South Sudanese Lives Matter

By Pal Chol Nyan

The world is hit by deadly pandemic, the COVID-19 which is killing people at an alarming rate. Ebola, also a deadly viral haemorrhagic fever, which was said to have been eradicated has cases reported again in Congo, one of neighbouring countries to South Sudan; which poses a risk here.

We have cholera, Malaria and meningitis which are endemic diseases which we deal and live with at all times.

As the States governments are being formed, I thought the Health Ministers would be people in the medical and health discipline. It turned out not to be the case. It is a hope dashed . All or most of those appointed to the states Ministries of Health are lay people with different specializations, newly baptized into the political realm as a result of the R-ARCISS.

Let me not be misunderstood; I am not against the cake of your children.

The R-ARCISS is publicly known to have been tailored with extreme care by the warring Parties towards seeking jobs. This fact is substantiated by the legion of Advisers, Ministers, Commissioners, Chairpersons of Commissions, let alone the State lawmakers and Local councillors to be announced. Anyway, who am I to dispute what the owners have set themselves out to do?

I am not against the officials who won the confidence of the appointing authority but I talk as a person in this field. Assuming that a minister is invited by the International NGOs or UN agencies to discuss a particular case like Malaria, what will they say? Do not tell me the Minister is a political appointee and that the Director-General will handle health issues and the technical part.

It is important that the two must come from same field so that they don't collide over the budget about what to use it for the benefit of the public and what goes to the pocket. Bringing a person from another sphere to the Health docket is inviting problems and conflicts which will hamper the real work of coping with the pandemic. There is a need for the leaders to revisit their decisions in the next political appointments because with this one, the dice has been cast.

The Ministries of Health, Agriculture, Education, Physical Infrastructures and Energy and Dams are supposed to be headed by technocrats. They will be in a position to know what is good for them and the people. They will not be focused on wealth creation and the enhanced dictum of nepotism, favouritism and tribal tendencies of all types. You can continue to politicize the other Ministries. We have no problem but South Sudanese lives matter.