“Let our work not be accompanied by lies but by actions”: Bishop in South Sudan to Leaders

“The preaching in our offices is honesty, truth and justice and if we do not preach that, we will be wasting time,” Bishop Tombe said and making reference to the Matthew’s Gospel reading of October 18 added, “We will be liars like those hypocrites who went to Jesus.”

Addressing rampant corruption in the country, the 77-year-old Prelate who has been a Bishop since November 1986 lamented widespread graft across the hierarchies, “from the top offices to the lowest offices” including religious leaders.  

“We are the very people messing up ourselves with corruption in this country, from the top offices to the lowest offices; maybe even the lowest offices of Bishops are full of corruption, messing up God’s message with corruption,” bemoaned the South Sudanese Prelate. 

He went on to lament impunity in South Sudan saying there is “no justice; everybody is escaping from the truth”

“Who is in charge of all these issues where now the country is bankrupt, no money and everybody does not want to answer this question?” the Bishop queried. 

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He expressed his disagreement with the government’s  attempt to change the currency as a way to shore up the economy.

“No one knows why money is to be changed,” Bishop Tombe who has been a Bishop for 34 years said, underscoring the need to engage in anti-corruption initiatives instead of introducing a new currency amid rampant graft.

He cautioned, “Let us change it and still remain corrupt, then that currency also will not work and it will have to be changed again.”