South Sudan president: protect our leaders
May 4, 2008 (The New Sudan Vision Editorial) - As we mourn the tragic death of two of our prominent figures and veterans, it’s also important to reflect on the aftermath of their unfortunate demise.
It may be that the crash that killed South Sudan presidential advisor Justin Yaac Arop and minister for SPLA affairs, Dominic Dim Deng was an accident. What killed Garang in 2005 too, may have been an accident. No question. But is that going to be our leaders’ fate from now on?
It may be wise not to point fingers. But still, at the end of the day, we’ll have to. There’s no such a thing as a free lunch. There’s too no such a thing as ‘no one can be blamed in this’ without investigation.
Unfortunately, the Government of South Sudan’s response to this tragic crash has been rather mediocre, if not down right irresponsible.
"Twenty-one passengers were killed and either two or three crew members [died]. Two engines failed and there was nothing the pilot could do [Aljazeera]," Kiir is quoted when asked by reporters regarding the crash.
Also, the SPLA Chief of Staff Oyai Deng Ajak told the media "This incident confirms no evil intent behind the accident but more investigations would be carried out. As we learned from the communication from the pilot this tragedy is a result of mechanical conditions [AFP]."
Finally, South Sudan minister of information Gabriel Changson Chang told the Associated Press "So far, we believe the cause of the crash is due to a technical failure with the engine of the plane."
While the crash could be an accident, it makes no sense for the Government of South Sudan to make premature announcements before investigations are carried out. “Two engines failed and there was nothing the pilot could do?” Sure, but why, Mr President, would you speak as if you were co-piloting? Let the investigation takes its course.
True, as president you are obligated to calm down the grief stricken nation to avoid a repeat of post Garang-like riot that killed more than a hundred in Khartoum in 2005, but this should not come at the expense of the investigation.
Something was to happen and no one did something. No one blames the pilot. It has been reported that the incident was due to engine problem and the pilot had reported it. Perfect.
But this says something about how GOSS takes care of its prominent figures. It’s high time president Kiir makes sure leaders are given proper travel arrangements.
Is it hard to do routine inspection on these planes? Is it hard to document the age of the planes and prepare for any incident, since Chang already calls the plane “ancient?”
This is a gone case but our seeming ineptness should be a precaution for a would-be similar situation.
The same GOSS ineptness in dealing with Beshir’s Government shouldn’t apply in the protection of citizens and leaders. Let’s protect our leaders to fight until we are fully liberated.
This is purely a question of negligence on the part of the GOSS. Nothing takes care of itself. Garang died and we didn’t learn from it. Can we learn from this incident? We hope so.
The government should have a pronounced apparatus to deal with any given situation. As a ruling party, SPLM should draft national strategies for a given time frame. Protection of our leaders is paramount as they seem to be the targets of our enemies whether the recent incident was a plot or not.
The struggle is not done. We need the likes of Dr. Yaac Arop: his wit, his diplomacy and his commitment to the struggle.
We advise GOSS president to protect our remaining leaders till freedom comes. We need them. While blaming someone in this incident is not sound, a caution for the president to pre-empt similar situations is paramount.
