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Corruption in South Sudan
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Corruption in South Sudan
Corruption in South Sudan is among the worst in the world. The nation's elites have developed a kleptocratic system that controls every part of the South Sudanese economy. This system has taken shape quickly in a relatively short period, South Sudan having won self-rule in 2005 while remaining part of Sudan, and having been accorded full sovereignty in 2011.
According to one member of parliament, the nation has lacked any and all regulations to "combat frauds and malfeasance among the senior government officials," especially among government procurement officials within the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. In a 2013 article, Nyol Gaar Nguen wrote that "[o]utright thieves and looting of public funds in broad daylight by the enforcer or man in charge always reigns" in South Sudan. The degree of corruption and mismanagement revealed in the Auditor General's report for 2005 and 2006 reportedly "brought some MPs in South Sudan's National Legislative Assembly to tears." A 2012 report stated that more than $4 billion in government funds had been stolen since the advent of self-rule in 2005.
The major corruption scandal since the beginning of self-rule has been the so-called "Dura Saga," although there have been dozens of other significant instances of similar wrongdoing. These episodes have often been shrouded in confusion and have almost never resulted in prosecution or punishment. The Africa Review noted in 2013 that despite the South Sudanese government having ordered several investigations into scandals, they are virtually always ignored or intentionally sabotaged altogether. President Salva Kiir Mayardit has repeatedly declared that his government is actively fighting corruption, but on April 12, 2013, he fired Elias Wako Nyamellel, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, "for acknowledging that South Sudan is corrupted and 'rotten to the core.'" The problem is compounded by the serious lack of transparency in South Sudanese government records and business information. Requests for official data can be arbitrarily turned down with impunity.
South Sudan, notes a 2015 report by The Sentry, was founded with hope in mind with its citizens voting overwhelmingly for independence and the international community providing substantial assistance. Given its high level of oil revenues, South Sudan was predicted to rapidly attain self-reliance after the transition, but instead it "plunged into civil war, economic collapse, and creeping international isolation," while its rulers took over virtually every sector of the economy, squandering "a historic chance for the development of a functional state." The ongoing civil war is largely the result of conflicts among the elites who desire to "re-negotiate" shares of the political-economic power balance, including natural resources, through war.
A report by the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, identifies the main types of corruption in South Sudan as bureaucratic corruption, patronage, political corruption, and embezzlement, and states that these forms of corruption take place largely in the following sectors: extractives, public financial management, and police and security forces.
A report by The Sentry categorizes corruption in South Sudan in a slightly different way, identifying the following four main methods the nation's wealth is diverted into the pockets of elites:
A major cause is also tribalism.
In 2008, expecting a famine, the South Sudan government paid nearly $1 million, according to a 2013 report by the Voice of America, for cereals that were never delivered. This is known as the "Dura Saga," after the South Sudanese name for sorghum, dura. World Bank auditors found in February 2013 that 290 firms were paid without ever having signed a contract, and another 151 firms were overpaid significantly. A criminal probe launched in the wake of this audit sought to ascertain why the contractors were paid for goods that never arrived, why the prices were so high, and if government officials were involved in the scandal. The probe was to be led by Prosecutor General Filberto Mayout Mareng.
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Corruption in South Sudan
Corruption in South Sudan is among the worst in the world. The nation's elites have developed a kleptocratic system that controls every part of the South Sudanese economy. This system has taken shape quickly in a relatively short period, South Sudan having won self-rule in 2005 while remaining part of Sudan, and having been accorded full sovereignty in 2011.
According to one member of parliament, the nation has lacked any and all regulations to "combat frauds and malfeasance among the senior government officials," especially among government procurement officials within the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. In a 2013 article, Nyol Gaar Nguen wrote that "[o]utright thieves and looting of public funds in broad daylight by the enforcer or man in charge always reigns" in South Sudan. The degree of corruption and mismanagement revealed in the Auditor General's report for 2005 and 2006 reportedly "brought some MPs in South Sudan's National Legislative Assembly to tears." A 2012 report stated that more than $4 billion in government funds had been stolen since the advent of self-rule in 2005.
The major corruption scandal since the beginning of self-rule has been the so-called "Dura Saga," although there have been dozens of other significant instances of similar wrongdoing. These episodes have often been shrouded in confusion and have almost never resulted in prosecution or punishment. The Africa Review noted in 2013 that despite the South Sudanese government having ordered several investigations into scandals, they are virtually always ignored or intentionally sabotaged altogether. President Salva Kiir Mayardit has repeatedly declared that his government is actively fighting corruption, but on April 12, 2013, he fired Elias Wako Nyamellel, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, "for acknowledging that South Sudan is corrupted and 'rotten to the core.'" The problem is compounded by the serious lack of transparency in South Sudanese government records and business information. Requests for official data can be arbitrarily turned down with impunity.
South Sudan, notes a 2015 report by The Sentry, was founded with hope in mind with its citizens voting overwhelmingly for independence and the international community providing substantial assistance. Given its high level of oil revenues, South Sudan was predicted to rapidly attain self-reliance after the transition, but instead it "plunged into civil war, economic collapse, and creeping international isolation," while its rulers took over virtually every sector of the economy, squandering "a historic chance for the development of a functional state." The ongoing civil war is largely the result of conflicts among the elites who desire to "re-negotiate" shares of the political-economic power balance, including natural resources, through war.
A report by the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, identifies the main types of corruption in South Sudan as bureaucratic corruption, patronage, political corruption, and embezzlement, and states that these forms of corruption take place largely in the following sectors: extractives, public financial management, and police and security forces.
A report by The Sentry categorizes corruption in South Sudan in a slightly different way, identifying the following four main methods the nation's wealth is diverted into the pockets of elites:
A major cause is also tribalism.
In 2008, expecting a famine, the South Sudan government paid nearly $1 million, according to a 2013 report by the Voice of America, for cereals that were never delivered. This is known as the "Dura Saga," after the South Sudanese name for sorghum, dura. World Bank auditors found in February 2013 that 290 firms were paid without ever having signed a contract, and another 151 firms were overpaid significantly. A criminal probe launched in the wake of this audit sought to ascertain why the contractors were paid for goods that never arrived, why the prices were so high, and if government officials were involved in the scandal. The probe was to be led by Prosecutor General Filberto Mayout Mareng.
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