Who’s cleaner in govt. of South Sudan to be the first to throw the stone at Gen. Thomas Cirillo?
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Elisabeth Janaina
Feb 22, 2017, 11:39:42 AM2/22/17
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Who’s cleaner in govt. of South Sudan to be the first to throw the
stone at Gen. Thomas Cirillo?
Feb. 21 National, Uncategorized no comments
By: Daniel Juol Nhomngek, Kampala, Uganda, FEB/21/2017, SSN;
Sometimes when I see injustice being done against any South Sudanese,
I forget my life because injustice is not a friend to anyone. This is
because injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere (Martin
Luther King, Jr).
Justice done selectively is injustice done selectively. This is
because when the law is applied equally and equitably then there is no
injustice no matter how harsh the law may be.
Law is the content of justice, while the facts of the case provide the
context for justice. When justice is being done, it is critical that
the law is applied generally in accordance with the facts of the case.
It therefore implies that those who enforce the law must respect the
law and work according to its spirit. The law must take its course but
should not take the course to cause injustice to the innocent or to
cause more pain to one group of criminals than others who have
committed the same offence.
Thus, it is our common duty to detect injustice in our communities and
to fight it wherever and whenever it raises its head. Though there may
be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must
never be a time when we fail to protest (Elie Wiesel) against
injustice.
In the society where injustice is the law, those who are fighting for
justice must be guided by the words of Mahatma Gandhi who observes
that let the first act of every morning be to make the following
resolve for the day that, “I shall not fear anyone on Earth; I shall
fear only God; I shall not bear ill will toward anyone; I shall not
submit to injustice from anyone; I shall conquer untruth by truth; and
in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering.”
What happens to Lt.General Thomas Cirillo is bad and unjust. This is
because two wrongs never make one right. We cannot apply injustice to
solve injustice hoping that we shall get justice because in such a
case there is no justice.
This is why the law prevents revenge or taking the law into one’s own
hands except where the law allows the taking of the law into one own
hands as in the case of self-defense or in defense of the property.
In this case, the government of South Sudan should not discriminate
against Thomas Cirillo in fighting against corruption. If the law of
freezing accounts is to be applied then it must apply from the top to
bottom not somewhere in the middle.
As referred in the above paragraph, a South Sudanese army General
stated that Thomas Cirillo resigned from the army some days back. The
news of his resignation dominated the media, both national and
international. After that it appears to have been a forgotten issue
like any other issues of defections and resignations in South Sudan.
However, today (on 21/02/2017) I got the report (see; National, News »
February 21, 2017 » By Talk of Juba – See more at:
http://talkofjuba.com/news/kenyan-government-freezes-general-thomas-cirillo-sister-bank-accounts-10m/#sthash.KaChEWiE.dpuf)
which states that the South Sudanese government has traced its missing
$10 million (Kenyan Sh1.03 billion) to accounts at Ecobank, Kenya
Commercial Bank and Cooperative Bank of Kenya.
That these accounts are linked to Lt Gen Thomas Cirillo Swaka – former
SPLA Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of logistics, and his kin Fueni
Cirillo.
In part, the letter issued to the above banks to freeze the above
accounts referred to above states that — “This office is under
instructions from the Office of the President, Government of South
Sudan to kindly request you to facilitate a freeze of these accounts
and recover the money back to Bank of South Sudan A/C name – Military
Strategic Division; A/C no – (USD) 0026921002607.”
Whereas I support such a move to freeze the accounts of those who have
taken money of South Sudan and deposited it on foreign bank accounts,
which has left the nation bankrupt, I don’t however support the way
the freezing order is being applied in the present case. It is applied
selectively, which is injustice. The rule is that if the order or law
is to be applied then it must be applied equally.
Selective application of an order, or law like the way it is done in
the present case amounts to injustice because it is discriminative.
Hence, if the Office of the President was the one which issued the
freezing order then, the President has caused injustice and forgot one
essential element of justice.
Marcus Tullius Cicero, On the laws observes that “for there is but one
essential justice which cements society, and one law which establishes
this justice. This law is right reason, which is the true rule of all
commandments and prohibitions. Whoever neglects this law, whether
written or unwritten, is necessarily unjust and wicked.”
Though I cannot use the term wicked against the President of South
Sudan or his Office due to the respect I have for him, his order is
unjust as it is used for political convenience but not the true tool
of fighting corruption in the Government of South Sudan.
Freedom and justice should not be used selectively for the sole
purpose to achieve political interest. On this point, Coretta Scott
King observes, “freedom and justice cannot be parceled out in pieces
to suit political convenience. I don’t believe you can stand for
freedom for one group of people and deny it to others.”
As observed by Coretta in the above paragraph, in relation to our
case, the way the order has been applied is completely wrong as it is
applied selectively and because of that it is unjust. It is unjust
because the law should not be used as political tool to destroy the
enemies but it should be used against everybody equally.
Thus, the question that comes to mind when looking at the case of
Thomas Cirillo is: why Thomas Cirillo alone yet, there are some former
and current generals in the army of South Sudan who have accounts with
much more money than ten million dollars of which Thomas is being
accused of.
Does it mean that the Office of the President has eyes for the
accounts of Thomas Cirillo but doesn’t have for other generals’
accounts? Or what does it mean? But who is clean in the government of
South Sudan to be the first to select Thomas Cirillo and cast the
stone on him? (see; John 8: 7 New Testament in the Holy Bible).
The conclusion is that the whole project is intended to make Thomas
Cirillo a scapegoat of the corrupt individuals in the government and
the army.
The whole thing is done in bad faith and it is discriminative.
Discrimination and marginalization are both of the same species. They
are equal and interrelated. Marginalization is the long term product
of discrimination as it in case of South Sudan is one of the major
problems which was also identified by the SPLM during the liberation
struggling against the successive Khartoum Regimes.
Marginalization in other words means exclusion from the resources.
Hence, any nation without justice and full accessibility to resources
will achieve peace as excluded will not accept subjugation by the
majority. Therefore, the prerequisite for achieving lasting peace in
South Sudan is to do justice.
Peace and justice go hand in hand as it was observed by Louis
Farrakhan that, “there really can be no peace without justice. There
can be no justice without truth. And there can be no truth, unless
someone rises up to tell you the truth.”
The quotation above about the importance of justice in peace process
by Louis Farrakhan is applicable to South Sudan. In South Sudan, peace
will never be achieved unless we do justice to those who are wronged
by punishing those who wronged them.
The above is the fact and it is the only way we can achieve lasting
peace in South Sudan, if we are guided by principles of justice and
fairness as provided for in our national anthem. No matter how much we
move cross the world while holding conferences, consulting other
nations in the search of peace but without justice peace will never be
achieved.
It is even worse in South Sudan where justice is needed badly to see
at the same time the seeds of injustice being planted as seen in the
case of Thomas Cirillo. South Sudanese leaders should be reminded that
the secret for peace is justice.
In summary, though stealing the money is bad but returning the money
in unjust way is even worse. The law is not respected because of
revenge but it is respected because it is just and justly addresses
the needs for justice objectively to those who need justice.
The author is the South Sudanese Lawyer and can be reached through:
juold...@yahoo.com or +2567839256
stone at Gen. Thomas Cirillo?
Feb. 21 National, Uncategorized no comments
By: Daniel Juol Nhomngek, Kampala, Uganda, FEB/21/2017, SSN;
Sometimes when I see injustice being done against any South Sudanese,
I forget my life because injustice is not a friend to anyone. This is
because injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere (Martin
Luther King, Jr).
Justice done selectively is injustice done selectively. This is
because when the law is applied equally and equitably then there is no
injustice no matter how harsh the law may be.
Law is the content of justice, while the facts of the case provide the
context for justice. When justice is being done, it is critical that
the law is applied generally in accordance with the facts of the case.
It therefore implies that those who enforce the law must respect the
law and work according to its spirit. The law must take its course but
should not take the course to cause injustice to the innocent or to
cause more pain to one group of criminals than others who have
committed the same offence.
Thus, it is our common duty to detect injustice in our communities and
to fight it wherever and whenever it raises its head. Though there may
be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must
never be a time when we fail to protest (Elie Wiesel) against
injustice.
In the society where injustice is the law, those who are fighting for
justice must be guided by the words of Mahatma Gandhi who observes
that let the first act of every morning be to make the following
resolve for the day that, “I shall not fear anyone on Earth; I shall
fear only God; I shall not bear ill will toward anyone; I shall not
submit to injustice from anyone; I shall conquer untruth by truth; and
in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering.”
What happens to Lt.General Thomas Cirillo is bad and unjust. This is
because two wrongs never make one right. We cannot apply injustice to
solve injustice hoping that we shall get justice because in such a
case there is no justice.
This is why the law prevents revenge or taking the law into one’s own
hands except where the law allows the taking of the law into one own
hands as in the case of self-defense or in defense of the property.
In this case, the government of South Sudan should not discriminate
against Thomas Cirillo in fighting against corruption. If the law of
freezing accounts is to be applied then it must apply from the top to
bottom not somewhere in the middle.
As referred in the above paragraph, a South Sudanese army General
stated that Thomas Cirillo resigned from the army some days back. The
news of his resignation dominated the media, both national and
international. After that it appears to have been a forgotten issue
like any other issues of defections and resignations in South Sudan.
However, today (on 21/02/2017) I got the report (see; National, News »
February 21, 2017 » By Talk of Juba – See more at:
http://talkofjuba.com/news/kenyan-government-freezes-general-thomas-cirillo-sister-bank-accounts-10m/#sthash.KaChEWiE.dpuf)
which states that the South Sudanese government has traced its missing
$10 million (Kenyan Sh1.03 billion) to accounts at Ecobank, Kenya
Commercial Bank and Cooperative Bank of Kenya.
That these accounts are linked to Lt Gen Thomas Cirillo Swaka – former
SPLA Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of logistics, and his kin Fueni
Cirillo.
In part, the letter issued to the above banks to freeze the above
accounts referred to above states that — “This office is under
instructions from the Office of the President, Government of South
Sudan to kindly request you to facilitate a freeze of these accounts
and recover the money back to Bank of South Sudan A/C name – Military
Strategic Division; A/C no – (USD) 0026921002607.”
Whereas I support such a move to freeze the accounts of those who have
taken money of South Sudan and deposited it on foreign bank accounts,
which has left the nation bankrupt, I don’t however support the way
the freezing order is being applied in the present case. It is applied
selectively, which is injustice. The rule is that if the order or law
is to be applied then it must be applied equally.
Selective application of an order, or law like the way it is done in
the present case amounts to injustice because it is discriminative.
Hence, if the Office of the President was the one which issued the
freezing order then, the President has caused injustice and forgot one
essential element of justice.
Marcus Tullius Cicero, On the laws observes that “for there is but one
essential justice which cements society, and one law which establishes
this justice. This law is right reason, which is the true rule of all
commandments and prohibitions. Whoever neglects this law, whether
written or unwritten, is necessarily unjust and wicked.”
Though I cannot use the term wicked against the President of South
Sudan or his Office due to the respect I have for him, his order is
unjust as it is used for political convenience but not the true tool
of fighting corruption in the Government of South Sudan.
Freedom and justice should not be used selectively for the sole
purpose to achieve political interest. On this point, Coretta Scott
King observes, “freedom and justice cannot be parceled out in pieces
to suit political convenience. I don’t believe you can stand for
freedom for one group of people and deny it to others.”
As observed by Coretta in the above paragraph, in relation to our
case, the way the order has been applied is completely wrong as it is
applied selectively and because of that it is unjust. It is unjust
because the law should not be used as political tool to destroy the
enemies but it should be used against everybody equally.
Thus, the question that comes to mind when looking at the case of
Thomas Cirillo is: why Thomas Cirillo alone yet, there are some former
and current generals in the army of South Sudan who have accounts with
much more money than ten million dollars of which Thomas is being
accused of.
Does it mean that the Office of the President has eyes for the
accounts of Thomas Cirillo but doesn’t have for other generals’
accounts? Or what does it mean? But who is clean in the government of
South Sudan to be the first to select Thomas Cirillo and cast the
stone on him? (see; John 8: 7 New Testament in the Holy Bible).
The conclusion is that the whole project is intended to make Thomas
Cirillo a scapegoat of the corrupt individuals in the government and
the army.
The whole thing is done in bad faith and it is discriminative.
Discrimination and marginalization are both of the same species. They
are equal and interrelated. Marginalization is the long term product
of discrimination as it in case of South Sudan is one of the major
problems which was also identified by the SPLM during the liberation
struggling against the successive Khartoum Regimes.
Marginalization in other words means exclusion from the resources.
Hence, any nation without justice and full accessibility to resources
will achieve peace as excluded will not accept subjugation by the
majority. Therefore, the prerequisite for achieving lasting peace in
South Sudan is to do justice.
Peace and justice go hand in hand as it was observed by Louis
Farrakhan that, “there really can be no peace without justice. There
can be no justice without truth. And there can be no truth, unless
someone rises up to tell you the truth.”
The quotation above about the importance of justice in peace process
by Louis Farrakhan is applicable to South Sudan. In South Sudan, peace
will never be achieved unless we do justice to those who are wronged
by punishing those who wronged them.
The above is the fact and it is the only way we can achieve lasting
peace in South Sudan, if we are guided by principles of justice and
fairness as provided for in our national anthem. No matter how much we
move cross the world while holding conferences, consulting other
nations in the search of peace but without justice peace will never be
achieved.
It is even worse in South Sudan where justice is needed badly to see
at the same time the seeds of injustice being planted as seen in the
case of Thomas Cirillo. South Sudanese leaders should be reminded that
the secret for peace is justice.
In summary, though stealing the money is bad but returning the money
in unjust way is even worse. The law is not respected because of
revenge but it is respected because it is just and justly addresses
the needs for justice objectively to those who need justice.
The author is the South Sudanese Lawyer and can be reached through:
juold...@yahoo.com or +2567839256
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