Category: Uncategorized

Mathematical Alternatives to the Electoral College – http://wp.me/p3gt4l-1mZ

A Kinder, Gentler Nation – http://wp.me/p7Tznq-Y3

The morning after – http://wp.me/pjXA4-mu

Today I learned that my fellow Americans hate me, my body, and my friends – http://wp.me/p2G6tR-3uyu

Most of my life, I have been led to believe average was good. But that all changed with Dr. Atela. He did not just tell me that there was more, he showed me the world through his very own eyes. When I first entered his class, I was 21 years old, raw, and unaware of the great beyond. He made Gulliver’s travel so real, that even I wasn’t scared of the great giants of Brobdingnag and their stature. The giants now represented the great obstacles that with a little belief in myself, I was assured I could conquer.

“But why is this land only known by so few?” I asked. As Marcel Proust put it, “The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes”. So many times we complain about opportunities not being readily available for us, when in the real sense, we are the ones not looking well enough for something right in front of us.

The Lilliput’s represented the small things around me that I needed to fight for and defend. They showed me that my community needed me to be a hero.

Dr. Atela restored my eyesight, my hunger for more in this world. He made me crave more for myself than I already had, and for that I will forever be grateful.

I became bold and walked out of my fears. And I realized persistence on pursuing what you adore is what will make it a reality. Being real is important. To let my value, belief and interest be my guideline and not people opinion. To embrace my uniqueness and different.

I realized I am destined for greatness. And with hard work, determination and perseverance, I will finally be a HERO that I wanted to be: the Woman. Some may call it a fairy-tale, as Wonder Woman is the epitome of my ideology: my life’s purpose.

I want to have physical resistance and be able to overlook all the negativity people give you when you have a dream. Being part of the few who will rescue Africa, from decay. Something that most believe impossible. Having the lasso of truth and being ever so just in everything I do, will allow me to influence those around me to follow suit.

What is the definition of ethnicity and tribalism? Does they play any role in your society?

Ethnic group is a group of people whose members are identified through several common traits. These include an idea of common heritage, common culture, a shared language, or dialect and most importantly, common ancestry and religion. An Ethnic group is quite big and comprises of several tribal groups. Here is an example. The Agikuyu, the Akamba, the Ameru , Maasai, Borana, Abaluhya, Kalenjins etc. are all different tribal groups in Kenya yet they are all Bantus. Ethnicity is an ethnic quality or affiliation resulting from the above characteristics.

Tribalism  refers to a strong loyalty to one’s tribe, party, or group for instance the Luo in Kenya or the Agikuyu in Kenya. It also includes religious groups, political groups and social groups among others.

In Africa, tribalism and ethnicity has been revolutionized and considered as ethnocentrism. This is a situation whereby one considers his or her own ethnic group the best and all others inferior, to the point where they have rivalry which normally escalates to conflict.

How did ethnocentrism develop? Some people say it was caused by the Berlin Conference of 1684. Nationalism, which is the sense of belonging to a nation or country was introduced into Africa by the coming of the Europeans and their further partitioning of Africa. As much as their interest was national interest but their “said” purpose was to weaken this tribal loyalty and to instill in people a sense of oneness despite ethnic and tribal differences.

Nationalism is a good idea. However, nationalism has failed miserably in several parts of Africa in its attempt to mesh together these several different ethnic groups without taking into account the loyalty the people have for their various tribes and ethnic groups. The tribal tensions and tribal conflicts we witness today in Africa are some of the outcomes of the failures of nationalism. It is true there were tribal tensions and tribal conflicts in those days before the arrival of nationalism. However, it was not that bad compared to what we are witnessing today in Africa. For instance what we are currently witnessing in Ethiopia, South Sudan between the Dinka and the Nuer, and not to forget the ethnic conflict that killed millions of people in Rwanda between the Hutu and the Tutsi. This are just a few examples to mention of!!

How did terrorism develop? This was due extremism among some Muslim. They practice atrocities with the belief that they are praising Allah and his holy prophet. Do not get me wrong! Loyalty to one’s group is not an offense however don’t forget too much of something is dangerous and we should not blindly follow what our leaders tell us without evaluating their messages…!!

NOTE that here is positive and negative ethnicity. Positive ethnicity is restricted to the practice and defense of an ethnic group’s traditional integrity, traditional beliefs, and traditional customs. It involves emphasizing one’s own roots in a community or cultural group without necessarily disparaging other groups. For instance how we conduct wedding ceremonies based on our ethnic culture…

Negative ethnicity can also be referred as ethnocentrism emerges when ethnicity becomes the major determinant of one’s behavior. For example in allocating resources, opportunities for instance job opportunity, academic opportunities.

Negative Ethnicity    

Politicized ethicized politics have had devastating political consequences for Africa, as evidenced in the many civil wars and recurrent political instability. The nearest case to relate to in my community is the Kenyan post-election violence that took place in 2007-2008. This was due to rivalry that were “coated” under the umbrella of ‘cuckold election results’. The politicization of ethnicity all over the African continent has generated deep-rooted suspicions, mistrust and at times resulted into widespread violence, insecurity and even caused genocide.

Politicization of Ethnicity politics means that ethnicity acts as a pole around which group members are mobilized and compete effectively for state-controlled power and economic resources. Under the leadership of greedy elite, members of the ethnic group are urged to form an organized political action-group in order to maximize their political, economic, and social interests. Thus, many aspects of competitive politics in Africa are founded on ethnic politics based on who gets what, when, and how. Those are the roots of what has emerged as ethnic tensions and tribalism in Africa.

While the struggles for national independence helped to bring a sense of nationhood in some countries, this diminished due to ethnically driven political opportunism of African elites who took over from the colonialists, who took power after liberation struggles resorted to fueling ethnic hatred and manipulation to divide communities; not for the benefit of those communities, but for the elites themselves to grab wealth and hang on to power by all means.

While the leaders get wealthy by grabbing land, houses and minerals  for example the case of Mobutu, most members of their ethnic groups have nothing to show but somehow believe that somewhere down the line the wealth will trickle down to them.

In reality, only the elites are benefiting and the people they are setting in conflict against each face the same adversities of poverty and marginalization. Examples of the countries that have been embroiled in the politics of ethnicity since independence is Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia, DRC among others.

For this reason,  a lot of scholars have tended to define the concept of ethnicity simply in terms of its negative dimension 

Indeed ethnic identity has a symbolic dimension, which makes conflict arising from it more intense than otherwise. Here, individuals are very sensitive to matters of ethnic symbolism. Any action or thought that is perceived to undermine the ethnic group evokes very hostile and sometimes violent responses.

This is what explains the tendency of members of a group to identify with the fortunes of their co-ethnics e.g a poor villager who believes that a co-ethnic cabinet minister represents his share of the national portion/cake even though the said villager may never receive any personal material gain as a result of appointment.

It is against this background that ethnicity has remained a key political force in contemporary Africa!

Positive ethnicity

Ethnicity also has traces of positive impact in  African political and social setting!

Ethnicity and colonial resistance: Ethnicity played a key role in the basis for the organization of resistance against colonial domination especially at the cultural level. Example is the Maji Maji rebellion/resistance in Tanzania where they used their culture to fight the colonialist in their country. They had a weapon refered as ‘Maji ya mawe’ which was a “war medicine”. It was  water  mixed with castor oil and millet seeds that they believed will make the colonialist blind if poured on their eyes. Another example is the Mau Mau war in Kenya where the Agikuyu community fought against the Kenyan colonialist, the British. With a Swahili notion dubbed “Muzungu aende Ulaya Mwafrika apate Uhuru” This unity that was due to their cultural beliefs led to African gaining their independence.

Ethnicity and individual belonging in modern state: Ethnicity provides a sense of belonging especially in social relations between the individual and the state which cushions the individual against negative effects of alienation inherent or inborn in a complex modern mass society. Thus, ethnicity facilitates appreciation of one’s social roots in a community and cultural group, which is essential for stability of the individual, communal group and the country at large

Ethnicity and Justice: Most ethnic movements demand justice and liberty, equity, express fears about oppression and nepotism; thereby contributing to democratic practice. Therefore, by encompassing legitimate concerns and fears of people, ethnic nationalism serves as a weapon of the wronged groups

Ethnicity and community development: Ethnic solidarity of various communities have played a role in the promotion of community development in Africa that is communal welfare especially where African governments have been unable or deliberately failed to provided economic services to the citizens. The ethnic welfare unions arose in this setting, as parallel structure to provide public goods. They awarded scholarship and even fundraising for education, built schools and churches, town halls and hospitals and provided, within their limits, loans to small-scale traders and artisans and engaged in other self-help projects, serve social function of providing their members with proper burial and taking care of families after member’s death.

Ethnicity and Democracy: Ethnic associations can form pressure groups in a democratic framework. Ethnic mobilizations and identities have contributed to decentralization of power which useful for institutionalization of democratic practices and addressing structural ethnic conflicts. Economic centralization and winner-takes-all tendency result in neglect or marginalization of excluded ethnic groups. It is argued that this leads to demands for autonomy and secession emanating from ethnicity. For instance, a demand for autonomy or secession by ethnic group often indicates the lack of economic and social justice.

Conclusion

Extreme tribalism and ethnocentrism are what breed war, and tribal conflicts and these are what we should fight against and not tribalism and ethnicity in Africa. Fighting against tribalism and ethnicity in Africa is just like fighting against indigenous cultures, traditions, languages; which is not the best way to go. Remember, what makes Africa is our culture and traditions and we cannot throw these away all in the name of nationalism. We should however, learn to live peacefully with others especially our own brothers and sisters in Africa. After all, we are all one people despite our differences. Take Ghana for example. There are several ethnic and tribal groups in Ghana today yet Ghana remains one of the most peaceful countries in all of Africa. Ghana has perhaps the best democratic system of government in Africa today. Although Akan is the most dominant ethnic group in Ghana today, leaders are chosen not just from the Akan ethnic group but from the entire country. Infact, the current president of Ghana John Dramani Mahama, is not an Ashanti and he is not even an Akan yet he is the president of Ghana democratically elected by the entire country (he belongs to the Gonja ethnic group). Ghanaians remain one of the most culturally blessed people in all of Africa and all thanks to their tribal and ethnic pride. Ghanaians have their tribal pride, their ethnic pride and their national pride yet Ghana remains one of the most peaceful countries in Africa today.

We don’t have to kill our tribal and ethnic pride all in an attempt to embrace our national pride. We can combine all three and still live in peace. If Ghanaians can do it, there are no doubt other African countries can do it!!

It’s been five years since I last visited Rusinga Island, my maternal home. This was after my late grandmother’s burial. In her life, she gave me beautiful memories of the region which I still treasure and value too date. 
Last weekend, I travelled back to my beautiful mother land. I noticed there were some changes in the region. The major change that caught my attention was the construction of a modern fly-over bridge that will replace the Mbita-Rusinga causeway. The second change was increase in the price of fish: 1kg of fish now costs Ksh 400. That is quite expensive, being that the source of fish is just in the midst.

Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes, and the second largest lake in the world covering 68,800 km2. The lake is shared by Kenya (6% by area), Uganda (43%) and Tanzania (51%). It has a mean depth of 40m, maximum depth of 84m, shoreline of 3,450km, a water retention time of 140 years and a catchment area of 194,200km2, which extends into Rwanda and Burundi.

Lake Victoria is one of the greatest resources of EAC. It is providing employment, income, and export earnings to the East African Community members. It is also a source of clean water, which has always been taken by my community without any treatment required. It is used as a means for transport, by the famous ferry, boats. It is also a source of food (fish), tourist attraction, used for irrigation…name them.

In a report by the Ministry of Fisheries, in 1960s there were more than 400 types of fish which were of high commercial value in Lake Victoria. This number has considerably reduced, with the Nile Perch, tilapia, mudfish and dagaa referred as omena in my mother tongue, are the more common ones today.

A causeway is an elevated road or railway, usually across a broad body of water or wetland. The current causeway joining Rusinga to the mainland was built in 1983 by blocking a section of the lake. Even though the 200-metre structure seemed to have solved the problem to the community, it turned out to be of double-edged sword.

This causeway was built during a period of intense political activity, due to the political tention, there was no environmental assessment that was conducted. To note as well, National Environment Management Authtority (Nema) was not been constituted, that would assess the possible impact of the channel.

The modern fly over bridge will be 160 metres tall, with a 70-metre carriage width for vehicles, and two metres for pedestrians. The vehicles and pedestrians will use the upper side of the bridge while the larger boats will use the lower side.
DEMOLISH CAUSEWAY

Environmentalists, marine experts and Nema called for the demolition of the causeway, saying it had led to the deterioration of the quality of the water, which had high concentrations of industrial waste and pollutants. Nema was formed on July 1, 2002. 

They advocated for causeway to be demolished and replaced with a trade-off system, where an environmentally acceptable alternative link is provided to sustain the socio-economic activities between the island and the mainland. 

The causeway was built using rock and earth filling, which has permanently blocked a secondary connection between the Rusinga channel and the offshore waters of Lake Victoria. The lake’s cleansing capacity has been reduced because of lack of flushing and exchange of water between the two shores. This has also prevented the migration of fish and thereby, interfered with breeding patterns. Pollutants has also affected fish breeding and resulted in a gradual fall in  fish catches over the years.

The Gulf side which is Kisumu and Siaya waters, which covers 100km of the lake, was cut off from the main lake following the construction of the causeway. This interfered with the flow of water.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Homa Bay County has the largest portion of Lake Victoria in Kenya, and therefore, also leads in fishing. The causeway blocked the free movement of fish from the Tanzanian side of the lake to Winam Gulf. This causeway is a major ecological disaster as it further blocked the migration route for fish. This has resulted in the depletion of commercial fish stocks of species such as the Nile Perch and tilapia. 

According to a report by the ministry of fisheries, in Kenya. 60 per cent of Lake Victoria has been gazetted as a breeding zone for fish, but the area around Winam Gulf does not favor breeding, this is because fish eggs need light to breed. Fish deaths have been high, especially of Nile Perch, since the species requires a lot of oxygen and clear water to survive.

Riverine species on the Tanzanian side have also disappeared because there is no outlet from their breeding sites. All the inputs from rivers in the catchment area are emptied into Lake Victoria, but they are blocked at the causeway, forming algae deposits. 

The other side of the Mbita gulf has water with less silt but the water between Mbita and Kisumu is not safe for human consumption. 

The causeway has led to increased siltation, which has led to the proliferation of the water hyacinth on the Winam Gulf side. This means that all the rivers flowing from Lake Victoria deposit silt and other components into the Lake.

ECONOMY

According to the fisheries expert, there were more than 400 types of fish of high commercial value in Lake Victoria in the 1960s, but this number has been considerably reduced, with the Nile Perch, tilapia, mudfish and dagaa (omena) being the more common ones today. 

Migingo Island, which is enjoys fresh water away from the Mbita Gulf, has gained value and prominence as large stocks of popular fish has migrated there, and it had become an excellent breeding ground for many species. But this will only last for a moment!

The causeway is finally being demolished and will be replaced with a mdern steel bridge. This will be a major victory for EAC and a source of relief for residents, who are looking forward to its completion in late this year. I was told that the demolishing the causeway started in April 2013.

Once the construction of the bridge is completed, there will be restoration of water currents which will allow the free movement of fish from the shallow grounds which is their breeding sites to deeper waters.

CONCLUSION

The residents are thrilled with the fact that they will have enough fish stocks to sustain local production, as well as well as have some to send to other parts of the country. However they are paranoid on their security. I was having a conversation with my mum about the bridge under construction and Sh told me  that the residents fear that it will lead to insecurity in the region. More so, if someone is to use the bridge at night.

It is Wednesday evening, at a around 10pm. I am in one of the fast food restaurants in Nairobi. I just ordered food, so I have to wait for 10minutes before I pick my food. A young girl goes to serve herself, she looks age 14 or 15…

Do you know that slave trade is in existence to date!! It is referred as contemporary slavery or modern slavery. I believe majority of us witness it , some of us recognize it while others don’t or if they do they assume it

It is prudent to note that slave trade is not legal. I know this is obvious but the parties involved in it seems to ignore the fact. 

Modern slavery is a multi-billion-dollar industry in the world today. According to a report by United Nations, India has most slaves of any country, China second, followed by Pakistan then Bangladesh.

According to a data by the United States Department of State, an “estimated 600,000 to 820,000 men, women, and children [are] trafficked across international borders each year, approximately 70 percent are women and girls and up to 50 percent are minors. The data also illustrates that the majority of transnational victims are trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation. It is estimated that 50,000 people are trafficked every year in the United States and Arabic countries.

United Nations defines Human trafficking as the the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.

So this young girl that I was telling you about earlier, serves herself and goes upstairs. After getting my food, I went upstairs as well. So I notice this young girl again, this time she was with a company, a white man who looks around 50 of age and a young girl of a similar age as hers. The man was taking pictures of them and telling them how beautiful they looked. Hope this doesn’t sounds like being too nosy? If it does then you have to  pardon me! So the two girls are enjoying the packet of food as the man takes their pics…

There are several types of slavery trade today. Slavery by descent is one of them. This is done through conquest, where a conquered person is enslaved.

Another type of slavery today is bonded labor. It all starts when individuals take extreme loans under the condition that they work off debt. This “loan” is designed so that it can never be paid off. This loan is often passed down for generations.

Forced migrant labor. This is where individuals are often enticed to migrate with the promise of work, only to have their documents seized and be forced to work under the threat of violence to them or their families.

This type of slavery has been affecting most African countries. A story that I can relate to in my country Kenya, where people are taken to work in Middle East, and being abused both physically, mentally and even sexually. As I was interned at HAART Kenya such cases were the most that were being handled by the organization. However there were internal cases of the same characteristics.

Illegal immigrants may also be taken advantage of. This is to those who don’t have legal residency, they often have no recourse to the law. this is often experienced in US, Western Europe and Middle East.

Sex slavery as a type of slavery, has affected mostly child sex slaves. They are trafficked from their state of residence to Western countries and Middle East.

Early or forced marriage, this is driven by certain regions. Usually when a family cannot support their children, their daughter are often married off to wealthier, and more powerful families. The men are significantly older than girls.  The females are forced into lives whose main purpose is to serve their husbands. This always fosters an environment for physical, verbal and sexual abuse. This is a common culture in North Eastern region  and The Rift Valley region as well as  Eastern region of Kenya. Young girls are forced into marriage at a tender age. I was shocked the other day when I was watching KTN News when a 9 year old girl was featured as one of the victims of  such an incident. This is disturbing. Surely do such people have conscience!

Child labor is another form  of slavery. Children comprise about 26% of the slave today. Most of them are domestic workers. Many are trafficked and sexually exploited. In war- torn countries, children have been kidnapped and sold to political parties to be used as child soldiers. This is a dominant form of slavery in Haiti, Somali and South Sudan.

I watched this documentary by Aljazera on Slave Trade, I was amazed how slavery has dominated the Western countries. Young girls and boys are kidnapped and then forced into prostitution. This business seems to be booming in the region. As much  as there is Modern Slavery Act 2015, that is used to combat slavery. Such cases are still in existence. Let me still hope that sooner we, if you are interested… we will be able to ensure that slavery is reduced if not to eradicate it completely.

Islamist can also be categorized as a form of slavery, in 2003 Shaykh Saleh Al-Fawzan, a member at the time of Senior Council of Clerics, this is Saudi Arabia’s highest religious body, issued a fatwa stating “slavery is a part of Islam. Slavery is part of jihadist and Jihad will remain as long there is Islam and that  anyone who says otherwise is an infidel”

Boko Haram, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant are the one known to take part in this form of slavery.In 2014, both groups were reported to have kidnapped large numbers of girls and younger women.According to August 2015 story in The New York Times, in territory of the Islamic state “the trade in Yazidi women and girls has created a persistent infrastructure, with a network of warehouses where the victims are held, viewing rooms where they are inspected and marketed and dedicated fleet of buses used to transport them.

The man receives a call, then the three walk out of the restaurant. One of the girls is dressed in a ragged leather skirt, and a vest. She looks miserable to me, but maybe that’s the latest fashion or trend of dressing that am not familiar with… The other girl was dressed in a short dress. There is this lady who sat in the  table next to me. She was apparently   observing the trio as well. When they were leaving, she started laughing at them. After which we had a short conversion about them.

It will be wrong of me to state that the girls are victims of slavery, or the white man has an intention of making them his slaves.  This is because I have nothing as an evidence to point at that. Maybe he is an uncle, father, guardian, friend… who has just taken her dear ones for a late dinner date. But that incidence got me me thinking on contemporary slave trade.

Those parties involved in the transaction use our weaknesses, our vulnerability, what we admire and desire, our goals, dreams name them to lure us into victims of slavery. Some victims are taken by force. It is  our key responsibility to address modern slave trade.This can be done in all platform available, be it institutions, seminars, any forum that you may have. Let us do our best to eradicate any form of modern slavery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interest and value are one of  the basic words I valued from my undergraduate class.

There is never an engagement without a self interest! So, what are Japan national interest in Africa? through TICAD (Tokyo International Conference on African Development). This is a question that I will not answer but I will let all of us to ponder on.

TICAD was launched by Japanese government in 1993. It’s aim was or is to promote Africa’s development, Peace and Security. Do you get the irony? (Japanese government is  concerned with solving African problems). What do they gain from helping Africa? One may argue they will invest in and trade with Africa, which will be a win-win to both parties. But I think there is much more for Japanese government as their interest that is kept private from Africans.

TICAD VI will be held in Kenya, for the first time in Africa. This will be on 27th-28th August. Does this seems a golden opportunity for Africa and Kenya as well?? Maybe it is. It all depends on us! What are we going to get from the forum! Is it just a show biz for us? Or is it a platform to get the best deals, agreement, policies, contracts… name them.

The benefits can only be achieved through coming up with best policy measures that guide such relationships. And the policies measures should be implemented effectively.

Yesterday I was previledged to  attend the NTV Live Panel Discussion on TICAD. The discussion was more about the benefits that Africa will and or are gaining from the engagement, yet they never touched on the benefits that Japan will get from the same engagement.

I think it is high time African policy makers, and Africans as a whole should be concerned on the benefits that such states ie Japan gain from these kind of engagements. By taking this step, we will be able to negotiate and come up with agreement and policy measures that will truely bring sustainable development to African states.

I must say it was an honor attending the NTV Live Panel Discussion on TICAD yesterday. Thank you to the Japan Embassy for the invitation.

It all started immediately after South Sudan separated from Sudan and became a “sovereign” state, immediately after their hero had passed away(John Garang). His great work was disgraced by the conflict.This was never his dream for his country, he imagined of a country that would well economically, politically and socially as well.

Just a tip of the iceberg on the potential of South Sudan; it is known for its richness in oil, it also has River Nile which flows through the region among many other resources. This demonstrates the country’s capability economically, both in the region and in Internationally. This can only be a reality if South Sudan has  proper governance and legislation. But sadly enough, this is not the case, in fact it falls among the poorest states in the world.

What is the conflict all about? It is a civil conflict. It all started because of the friction between the governing SPLM party, which is headed by the president Salva Kiir who comes from an ethnic group refered to as Dinka (it is the country largest group);  And his deputy Riek Machar, who is from the second largest community; the Nuer.

It is difficult to explain  whether South Sudan’s on going conflict was a planned plot, this is because it all started as a political squabble which then escalated to ethnic violence.

There have been several interventions to stop this conflict, though they have not been successful. IGAD has been playing a key role in talk to bring the country to a peaceful coexistence.

Currently, United States is or was  playing a key role in the peace process through the US Ambassador to Kenya, His Excellency Robert F. Godec. He insisted that if the parties involved in the conflict will continue fighting, there would be an arms embargo on South Sudan, travel bans would be issued to the government officials and also the AU military would be deployed to the country. The measures that was taken by the US seemed not to be supported by the Russian government. This is based on the comment that was issued byher Chancellor regarding the issue.

However, on my own personal opinion, I think that South Sudan has not yet established a ripe moment for negotiations, mediation yet this processes and agreements are being forced on them.  They should be left to discover this on their own just as it was with the civil conflict in Rwanda. Though this opinion may not seem appealing since so many lives will continue to lost in the process.

I conclude by suggesting that the external parties involved in the ongoing conflict should stop their engagement and pursue their interests in a diplomatic manner which does not involve being a catalyst in the conflict. South Sudanese leaders should also embrace the spirit of democracy and safe guarding the interests of all its citizens. The International community should also play a brotherly role in the peace process in South Sudan in various ways in which they are capable.By this practices I believe the South Sudanese will live their dreams.

By Beline Nyangi.