South Sudan Will Always Be A Troublesome State With Salva Kiir In Power

By Ter Manyang Gatwech,

Jan 03, 2016 (Nyamilepedia) —- “A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent.” — Douglas MacArthur

Leadership is the ability to create an environment where everyone knows what contribution is expected, a leader commits to do great things. Practical advice is given to help you to develop the leadership aspects of your own role and to encourage leadership and initiative from everyone in your team.

President Salva Kiir Mayardit took the SPLM leadership baton after the death of later Dr. John Garang in a mysterious helicopter crash on 30^th July 2005

People of South Sudan never expected Salva Kiir to be leading them to that extend, and Salva Kiir himself never dreamt of being a man for the top job. He had never had a dream of becoming an interim president of Southern Sudan had the giant had not fallen. Salva Kiir is liable to the people of South Sudan because he acquired his current leadership portfolio accidentally; he’s an accidental leader. A leader should be effective, effective leader puts first things first, effective leadership carries discipline and humility. Salva Kiir as a leader of our nation lacks all that.

I heard some people in South Sudan talk about the fact that Kiir was elected in 2010 but that election was one man show, he had no potential contender. Dr. Lam Akol of the SPLM-DC who was his main challenger at the time was not even allowed to campaign in Greater Bahr el Ghazal, his offices were shut down and his officials ended up in cells nationwide. In this sense, I don’t understand why people talk of Kiir being in office through election.

To make the matter unenjoyable, the Transitional Constitution of Southern Sudan was imposed to the people of South Sudan through handpicked individuals whose main job was to appease Salva Kiir who later rewarded them for empowering him through fake constitution. Leaders who assume power through constitutional mandate do not kill his or her own people that he or she leads. If Salva Kiir was elected by the people of South Sudan, he couldn’t become a big our problem today in our nascent Republic of South Sudan.

If Salva Kiir held a constitutional leadership, he would not have killed 30,000 incent Nuer in Juba in what the world described as ethnic cleansing, He killed huge number of innocent civilians within the period of one week in December 2013.

It’s a big disappointment that he calls himself South Sudan President when he’s leading not only without mandate but also without understanding the leadership principles. Leaders are accountable of what they do, Kiir never accepts accountability of his actions. He believes in leading through hard way, runs the government single handedly. One man controls a whole country, decides the country’s immigration and emigration policies, and decides how people in his country will live their lives. He also decides when, where, and how every organization will do businesses. Tragically, he decides the fate of the people who disagree with him. South Sudan Government is his small monarchy.

Monarchy is a system of government where by accession to office is determined by a person’s descent; usually determined by blood line. John Kenneth Galbraith once noted that great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.

It’s important to realize that just because someone holds a position of leadership, it doesn’t necessarily mean one can intermediate at will. It’s true, though, that not all leaders are created equal. Organizations or corporations suffer today because of bad leadership,; and some people seem not to recognize good leaders from bad ones. In this article, I will attempt to give a hint in recognizing bad leaders by pointing out a few things that should be obvious, but apparently aren’t.

If I only had a nickel for every time I’ve been asked, “Is there a simple test that can quickly determine an executive’s leadership ability?” The short answer is yes, but keep in mind, simple and fast aren’t always the same thing as effective. There are a plethora of diagnostic tests, profiles, evaluations, and assessments that offer insights into leadership ability, or a lack thereof. My problem with these efforts is that they are overly analytical, very theoretical, and very often subject to bias. That said, they are fast, easy, and relatively inexpensive. The good news is, there is a better way to assess leadership ability. If you really want to determine someone’s leadership prowess, give them some responsibility and see what they do with it. Leaders produce results. It’s not always pretty, especially in the case of inexperienced leaders, but good leaders will find a way to get the job done.

There’s a not so subtle abdication of responsibility that has occurred as rationalizations take place around DISC scores, or justifications surrounding a 360 review are used to defend an ineffective leader. My question is this: what about real world tests? If your enterprise has trouble identifying leaders, or has a shortage of leaders, you don’t have a testing problem – you have a leadership problem.

One of the primary responsibilities of leadership is to create more and better leaders. I believe it was John Maxwell who said, “There is no success without a successor.”Go ahead, test if you must, but paying attention to the following 15 items (listed in no particular order) will be much more practical, accurate, and effective. If your organization has leaders who fail to grasp the concepts outlined below, you may want to stop testing them, ranking them, and promoting them – instead consider developing them or exiting them.

There are some ways to identify whether President Salva Kiir is bad or a good leader or any good or bad leader in South Sudan

1. President Salva Kiir a Leader who cannot see things very far: Leader without vision will fail. Leader who lacks vision cannot inspire teams, motivate performance, or create sustainable development for his nation. Poor vision, tunnel vision, vision that is fickle, or a non-existent vision will cause leaders to fail. A leader’s job is to align the country around a clear and achievable vision. This cannot occur when the blind lead the blind. President Salva Kiir a man without vision, to lead people in South Sudan. The creation of 28 states is big problem in South Sudan and Kiir doesn’t that see that as a problem. President Salva Kiir needs a lot of orientations from good people not bad people. I don’t think South Sudan will progress when Mr. Kiir still alive in the land of South Sudanese soil and therefore, I argue that the IGAD-Plus and the international community must put lots of pressure on him to reserve his dead vision of creation of tribal 28 states and his 28 Governors he appointed. Obama Administration is very useless indeed, Obama allowed President Salva Manyardit to kill the innocent citizens in 2013, from Nuer tribe because he hates his main political rival Dr. Riek Machar Teny who hails from that community. The latter wanted to contest the SPLM chairmanship that would be a flag bearer for South Sudan presidency in 2015 election. Slava Kiir decided to commit Genocide on the community of his rival. If Kiir was confident of his leadership capability, why did he (Kiir) not embrace the process the democratic world called ‘’brain box’’ to win the hearts of citizens in South Sudan, People who see Mr. Salva Kiir as a good leader fall short of identifying a bad leader from good one.
2. President Salva Kiir fails to lead his family in Warrap state: Kiir is a leader who lacks character or integrity, he will not endure the test of time. It doesn’t matter how intelligent, affable, persuasive, or savvy a person is, if they are prone to rationalizing unethical behavior based upon current or future needs, they will eventually fall prey to their own undoing. Optics over ethics is not a formula for success. Kiir is not a good manager, personal management is not his thing; he fails in his family level and there is no reason to come and lead South Sudanese people. South Sudan is too big for Kiir to administer. He’s not fit lead, he could not assume South Sudan presidency has it not been the unpredictable death of late Dr. John Garang de Mabior on 30^th July, 2005. President Salva Kiir’s alcoholic son was arrested in 2014 in Nairobi, Kenya because he wants to rape his sister in Kenya. Salva Kiir is most drunkard man.
3. President Salva Kiir must put-up or shut-up:: Nothing smacks of poor leadership like a lack of performance. Nobody is perfect, but leaders who consistently fail are not leaders, no matter how much you wish they were. While past performance is not always a certain indicator of future events, a long-term track record of success should not be taken lightly. Someone who has consistently experienced success in leadership roles has a much better chance of success than someone who has not. It’s important to remember unproven leaders come with a high risk premium. Smart companies recognize potential, but they reward performance. Kiir has nothing to offer and should therefore put up with the people who call him to step aside for his failure or shut his big mouth up.
4. President Salva Kiir is the knows-it-all: The best leaders are acutely aware of how much they don’t know. They have no need to be the smartest person in the room, but have the unyielding desire to learn from others. I’ve often said, leaders who are not growing cannot lead a growing enterprise. One of the hallmarks of great leaders is their insatiable curiosity. If a leader isn’t extremely curious about every aspect of his or her nation, trust me when I say there are huge problems on the horizon. Salva Kiir seems to know everything when he knows nothing at all in leadership qualities.
5. President Salva Kiir fails to communicate: When leaders are constantly flummoxed by those who don’t seem to get it, there exists both a leadership and communications problem. Show me a leader with poor communication skills and I’ll show you someone who will be short-lived in their position. Great leaders can communicate effectively across mediums, constituencies, and environments. They are active listeners, fluid thinkers, and know when to dial it up, down, or off. Kiir is not anywhere near such qualities.
6. President Salva Kiir concerns all about himself: If a leader doesn’t understand the concept of “service above self” they will not engender the trust, confidence, and loyalty of those they lead. Any leader is only as good as his or her team’s desire to be led by them. An overabundance of ego, pride, and arrogance are not positive leadership traits. Real leaders take the blame and give the credit – not the other way around. Long story short; if a leader receives a vote of no-confidence from their subordinates…game over.

Ter Manyang Gatwech is the former Chairperson of Gawaar-Nuer Community in Uganda and the current Executive Director of Youth Action Development Network in Uganda. He can be reached through termanyang24@gmail.com or yadn280@gmail.com

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