The wish list is long, but at least one thing Lakes State Governor Chol Tong Mayai hopes to see now that the Republic of South Sudan has been born is a decent life for his people. NEW TIMES’ mabior PHILIP MACH has a conversation with him:–
Q. What did people in your state, yourself inclusive, make of the Independence Day?
This is a very big day for the people of South Sudan as a whole and people of Lakes state in particular. we took it seriously as we did with the other events like the referendum. There was celebration Rumbek town, the state capital, where the celebration took. Then the other seven counties celebrated separately. The armed forces, and organized forces, like police, were trained. A team from Juba trained the people to sing the national anthem for the executive, the parliament. The police band was also trained. We worked on the Freedom Square. We did all this against financial constraints. What was agreed by GoSS to be allocated to us came very late really. What was promised to the counties did not materialize.
Q. What budget has the state allocated to the celebration?
Our budget was 1.8 million Sudanese Pounds, which we did not realize all.
Q. What was the budget constraint in the counties?
The celebration in some counties was not to the standard wished for.
Q. How did you feel about reaching the long awaited Independence Day?
Of course, it is a feeling of every southerner, wherever he is, that at last our dreams have come true. That at last what our people sacrificed for has become a reality; that at last all the people we have lost and all the contributions made are not in vain.
We now have our own identity. It is something we are proud of; it is something for which one has to thank the Almighty God, for some of us who lived to see this day. We will glorify it and we will really remember our fallen heroes and all those sacrificed to make it happen.
Q. But there have been many reports of insecurity in your state?
The security situation is now under control. There were some of these tribal fights revolving round cattle rustling in some counties; it was concentrated in Rumbek East and then parts of Rumbek North and Chueibet, and also across the border. This is now under control. The army has been brought in and also I have requested for more troops. The police and wildlife and all the security, law enforcement agencies, have been brought in jointly to keep the security in the state.
Q. There are different figures being given about the death toll. What figures do you have of those killed in recent period?
The issue is not of figures. You see, insecurity, even if one person is killed and there is feeling of fear, and then that alone disturbs. It is not the number of people killed because even one person matters. If one person is killed, then that is also human being, which we need.
So we don’t measure insecurity in terms of figures; in terms of many figures, many people killed. We measure insecurity in terms of that tranquility, that people are staying without fear.
But if people fear and even if there is no one killed, then there is insecurity. And it is what we are now trying to bring in. The figures of course vary because these are through cattle rustling. There is cattle theft, where you get two or three people killed and these are over long distances. So I cannot really tell you this is the number of people killed because this is a security report, and we have to sum them all up.
Q. As the state governor, what are your hopes now that it’s a free country?
My hopes are, of course, numerous as the hopes of any other person, including yourself, that we have to see the whole southern Sudan as a prosperous, peaceful country, joining the rest of the world in development. I want to see Lakes State prosperous and peaceful so that we can embark on development and to give the dividends of peace; the dividends of us becoming a nation to our people who have suffered for long. That a simple southern Sudanese living everywhere in southern Sudan, particularly Lakes state, should now live a decent life without fear, should now be a free man in his own country, who enjoys all the rights and now plans for his life; his children go to school, gets his own bread. These are all my hopes.
