The head of the opposition party Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-Democratic Change (SPLM-DC) has criticized the goverment’s decision to import 1000 tractors to South Sudan in a bid to reduce dependency on oil revenues, saying the tractors will not solve the country’s economic woes.
Lam Akol was asked in an interview with Radio Tamazuj on Monday whether he thought the delivery of tractors to farms in the ten states of South Sudan would help with the economic situation. He commented that the tractors would not solve the country’s economic crisis nor reduce hunger in the states.
“Who said that you can solve a political problem by bringing tractors?” he said, pointing out that the economic crisis has been caused by the ongoing civil war.
He added, “Where is the fuel going to come from? If you have a shortage of fuel even in the capital?”
“This is not the solution. The solution has to be a comprehensive one.” He went on to call for a national conference or dialogue that would search for solutions for the current crisis – not a dialogue involving only the two warring parties.
Tractors not in budget
Last month Radio Tamazuj reported that the 1000 tractors imported by the South South Sudanese government were not approved by parliament in the 2014/2015 budget nor were procured through the finance ministry.
Sources disclosed that presidential aides were involved in negotiating the contract and awarded it to a company on a non-competitive basis.
President Salva Kiir has said that the tractors will help make the country more economically independent. In a speech in March he said, “We can grow what we can eat… forgetting about anything to be brought from any other country.”
Related:
Salva Kiir ‘donates’ 1000 tractors (17 April)