Reply of the Leader of Minority to the speech of H. E. the President of the Republic of South Sudan to the National Legislature 23rd April - 2013.

29th April 2013
Reply of the Leader of Minority to the speech of H. E. the President of the Republic of South Sudan to the National Legislature 23rd April, 2013.

Rt. Hon. Speaker Sir,
In accordance to article 71 (2) (b) of the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan , 2011 read together with section 9 (3) of the Conduct of Business Regulations, of South Sudan National Legislative Assembly, 2011, allow me to salute you and Hon. Members after coming back from the recess. Also I would like to seize this opportunity to thank H. E. the President of the Republic of South Sudan for his Address to this August House on matters pertaining the building of our young Nation.

Rt. Hon. Speaker,
Hon. Members,

H. E. the President of the Republic of South Sudan urged this House to reflect on this proverb as we begin our session and I quote "Now, more than ever, it is critical that we move forward together with one vision for South Sudan. "End the quote. I think the President is right; we should have one vision for South Sudan not to have vision for ourselves, or for our tribes, or for our regions nor our counties. Our behavior and attitudes should not be guided by strong loyalty to our own tribes and social groups. We should have one vision in order to build our new nation together so that we come out as a strong nation in the region and in Africa. This will not happen if we do not unite our ranks to move and work together for the common good of our people.

As stated by H. E. the president, really our people depend on us and with great expectation for services delivery and development. Unfortunately, with the austerity measures nothing could be achieved because even our constituency development funds could not be provided. This was caused by unplanned close down of the oil production without considering alternative sources of finances to ensure the continued operations and provision of services delivery to our people.

Rt. Hon. Speaker,
Hon. Members,

The problem of insecurity in Jonglei State is of concern to all of us. There will be no development if there is insecurity. We condemn the unjustified attack and killing of the UNMISS peacekeepers and civilian personnel in the strongest term possible in that area and we call upon the UN and government to investigate into this killing. We pass our condolence to the families which lost their dear ones.
On the rebellions in Junglei and other areas in the country, we are very grateful for the decision taken by H. E. the President to renew the amnesty and pardoning all the arms groups fighting the government, We urge the president to go further to pardon and release all the political detainees in the country, declare a cease fire with the rebels and initiate dialogue for the sake of peace and reconciliation. We strongly call upon the international community to pressurize the government and the rebels to come to dialogue for the sake of peace and stability in the country.
We should accept and forgive one another for peace because those who are dying are all South Sudanese people. Money must go to services and development instead of war. We need to denounce violence, adapt dialogue as the only means for addressing all our national problems and issues.

We appreciate the political will taken by both governments for the full implementation of cooperation agreement matrix. The first visit of H. E. president Bashir of the Republic of Sudan to Juba was a way forward for normalization of the relationship of the two countries. It is a way of building trust and confidence between us and the Republic of Sudan. This will easy the negotiations of the remaining disputed and claimed borders areas and the problem of Abyei. We expect our president to visit Khartoum as soon as possible.
On the resumption of the oil production, we call upon the government to be transparent this time on the oil management and accountability. This August House must take the lead to oversee the work in oil production and to ask the government to present to this August House the incurred debts and loans of the government which was created by the austerity measures and was not presented to this house for approval. It is common practice that the executive wing of the government has not been presenting the agreed loans to this house.
It is our hope that the president's priorities of the coming budget will be fully implemented to reflect an increase in the infrastructure development, agriculture, livestock and fisheries as well as education and health. These are the fundamental needs of our people. This will improve their livelihood.

We need to increase production and productivity in the agricultural sector to strengthen and promote the competitiveness of the manufacturing and other sectors of the economy to avoid heavy reliance on oil production. Among others which the president did not talk about is Tourism that can provide unlimited revenue to the country. We are gifted with different cultural diversities and natural resources that can attract tourists in this country if there is peace and security in addition to good roads and transport.
The ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of South Sudan need to set up in place stringent fiscal and monetary policies and measures to control inflation and induce the revival and expansion of the economy. There is a need to control foreign Banks that are taking our money outside the country which are also encouraging black marketeering in hard currency in the country.

Rt. Hon. Speaker,
Hon. Members,

Peace and reconciliation is paramount as stated by the president if we really want to build our new nation together. We must heal the wounds created during the war and elections period. We must forgive one another and do justice to ourselves. Forgiveness breaks cycle that can bring more violence. Peace building is social, economic and political development as well as cultural development too. If we need true peace and reconciliation, we need national dialogue to develop a consensus on matters of national concern to us all. The political parties, civil societies, religious leaders and traditional leaders as well as minority groups should come together to agree and commit themselves on certain principles and policies on; national unity, provision of security, supremacy of the rule of law, multi – party democracy and creation of good environment for economic growth and prosperity. We need to agree on the road map and nature of the committee to spear head peace and reconciliation.
National unity must embrace all, minority and majority to bring to an end the insecurity cause by inter and intra communal violence and the rebels fighting the government.

Rt. Hon. Speaker,
Hon. Members,

The improvement and building our bilateral and multilateral relations within the international community is of importance because we are promoting our interest. But any loan scheme with these international communities must be brought to this August House to know the time frame for payment and the profits incurred and to ratify the agreed upon loans.
It is good that the president is concerned about roads to connect us with neighboring countries and improvement of interstate connectivity but we think river transport and railways are important and essential for our country. We urge the executive to speed up with plans for river transport and railways.
The government attention to construction of hydroelectric power will promote the empowerment of our rural communities economically and will be the most effective way of taking services to the people by developing rural agro-industry. This will encourage international private sector to come and promote investment in the country opening chances for employment of our youth. The country cannot embark on industrialization without power. No electricity no development.

The problem of immigration is an issue which the government must take very seriously. Most of the crimes committed here in Juba and in other States are by foreigners. The government should come out with clear policies and laws to regulate the coming in and the movement of foreigners inside the country.

Rt. Hon. Speaker,
Hon. Members,

It is very unfortunate that the president did not address the acute food shortages in the country especially Eastern Equatoria State, Parts of Jonglei, Unity state, Lakes, Warrup States and Northern Bhar El Ghazal. We are calling upon the government and the international NGOs to immediately find ways of helping the situation. Some people lost their dear lives because of hunger. The government should mobilize all the resources in the country for the sake of those poor citizens.
The government is not doing enough to address the major problem of the returnees who are still living in deplorable conditions in Renk and are not able to get food, medical care and education for their children. Most of them have sold out their belongings to get something to eat. Some children have died of malnutrition and lack of medication. What are the plans of the government to address the problems of those people and the refugees who are interested to come home especially those in Egypt. We expected the president to give us some light on this matter and plans for future repatriation of those still in the Sudan

We expected the president to give some concern about the future development on youth and sports. As a new nation, we should come up with plans that can encourage our youth to develop competitive sports regionally and internationally. We ought to take sports as one of our priorities and to encourage the youth voluntary camping during the dry season. We encourage them also to have role to play to be creative in other fields like farming, small scale entrepreneur and leadership training. The Government should open libraries and recreational centers for youth in the towns.

Rt. Hon. Speaker,
Hon. Members,

It is very unfortunate that our president did not talk on corruption this time. Is he defeated by corrupted elements whom he accused last time? Or the zero tolerance he declared as come to an end? As the oil now started to flow, there is a need for transparency and accountability in oil and financial management sectors. There is need to protect and control our resources including the non-oil revenue not to fall into the big mouths of the crocodiles. There are areas in some states where the taxation is not being control but going to the pockets of individuals. That is why this August House recommended formation of a Unified National Revenue Authority. We need to give Anti-corruption full powers to establish its own courts for the prosecutions of the corrupted elements in the country.
On Education, encouragement of opening vocational education is very important as stated by H. E. the President , but also we should plan together with world Bank for the establishment of integrated rural education to benefit our rural people.

Although the President did not talk about Higher Education, it is very crucial for the government to give more attention to the present functioning universities. At present, all these universities are not opened. No intake to these universities for the last two or three years. Students who set for secondary examination from 2010 up to now are not yet enrolled. These are the future youth who will build this nation. If the ministry of Higher Education is not considered, let be dissolve and go for the Council of Higher Education under the presidency.

Thank You for listening and God Bless You.

Hon Onyoti Adigo Nyikwec
The Leader of Minority
National Legislative Assembly.