WHAT NOW?

This was a Facebook post that I put on my wall earlier this week. I knew most of you have read it, including Libby. However, I wrote this post in a rush because I was catching up to finish reading one of the books that my friend from Australia donated to my my library. So, I went back to it last night and added few more things and then corrected those visible errors and entice it a little bit so that those that we’re not friends too could get a chance to read it.

I have a friend who works in the bank. Actually, two friends who works in the bank! One of them is a classmate that we shared notes back in college. Two weeks ago, during lunch hour of doing what makes us survive in the Juba Half Life, another friend called at almost the same time when I was in these friends’ facility (banking hall) to deposit some money. It was an urgent call, though. Something that could not wait until I hide my small pounds (I wouldn’t call it a saving plan because God knows how many times I deposits money in that account.) I was forced to leave my six leaves of SSP 500 notes to them so that they could help me bank and then I get the slip any time we meet again. Hey, even if any lost was to involve, I wouldn’t have moan for too long because that figure can’t even buy me a five pieces of bambe and a bottle of a Spa Nile mineral water at Pyramid.

Anyway, she called me after sometimes to meet because these days I do Custom Publishing for companies here in South Sudan to earn my pale living. It was my slip and the content creation for their newly initiative that needs social media peacocks like me to hype about it. The guy I was sited next, our co-friend, anyway, after mentioning the caller’s name asked me after, how she was doing and what is she coming to see me. I explained everything, including the reason why she was coming to sit me up in a coffee house.

In the process of explaining it to him, he jokingly told me that it’s corruption to seek favors from colleagues from their institutions. I was puzzled, caught off guard, and I couldn’t explain myself further. So I changed the topic. It’s healthy. Nothing hurts and nothing meant beyond that. But I had this guilt invoking me.

So I came home that evening. I Google the word corruption again. Like I wasn’t sure what it means. Just like race, the word is complex. Just like a tree, it has branches, roots, stems, fruits and even buds and throns. So partially, I was corrupt, partially, I wasn’t. This brings us to the question. WHAT’S THE SIZE OF CORRUPTION in our today’s dealings? And please, when you’re inserting your comments blow, do not mention President Kiir or Dr. Riek, or Captain Mabior Garang or General Cirilo here. Treat them like saints. They don’t have anything to do with my corrupt act.  Deal? Thank you!

One, let’s say, there is a twenty-four year old lady who lost her husband, leaving behind an eleven-month-old baby and had no saving. Let’s assume she is educated. A diploma graduate in accounting or nursing or public health, and who is seriously looking for a job to feed this vulnerable kid. She applied and she did fairly well among the pool of the recruits you called for an interview. You were among the panelists. You know most of the interviewees. She might be the only outsider while the rest were the internal applicants. What will you do? Slam the door in her face because you’re bureaucrat or will you just bend the rule and employ her at least to get something to up keep her baby? Of course, I will not just break the rules; I will even grind them to make sure she gets that job.

Plato one times said that man is political by nature, but the truth should be that man is corrupt by nature. If Zack Mayul leaves his money and an already filled form to a friend in the bank, then his degree of corruption scale should be 1/10 as long as he didn’t skip the queue in order to be served first among others. If Ade vote for Riak Riak as the best HIP-HOP artist in Africa and not Khaligraph Jones, because Riak Riak comes from South Sudan, then he has a reason to make all of us understands. But, if Mariak Bol Majok plans for an event and he place Mary Boyoi and Miss Earth South Sudan together to contest in the same event and announce Mary as the winner because Mary gave modeling a try for the first time, then he must explain to the world what methods he used.

There are classes of corruption; I would beg to say, in case you think I’m wrong, but I have always seen it that way: in Churches (I don’t know about Mosques because I’m not a Muslim), and even in the learning institutions and working institutions. These classes could be employing your cousin or niece or nephew who don’t have proper documents. One of these cases is what happened in the play, ‘BETRAYAL IN THE CITY’ where Mulili got a fat job just because he was a cousin to Tumbo, the president of Kafira.

Just like shoes, I think corruption has sizes that we wear in different times. Depending on the circumstances, they should be weighs separately.

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ANNOUNCEMENT: I might not do any writing in the next three weeks, as far as my work timetable is concern. But When I come back, I will try as much as possible to write  little of what I have experience at the country side.

Another thing, I have been planing to set up a book club: if you’re a resident of Juba and interested to join the group, kindly let me know. I just want to start with five. Email me zmayul10@gmail.com!

Thank you.