Dr John Garang

After 19 years of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) down the line, the South Sudanese public is still calling on the unity government to implement the vision of the late Dr. John Garang of making agriculture an engine of the economy.

In 2005, the SPLM, through its former leader pledged to rebuild the war-devastated South Sudan using the existing wealth.

The SPLM had just negotiated with the Sudanese government six protocols that formed the basis of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, or CPA.

These protocols, among others, promised to change the system of governance and provide services across Sudan, with the SPLM focusing mainly on improving lives in the southern region.

It gave the government in the south the powers to control oil revenue produced in its territories and seek further external funding for development.

In his remarks to the world in Nairobi, Kenya on January 9, 2005, late Dr. John Garang pledged that the SPLM would use wealth in diversity as a source of national cohesion and strength.

He stressed that the SPLM would implement social, political, and economic development strategies and programs that include using oil money to strengthen agriculture as the engine of growth.

The ruling party also pledged to take towns to the people in the countryside through rural small-town planning and rural electrification.

However, two years after the independence, South Sudan descended into a civil war.

Addressing Sudanese communities in Washington DC after signing the comprehensive peace agreement in 2005, the late Dr. John Ganga De Mabior said SPLM would initiate development programs using the existing resources the country has to develop.

Dr. Garang added that the SPLM would not use the experience of other countries to “build consumer society”.

However some members of the public say the ruling class has failed to achieve any of the promises made in 2005.

Janfrog Banjang – a South Sudanese national – urged the government to remember the vision of Dr. John Garang and use oil money for agriculture.

“Dr. John Garang was a great leader and influential, he talked about agriculture, and he is a graduate of economics in agriculture, if he was alive he would have turned South Sudan into a big agricultural country.

“We would have been producing enough food here instead of relying on other countries. Not everything is oil, agriculture is the best source of economic development.

“I urge the government to implement Dr. John’s vision on agriculture, if we don’t prioritize agriculture we will not move forward.”

During his speech to SPLA soldiers, Dr. John Garang said if the people are poor and not productive, the government will also be poor.

He emphasized the importance of agriculture.

Sultan Joseph agrees with Dr. John saying the oil revenue should be challenged to boost agriculture.

“Agriculture is what can move this country forward. If we embarked on agriculture like Dr. John said, we would not be talking every day about the dollars.

‘The government is taking our resources and there is no production, and this reminds us of what Garang was saying.”

For his part, David Magok, a resident of Wau in Western Bahr el Ghazal state said South Sudanese should use this day to embrace peaceful coexistence.

“I remember during the time of CPA, or old Sudan, South Sudanese were one, you go from state to state freely, but now it is even difficult to move about 10 km outside town.

“South Sudanese did not have tribalism, people are now just taking the money from the government, as just  Dr. John said  if we work hard, corruption will not be there, but we are just looting the government, so how can this country move forward.”

The CPA is built on and includes a collection of documents negotiated and signed over two years.

The SPLM under John Garang negotiated six protocols that formed the basis of the CPA. Each protocol was assigned to a senior leader within the movement, SPLM/A.