aide who accompanied him on a trip to neighbouring Uganda on Tuesday, described his leadership as not an easy endeavour to be given to anybody who aspires for it.

“Sometimes there are people who complain because they have seen others complaining. They do not know the circumstances. You see even spectators of a football match become more agitated and begin to blame and call for the change of a player who missed a goal for whatever reasons. Sometimes the objective of the player is not to score. May be the objective of the player is to defend from losing. But when this happens, the spectators become more agitated,” explained President Kiir, according to one of his aides who spoke to Sudan Tribune on Wednesday.

Like leadership, he related, people would oppose even good things and if a leader is not careful, he would follow and when he follows and the decision made is not right, “the same people would come back and complain, sometimes they even deny.”

The head of state was responding to a query on 28 states and the cantonment sites put to him by a senior aide preparing a script to present at a security conference he was to address in Entebbe, Uganda.

“So leadership cannot be given to anybody. It must be decided by the people so that whatever the consequences of their decision, they should take complete responsibility,” he added.

Critics however say the comments are indications of his ambition to remain in power at any cost.

Kiir was in Kampala to meet Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who was on one day visit to Uganda.

President Kiir also held a bilateral meeting with President Yoweri Museveni, but no statement was released about what the two leaders discussed and its outcome.

He was accompanied to Kampala by the defence minister, Kuol Manyang Juuk, among other officials.

(ST)