By John Marit, Juba
The house of prayer seems to be a Temple. I have been thinking about and staring a lot at the Parliament. It has really proved to be a Temple. In all years the MPs have spent in the Parliament, I have never heard a sparkling decision that has put a smile across every citizen's cute face.
In South Sudan, the very muddy road of 2003 is one we are still taking. The same things that were affecting us before Referendum are striking us hard. I often ask myself, "Why do I have an MP?”. I had the impression that "I am a microphone and my MP is my Loudspeaker". Is this the case Since a ballot paper was thrown into a box in 2010, even the road to visit me still floods. Again and again, I think to myself: If another election comes, surely he will have to fix the road to transport his supporters to the ballot box. In this corrosive atmosphere, I begin to look at the parliament and think that "it might be a Temple”. I must go there one day and pray, maybe it requires the people to heal.
What did I think about the parliament? I thought that a parliament is where debates occur and decisions made. In my mind, I thought the Members of Parliament are our delegates that we send to lobby for us. Surely, I thought they could demand what we lack and advocate the issues affecting us. But now I know well that when one goes to the parliament, one has gone for the prayer to the moon (Indeed, one has gone to the Temple).
I have learned that a Member of Parliament can't bring change to his wailing society. I have witnessed this. Since my Member of Parliament went to his sofa-seated office, the main change has been the reduction of the civil population and the increase in refugees in Kenya or Uganda. It is remarkable that every election pledge has not come true. They were mere dreams! Dreams of snoring, not dreams of the future.
Sorrowfully, it will be no better tomorrow if this Temple does not become a parliament. I am serious on this matter. I don’t care whether you call it criticism or not, I only care about is the wellness of the majority.
Sincerely, what good deed scan we remember our MPs for? Remember this, "The Voices that are no longer our Choices". Speak the voice from the heart. Before being stagnated in Juba, what messages do you bring from your people? How long do you take to visit your county? Which places do you visit mostly? Which kinds of people do you interact with? And what solutions have you brought to their challenges?
In so many words, some have merely brought their communities to conflict. That's why, "To Nothingness did your promises SINK!”. MPs, be our loudspeakers, because we are your microphones.
"I will not have my life narrowed down. I will not bow down to somebody else’s whim or to someone else’s ignorance." – Bell Hooks
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