Right from the time of his appointment as the head of National Civil Service Commission (NCSC), eyes of Southerners have been set on Prof. Moses Machar. Southerners are happy for his appointment to that important commission. He had done a great service to university students from Southern Sudan (particularly the less privileged ones) when he held the sovereign office of the President Al-Bashir Assistant. He paid their fees, and as a result, a big number of southern young intellectuals and cadres managed to attain university degrees with ease. This is a historical record and a big credit on Prof. Machar to whom many young southerners are grateful. Good enough and with further optimism, Prof. Machar is now given another opportunity to employ 20% - 30% Southerners in GoNU civil service institutions. Now the test sheet is put on his desk with a hope that he is going to answer it well with distinction. People are eagerly waiting to see him granting competitive job opportunities to qualified Southerners and other Sudanese from marginalized areas. It is now the ripen time for him to prove that his vision was to graduate many southerners with degrees for jobs and not for joblessness.
When Prof. Machar used to settle the fees of Southern Students, he did not use the criteria of "the Southerners who I know directly or indirectly" but rather "the southerners who are admitted in universities irrespective of their tribes or affiliations." Therefore, in the NCSC we expect dear Professor to use the criteria of "who is qualified and credible for the job" and not "who is brought by who or associated to who." He should stick to what the CPA and the constitution stipulate: "In order to create a sense of national belonging and address imbalance in the National Civil Service, a National Civil Service Commission shall be established with the task for":- 1) Formulating policies for training and recruitment into the civil service, targeting between Twenty-Thirty Percent (20% - 30%) of the positions, confirmed upon the outcome of the census for people of South Sudan who qualify; 2) Ensuring that not less than Twenty Percent (20%) of the middle and upper level positions in the National Civil Service (including the position of Under Secretaries) are filled with qualified persons from the South within the first three years and achieving Twenty-Five Percent (25%) in five (5) years and the final target of 30% within six years; and 3) Reviewing, after the first three (3) years of the beginning of the Interim Period the progress made as a result of the policies and setting new goals and targets as necessary, taking into account the census results.
The first of the above-mentioned three tasks is a big work because it will be the one which shall determines the success or the failure of the NCSC. That is, formulating policies for training and recruitment. Time is running very fast and Southerners want to have those policies put in place as soon as possible so that they get their share before it is too late. Prof. Machar should not compromise or sympathize with those who are not Southerners to get into those positions (20% - 30%), even if they have been struggling with SPLM/A - I mean the people of Southern Kordofan State (Nuba), people of Abyei Area, and people of Southern Blue Nile State (Fung). But for the sake of affirmative action which was mentioned in the CPA, he should find positions for them outside the southerners' percentages which are mentioned above. Since those areas belong to the North (except Abyei which is still a bridge whose fate is to be determine in 2011), they should get their share from 70% and not from the 30% of the North so that they are also fairly represented in GoNU civil service institutions.
It is good that Prof. Machar understand very well his duty as that of GoNU and not as that of SPLM. He should not get shaken if he gets attacked by some of SPLM members who do not understand but only assume the CPA. They will work very hard to send him lists for those who they think should be trained and recruited by the NCSC. He should reject such kinds of lists and tell those people plainly that his office is for all the Sudanese and not for a single party. He should tell them to apply directly to his office for jobs, not as SPLM or any party loyalists but as qualified citizens of Sudan who are either from South or from less represented states in the North. So let Prof. Machar do his best and we shall support his affirmative action in the NCSC.
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James Okuk is a PhD student in the University of Nairobi. He can be reached at
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