JUBA: With the emergence of South Sudan as the world’s newest democracy and Africa’s 55th state, many have followed unfolding events in the country with a keen eye.
There have been high hopes that the fragile state will pull itself from the turmoil and strife that has characterised its existence for decades now.
Five years ago, when the state was born, the oil-dependent economy was among the most optimistic places on Earth.
Thousands of Southern Sudanese poured out on to the streets of the dusty, dilapidated towns across the nation to celebrate the long-awaited cessation from the north.
Shortly after the dust settled from the victory celebrations, which were shared by all ethnic groups, suspicion and fear set in. Each faction accused the other of failing to adhere to the peace accords.
It wasn’t long before Vice-President Riek Machar was accused of planning to overthrow the government and was sacked by President Salva Kiir.
This was bound to be a catastrophe for the newly established peace pact and the people whom the accord was to serve.
Numerous other politicians from the second-largest ethnic group, the Nuer, followed Machar into exile to protest against his dismissal. The country subsequently descended into violence.
The people butchered each other with a renewed fury, wilder than that which was seen before independence.
Tens of thousands were reportedly killed and over two million others were displaced.
This kick-started a risky cat-and-mouse game between the two warring factions, their supporters and militias.
It took another three years before the elusive peace deal was agreed upon, after the parties came together and agreed on some basic political and institutional reforms that were to be enshrined in the constitution.
The new peace deal was meant to create a more inclusive and balanced power-sharing pact.
The accord expanded to include four parties, with Kiir representing the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement-IF, Machar the SPLM-IO, former detainees led by the new minister for foreign affairs, Deng Alor Kuor, and other political parties.
With so much time wasted, many Southern Sudanese stare at the future with empty optimism as a myriad natural and artificial disasters cripple any meaningful development agenda.
First, the most oil-dependent economy in the world has taken a heavy beating after the price of crude oil nosedived.
Southern Sudanese crude, which had been selling at US$29.75 in December last year, has been selling more recently at $18 a barrel.
This has seen production also go down in this period, and the cost of living has continuously gone up, with the prices of basic commodities hitting the roof.
Some of the products previously available before the hike in inflation have gone off the shelves.
Sudan is a peculiar economy where 85% of the population is engaged in non-wage, labour-like peasant farming, beekeeping and pastoralism.
While the leaders of the impoverished nation have been busy sharing the political spoils, a precious opportunity to address the socio-economic ills bedevilling this vibrant society has been lost.
The lack of basic education and literacy among the population is a clear indicator of the dire situation in most major institutions in the country. Southern Sudan has the lowest literacy levels in the world, worse than Mali and Niger. With the recent shift from Arabic as the language of instruction to English, most teachers have been forced to retrain or quit teaching altogether. A number of primary schoolteachers in the country are only primary school graduates themselves. Communities are being forced to spearhead the infrastructural development of educational institutions with the meagre resources available. Most structures are semi-permanent thatched constructs, heavily lacking in terms of books, power, boards, chalk and other basic equipment. With a bloated cabinet and a plethora of senior state officials, one can predict a challenging future ahead for the young democracy. Radical steps need to be taken to transform the basic running of the government.
There appears to be no end in sight to the consistent bickering and warring in pursuit of ethnic and personal interests.
Meanwhile, time is of the essence, and the political goodwill of supportive nations and global partners may evaporate if the leaders do not start to focus their attention on people-centred development.
● Achol Deng is a freelance writer and political analyst in South Sudan