A south Sudanese economic analyst says the government should seek new and qualified candidates to run the country's financial institutions in its quest to revive the economy.
Last evening, in a presidential decree, read on state-run TV SSBC, President Salva Kiir dismissed Central bank Governor Jamal Wani and replaced him with Dier Tong Ngor.
Tong previously served in the same position from May 2018 to January of this year before Kiir appointed his predecessor Wani. In the order, no reasons were cited.
But analysts say, in the wake of the current debilitating economic crisis, the government should desist from recycling post holders and instead inject fresh blood with new ideas.
Professor Akim Ajieth, an economic analyst told Radio Tamazuj today that the government and President Kiir in particular must have run out of ideas to revive the country’s economy.
“There is no reason to bring back the same guy who had failed the bank, the country, and failed the economy. There is no need to bring back the same person when in fact there are thousands and thousands of South Sudanese within the country and outside who are competent enough and who could do the job better,” he said.
Ajieth, who also cited the recent return of a former finance minister to the docket, predicted that the economic situation may delve deeper into crisis as the old guards cannot bring new ideas on board.
“In the next few days, few months the economy is going to deteriorate even further than it is now because these old folks have no idea how to fix the thing,” Ajieth lamented. “They were there before and now that they are coming back, they are going to do the same status quo….I mean you cannot conceptualize, it's very difficult to conceptualize, and it’s difficult to understand.”
The analyst wondered why the government does not engage educated South Sudanese in its attempt to salvage the already beaten economy. In his analysis, “the government is telling us that it is no longer interested in educated people.”
“I can tell you there are a lot of people with master's degrees, with PHDs in economics, public administration, and management. And these are the people who are specialized in what we call turn-around management. They know how to turn things around. They know how to turn a bankrupt institution into a very good institution. These people are there,” Ajieth advised.
According to him, the government should strive to get the right people in the right places, introduce austerity measures on government dealings like travel, accommodation, and introduce new and qualified people in government institutions.