From July 2018 through November 2019, over a hundred students touched town at Juba International Airport as they returned from Zimbabwe upon the completion of their various degree programs at six different State Universities in that the Southern African country.

The completion of bachelor degree programs comes with a moment of ultimate delight and hope that at least the graduate would add a certain value to the community. But no, this was never the case with South Sudanese graduates from Zimbabwean universities who bizarrely returned home with neither certificates nor academic transcripts despite others attending graduation ceremonies at their respective universities.

That’s a message even Audrey Azoulay, the Director-General of the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) cannot take lightly.

How did it arrive at this point?

In 2015, the government received scholarship offers from Zimbabwe and nearly 200 students would get admissions into varying faculties at Zimbabwe’s State-affiliated institutions namely; Great Zimbabwe University, Chinhoyi University of Technology, Midlands States University, National University of Science and Technology, Harare Institute of Technology, and University of Zimbabwe.

With entitlement to $100 monthly stipends, fully paid accommodation, catering, and tuition fees, the government was able to cater to the scholars for only two semesters as an economic downturn catapulted home in the wake of the 2016 political turmoil.

In the same year, things went sour. The monthly stipend was, without any formal communication, withdrawn from the students in a country where the inflation rate was nearing 90% at the time. Realizing the financial woe which would follow, the South Sudan Government signed a memorandum of understanding, which would allow uninterrupted access to university facilities as the Juba administration settles arrears on installment.

As the crisis dug deeper in the following two successive years, the government defaulted on the fulfillment of the signed MoU, leading to the accumulation of unprecedented debts amounting to over $2million, which would compel at least three Zimbabwean State Universities to eject South Sudanese students out of their premises. As this eventually became a norm, the South Sudan Embassy in the capital Harare became the only safe havens and a place of refuge for the students each time their institution asked them to vacate the premises over fee arrears.

The Education Attaché at the embassy always replied through formal letters requesting those institutions to give students a second chance as the government at home works to settle arrears. That strategy only worked in 2017, however, as the institutions which were also cash-strapped desperately needed financial bailouts.

What was the response from the government in Juba?

“The economic situation is unfavorable back home”. That has been the conventional response from the government in Juba until late 2018 when a letter purportedly approved by President Salva Kiir to resolve the students’ circulated on social media; no one acted upon the content of that letter.

Earlier year, Vice President for the Economic Cluster Dr. James Wani Igga visited students who were stranded at the embassy with no one to turn to. Together with the government special envoy Dr. Barnaba Marial Benjamin, the VP promised to raise the matter to the executive arm of the government urgently. It has been almost half a year since that sentiment was made but an impact is yet to be seen.

Zimbabwean Vice President Kembo Muhadi echoed a similar sentiment on his visit to Juba saying the scholarships would act as leeway to bilateral ties between the two countries. That has seemingly proven futile.

Former Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology Deenay Chagor pledged to resolve the matter within a month when the graduates without certificates brought the grievance to his attention. Maybe Chagor, who is now the Governor of Upper Nile State could have lived to his promise if there was no change of government.

What happens now?

“We need our academic papers, we want to contribute to the development of this country and seize available opportunities.” After petitioning multiple government offices, including the Chairman of the Education Committee at the National Legislative Assembly last year, the students have gotten nothing besides politically-filtered statements.

Recalling the groaning pains they have been through as they sought to complete their courses, the students refused to back down as they continue to seek justice over their withheld certificates and transcripts. They are meeting the Minister of Higher Education this week with the pledge of meeting the President if nothing materializes.

The writing is on the wall that the economy has been hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic making the Central Bank void of forex. The government has lobbied with Afrexim Bank to secure $250million to resuscitate agriculture.

“If the government can get a loan for the agricultural sector, it can also secure a loan for the education sector. Our case needs less than $6million to settle,” a group of graduates without certificates said last week from the Ministry of Higher Education.