South Sudan minister refutes SPLM failure in managing national affairs

[Elisabeth Janaina]

South Sudan minister refutes SPLM failure in managing national affairs



May 30, 2013 (JUBA) - A South Sudanese minister has dismissed claims
that the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) has failed,
since its independence, to manage the country’s affairs.

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Housing and infrastructure minister Jemma Nunu Kumba during the
interview in her office on July 8, 2011 (Photo/PHOEBE OKALL/NATION)

Former rebels - the SPLM - governed South Sudan as an autonomous
region from 2005 until 2011, when South Sudanese overwhelmingly voted
for separation from the rest of Sudan.

However, the SPLM has been accused of failing to live up to the values
it claims to have fought for during the decades of conflict.
Corruption and nepotism are rife in the young nation and human rights
and press freedom groups have been highly critical of the elements of
the government, police, army and security forces.

But the country’s minister of housing and physical planning, Jemma
Nunu Kumba has advised South Sudanese citizens not to listen to voices
critical of the SPLM dominated government.

“There are people who claim the SPLM has not done anything. This is
not true. SPLM has done a lot which you are all aware of. You know
that the CPA [Comprehensive Peace Agreement], which eventually brought
the independence was brought by the SPLM," Kumba said while speaking
on the state-owned SSTV on Wednesday.

It was the SPLM/A which fought the war that put pressure on Khartoum
to accept signing the peace and it was the SPLM which insisted for the
conduct of the referendum. Now there is peace and we are living in an
independent state, she stressed.

The minister was speaking at a public rally in Turalei, the
headquarters of Warrap state’s Twic county. The event was organised in
appreciation for the support citizens gave the SPLM in the 2010
elections.

Criticism of the south-ruling appears to be growing among some members
of the public since independence, with many people yet to see a
dividend from separation and the 2005 peace deal with Khartoum.

Mayom Alier, a native of Jonglei State in Juba said it was time senior
government officials learned to accept the challenges facing the
country and work on how to implement plans to address them, instead of
turning a blind eye.

“It is nearly two years since freedom was gained and our people have
been expressing views that they have waited too long for decent jobs,
education, safe and secure places to live and an economy that creates
opportunities for all", he said.

We didn’t fight and die in the struggle against successive Khartoum
based regimes so that millions of South Sudan could still be living
like forgotten people”, Alier added.

He urged government to focus on accountability and good governance,
which he said was the only way to tackle corruption in the new nation.

"We must begin by restoring integrity at the heart of public and
private life. We must protect our constitutional democracy and respect
the rule of law," he stressed.

(ST)