The governor of Eastern Equatoria State, Gen. Louis Lobong Lojore, has ordered three newly appointed commissioners to enlighten and teach people at the grassroots to produce more food to contain the economic downturn rocking the country.
He was speaking during the swearing-in ceremony of newly appointed commissioners; Polepole Benjamin Olum of Magwi County, David Nayee Lomor of Kapoeta North County and Paul Lokale Lomana of Kapoeta South County and Simon Lodowon Macharnyang, the deputy commissioner of the State Insurance Commission.
Last Friday, President Salva Kiir fired some commissioners and reshuffled one in Eastern Equatoria State. However, former Kapoeta North County Commissioner Ephone Emmanuel Lolimo declined his new assignment as a state legislator.
According to Lobong, the South Sudanese Pound will continue to depreciate against the U.S. dollar until the population embarks on local production.
“People are crying about the dollar but you should know that the dollar will never come down if we do not produce. We have to produce a surplus so that we sell some. Also, livestock keepers should not keep these animals for marriage only but we should improve our livestock production and also produce more milk,” he guided the new county commissioners. “You should also improve revenue collection in your county because we must collect tax from our people since we cannot rely on oil anymore.”
Governor Lobong advised the new officials to provide services fairly to the entire population regardless of their political parties and ordered them to report to him twice a day.
On the issue of internal borders, the governor told political leaders to stop instigating conflict.
“You should solve problems at the grassroots without expecting more from the governor. Internal borders are a time bomb everywhere and they should be left like that for a committee in the future,” Lobong stated. “It is very unfortunate that even political leaders support war regarding land issues. Our people know their historical borders and they should stay like that. It is not time to fight over internal borders because we have so many things to solve as a country.”
For his part, Magwi County Commissioner Olum, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, pledged to prioritize the improvement of security in the state.
“Our promise as the newly appointed officials is that we will ensure to work tirelessly to support the government and the people in improving security in the state,” he said. “Second is the unity of our people because communal conflicts are affecting development. We promise that we will find ways of addressing these issues. We will try to enforce the rule of law in our respective places so that people are guided.”