Africa-Press – South-Sudan. A veteran politician and scholar said South Sudan is still in a stage of national democratic revolution after failing to meet the objectives of the armed liberation struggle.
Professor Peter Adwok Nyaba made the remarks as the country prepares to commemorate the founding of the SPLA, a guerrilla movement that was a key participant of the Second Sudanese Civil War.
Adwok, a freedom fighter who lost his leg during the war for independence, said he regrets that the country has not achieved its promises to the people.
He was among the Daniel Chuogo Taskforce under the command of late Dr. John Garang, who took up arms against the Sudanese government.
His first battle was at Maiwut County in Upper Nile State in 1987, where he lost his leg in the process of fighting against the marginalization of the southern region in 1987.
Professor Adwok argued that the government has failed to provide good education, medical services and utilize natural resource for the good of the people as objectives of the war for independence.
“That was part of it, in order to achieve what we have achieved now. The only regret will come in that, we have missed what we should have done,” he said.
“We didn’t expect South Sudan to be the way it is now, with this economy as it is. South Sudan, like many of our areas in Africa, is still living in what we call the stage of National Democratic Revolution.”
“This is the stage you are in as you move out from colonial rule and to become independent.”
Professor Adwok stated that the country is currently the opposite of the freedom, prosperity and democracy that it once aspired to be in the liberation struggle.
“People are poor not because there is nothing. People are poor because we have not developed our productive forces,” he said.
Adwok said the country is a state of economic decay because its abundant resources including land, livestock, fish and minerals have not been developed.
“The first objective of the revolution was to change this situation by developing it. You have seen it is reflected in the way people are crying about this dollar.”
“Why should we be crying about the dollar, it means that the liberation itself did not achieve its objective. Nobody is happy about what is happening.”
“We are happy that we have a country but what does it mean when your people are hungry, people are dying, starving, no education, no medical services. These are what we promised our people before.”
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