Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and the committee, for having me here today.
I first came to Canada in 1984 as a landed immigrant, and the destination was Winnipeg, Manitoba. People were so surprised, even shocked, as to why I chose to go to Winnipeg. I did not know why, but a few months later, I knew why. Winnipeg is the coldest city that I have ever been to.
I went to the University of Manitoba to obtain my master's in geophysics and I worked for geophysical companies here in Canada until 2005 when a peace agreement was signed between the then rebels, the Sudan People's Liberation Army and the Government of Sudan in Khartoum. I was called by the people who wanted me to represent them in Parliament. By then, MPs were appointed as part of the agreement of the CPA. I willingly accepted. I left my job and my family in order to go and contribute. In a sense, in the African context, you contribute back to the village that grew you.
When I went back to South Sudan, I served on the committee of energy and mining and, in 2010, I became the chairman of that committee. I was chairman of that committee until July of last year. As per the rules, somebody had to take over, and I still continued to work with that committee. But as of November 16, 2014, I had to leave South Sudan because I couldn't stomach any more what is taking place in South Sudan today.
I went there with the understanding that there was promise for people who had suffered for so many years and that, through their suffering, they must have learned something in order to make sure that we went forward as a united country full of promise. South Sudan is very rich in the real sense of the word. We are endowed with minerals, with fertile soils, and other natural resources. But since 2005, we have squandered some of the resources that we have earned, especially through oil exploitation. Not a single penny is spent in taking services to the very people who should be served. Most of these resources are squandered through corruption, through government contracts that are never advertised, and you name it. Then the system of governance encourages dictatorship. One would like to stay in chair and govern. That is not delivered. If you question, you become an enemy.
In the parliament that I served, the judiciary has become almost an office or offices in the presidency. Nothing is passed in parliament if the president doesn't say okay. If we pass an appropriation bill for the annual budget, nobody implements it. Budgetary items are spent through sticker notes. Mr. Minister, could you approve this money for such a project?
I think I'm not going to talk much, but rather wait for your questions to explain more of this.
Finally, the peace process in Addis is likely to go nowhere for one single reason: you cannot reach a peace deal without looking into the root causes of the current conflict in South Sudan. This has been made worse by the African Union not releasing the commission report of General Obasanjo. This is the report that would tell the whole world what happened. This is a report that will tell the whole world what conditions the commission has come up with in order to prevent future genocides from happening in South Sudan.
Thank you very much for this time.