By: Cde. Sirir Gabriel Yiei Rut
March 30, 2015 (SSNA) — My President must appreciate the fact that South Sudanese will never live up to their full potential until we heal the deep wounds of the past.
It is such a humongous and prodigious responsibility and honor to be called President of the Republic of South Sudan. Unfortunately, this title has been earned to date by a man who outfoxed and outplayed everyone, a man who ensured that none could compete with him for the position; a man who surrounded himself with yes men and insulated himself from the people; a man who sacrificed his life to be there and then sacrificed our well-being in order for him to stay there. That is not leadership.
My President will be of Godly fearing kind, humble, ambitious, flexible and generous to the minorities /small tribes in the young country. That will reflect Equality and togetherness for all in our young nation.
South Sudan needs a president who serves only the Constitution and puts the people first. A president who does not owe any favors to anyone, and has a high self-esteem not from what he has done or his material wealth, but from who he is and what he stands for.
Our president in the future must appreciate the fact that South Sudan will never live up to its full potential until we heal the wounds of the past.
Too many of us have been emotionally, psychologically, physically and financially harmed by this regime. Only recompense and healing will create a new door to a better a future. The past is gone and we cannot continue to blame our history, but we have to acknowledge those things that have gone wrong and correct them. We must look to the future, but only learn from our past. It will take courage and humanness to cross that bridge, but the ultimate benefits to our society are much higher than the costs.
The rot in our society, in general, must be arrested; our values as a society are repugnant. We shall need a man or woman at the Parliament [State house] who ensures that we change direction as a nation in what we value most. This I think will be the hardest thing to do. We shall need someone to begin to reengineer our society in all spheres so that we can start a new chapter centered on the respect and dignity of our people.
Our churches have deteriorated somewhat in giving spiritual and moral guidance to our citizens and this trend must be arrested. My president must play a significant role on this through leading by example, it is important.
The president I want must clean up the police from the top and also ensure that those in the army that are no longer of service to the future objectives of the country are retired. The struggle is over and inculcating this in the brains of the top echelons of our army will take some doing, but is important. A new ethos of service, honor and the respect of our Constitution must arise. God help us.
We need an open-minded individual in in the Bush or in the State house who does not fear change and recognizes that open societies develop better and faster. This will demand a new paradigm and leadership style based on persuasion and vision, not on threats or violence.
I want a president who recognizes that as more citizens participate in creating the future, the more exciting and sustainable it will be. We can only create better solutions through an inclusive agenda that acknowledges that all of us in our diversity have something to contribute.
An open media, universal access to new information, freedom of association and speech all create empowered societies and everyone wins. My president must promote this.
I want a president who is not a Nepotistic or tribalist; a president who understands that all South Sudanese, regardless of their backgrounds have certain inalienable rights that he or she must protect at all costs. He or she must not blame others for our problems, but take full responsibility for them.
My president must truly believe that we indeed have the capabilities and resources to come up with solutions to whatever challenges we may face in our country. That is the patriotism I expect.
South Sudan has fallen behind so much in the last 10 years in all spheres. As a result, our quality of life has suffered despite us having the resources. As long as we have someone in State House who does not understand future trends, we will continue to regress. We, therefore, must expedite the use of new technologies, IT to accelerate development. We need a grand vision and strategy on how we can catch up. The future is no longer what it used to be.
I want a president who embraces South Sudanese in the diaspora who offer our country impressive talents and have a critical role to play in creating a developed state.
So, whoever is there in the Bush, Diaspora or at State House, must not only be technologically literate, but must acknowledge that our country will remain underdeveloped as long as we remain internally focused and ignore the reality that the world out there is moving on, faster than we can imagine.
I want a president who is not arrogant or self-important. My President must know that he or she will not have all the solutions.
My president must put South Sudan first!
I have spoken my words and may gods of the land hear my voice……………….
Cde. Sirir Gabriel Yiei Rut is a writer and He is the Chairman of SPLM Youth League Chapter in Egypt he can be simply reach through [email protected].