Tereza Jeremiah
Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The Vice President for Road and Infrastructure, Taban Deng Gai defended the unanimous decision by the SPLM to endorse President Salva Kiir as the party flag bearer in the 2024 presidential election.
Speaking during an event organized by the Upper Nile Region Youth Union in Juba on Sunday, the VP said the party did not find anybody fit in that position to unite the country better than President Salva Kiir. He added that the head of state is best-placed to fulfill the dreams by the country’s founding father, Dr. John Garang.
“The party believes he has not completed the late Dr. John Garang’s vision of building South Sudan, making Kiir the right person to hold on to the weight,” he said.
“He is the right person to carry on with the weight and to implement the late John Garang’s vision,” he added.
Kiir who has led South Sudan since independence in 2011, accepted the endorsement as the party flag bearer last year in Juba and laid the masterstroke at last month’s SPLM rally in Western Bahr el Ghazal State.
“I am deeply touched by your endorsement and your continued support of our historic party,” Kiir told tens of thousands of supporters at Wau Stadium.
“As party members, let us work on the basis that there will be no extension of the transitional period, and we have to go for the elections,” he said.
He added that his government was doing everything possible to ensure that the pre-election tasks were accomplished.
Scorecard
Throughout his tenure, President Kiir’s administration has been able to launch road construction projects, among them the Juba-Bor highway, which is now complete, and the Juba-Terekeka road, which is expected to extend to Bahr el Ghazal. Earlier this year, he announced the free education program with a special focus on improving girl child education.
However, many critics believe that the SPLM has done very little since the CPA was signed in 2005.
Jacob Chol, a professor of political science at the University of Juba, said after the independence, the SPLM party’s role was to bring services closer to the people, according to The Insider South Sudan.
He said the SPLM party should reflect on its original vision and start planning for a better South Sudan.
“South Sudan is a vast land, and the leading party, the SPLM, is all over the 10 states, so they should have plans for the country, the states, bomas and payams and that plan should be handed over to the subnational leadership of the party,” he stated.
“These visions are realized and seen by everybody as this is what we are going to do, but without information and domestication of these policies, they will end up here in Juba in the SPLM house.” Prof. Chol added.
Another economic analyst, Augustino Ting Mayai, argues that SPLM’s vision of taking towns to villages has never in practical. He says all the states across the country still depend on oil for their revenue.
“The SPLM first needs to take control of the government, particularly the policy of the government by developing a strategy on how the government delivers services to the people, this means the SPLM needs to have a plan and an institution that deals with development agenda.”
Garang’s dream
In 1986 during his address at one of the SPLM/A controlled areas in the current Lakes State, the late Dr Garang assured the fighters of development once peace returned in the country.
“We will buy the road construction machine to be used for road construction and construct the road ourselves, that is what the government will use the money for: will construct hospitals, schools; this will not be said by mouth, it will be seen,” he said.
Source: The City Review South Sudan
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