March 21st 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – The Enough Project said on Wednesday in a report that it has identified six corruption threats to peace and stability in the world’s youngest nation, South Sudan, which gained its independence from Sudan in July 2011.
South Sudan descended into a brutal civil war in December 2013 following a flare-up of violence at a national convention for the ruling SPLM party at Nyakuron Cultural Centre in Juba. The political misunderstanding between SPLM party rivals led to split in the South Sudan’s army, then SPLA.
Civilians were later targeted on the basis of their ethnicity in the country’s capital Juba leading to mutinies among senior army generals who were opposed to civilian massacres in Juba igniting a civil war.
The report also dubbed as “Safeguards to Peace,” said it has identified endemic corruption, weak government institutions, the elite control of state resources, and political centralization of economic governance resources, economic underdevelopment and absence of justice as threats to peace and stability in South Sudan.
The founding director of the Enough Project, John Prendergast, said South Sudan leaders should start to think of new ways on how to end the suffering of the people of South Sudan which came as results of their battles over spoils of corruption in the youngest nation on earth.
Prendergast further urged imposition of sanctions, targeting profiteers and commercial individuals who have a hand in the looting of South Sudan’s public resources as well as those making millions of dollars off the suffering of the people of South Sudan.
“Financial pressures, including network sanctions, should target the profiteers and commercial enablers who have their hands on the country’s economic levers. Those making fortunes from the suffering of millions of South Sudanese must face accountability, or the cycles of war will continue,” he added.
The author of the report and investigative analyst at The Sentry of the Enough Project, Mark Ferullo, said leaders of South Sudan have developed and institutionalized the corruption and continue to benefit from it.
“Since independence, the leaders of South Sudan’s violent kleptocratic system have developed an infrastructure for corruption, war profiteering and private gain that continues to spread,” Ferullo said.
“This corrupt system will not crumble overnight. But the peace agreement provides a rare opening to pursue powerful anti-corruption reforms that can begin to dismantle the kleptocracy,” Ferullo added.
For his part, Brian Adeba, the Deputy Director of Policy at the Enough Project said “A South Sudan that is prosperous and at peace with itself is not a far-fetched dream – it is doable and within reach.”
“War, famine and mass atrocities are not a fixed destiny driven by various localized or ancient disagreements, but rather a brutal status quo imposed by modern corruption, abuse of power, and globalized networks of facilitation and profiteering,” Adeba added.
Brian further said South Sudan leaders need to commit to a strong measure in which corruption is deterred and a strong measure for accountability is developed to enforce the fight against corruption in the country.
“Sudan’s politicians need finally to commit to strong accountability measures that will propel the country forward, liberated finally from the violent looting machines,” Brian further added.
