By Jwothab Wanh Othow

March18, 2008--South Sudan has been devastated by war for the last 40 years, and it lost the basic infrastructure during the Civil War.   In 2005,  Sudan Peoples liberation Movement (SPLM) and  the National Congress Party (NCP)  signed a peace deal with the regime the in Khartoum to end twenty- two years of the longest African Civil War. 

For the last three years, the regime in Khartoum has been using political tactics to avoid the implementation of the comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which was signed in 2005. Since then the semi-autonomy has enjoyed autonomy for the last three years. They enjoyed running their own affairs, but the politicians have been intoxicated with power and wealth, and they have failed to deliver the services to the people of South Sudan. There is no doubt that South Sudan has been blessed with natural resource and if those resources were used wisely, the government of South Sudan would be able to build the basic infrastructure.

The issues of corruption in South Sudan have become a burning issue that one cannot avoid. The bureaucracy in the government of South Sudan is very corrupt. The present anti-corruption commission within the GOSS has no power to deal with corruption. If the government of South Sudan is serious about eradicating the corruption in South Sudan, why have the officials who had been accused of embezzling public funds never been convicted? The political corruption within the GOSS has become a fact of life for many politicians since the government of South Sudan was formed in 2005. The seeds of corruption in the GOSS were immediately planted as soon as the government of South Sudan was formed.

Unfortunately, the politicians have accumulate the resources for their own use and forgotten about the people of South Sudan. I wonder if our politicians in Juba have lost their conscience to Satan and accepted corruption as a part of their lives. My attempt in this paper is not to stir the moral conscience of southern Sudanese politicians but to critically analyze the roots of the corruption in South Sudan.  It has been three years now since the government of south Sudan was formed in 2005 and corruption has been a big setback for the development of South Sudan.  

What do we know about the ongoing corruption in the government of South Sudan and what can we do to improve our understanding of the corruption and enhance the government’s effectiveness in combating corruption. One would ask this question: If the government of South Sudan is serious about the corruption why does the government of South Sudan not get rid of it? We are aware that corruption is exists in other countries but the one in South Sudan is worse  because our politicians have accumulated the wealth for themselves and have left the ordinary southern Sudanese to suffered without even basic necessities  for the citizens.

What a shame on the GOSS! One would ask this question: Why some of our politicians are buying and building their homes in foreign land and not in Sudan?  However, I am a SPLM supporter, and I believe in the cause of our people, but I find it difficult to agree with the way some of our politicians in Juba are doing things, and many of our politicians have looted our natural resources without delivering to our people.

This is the proof that our politicians are not interested in building the South Sudan infrastructure, but they just want to enrich themselves with wealth and later, they will leave South Sudan and live in a foreign land and enjoy the wealth of our nation that   they have stolen. South Sudan has the resources and wealth to improve the social welfare of our people. Our late leader, Dr. John Garang once said, “Any liberation movement is judged whether it is a failure or successful based on the objectives in which it has set upon itself to achieve.” I am sure that one of our movement objectives is  the development and to achieve our own economic freedom in South Sudan, but the politicians in Juba have failed to live up to that promise. It has been three years now since the CPA was signed in 2005, and the government of South Sudan has enjoyed the political autonomy for the last three years, but less has been deliver to the people of South Sudan.

It is miserable that the GOSS has spent billions of dollars has been misused for  the last three years and has not build what it needs, because the foundations of any viable state must built the basic infrastructure to strengthened its economy and improve the social welfare of the people. The political nepotism is practiced by many of our politicians who have appointed their relatives even those who are inexperienced and unqualified have been appointed in ministerial position. They were appointed to accumulate public funds to enrich themselves.  Many of politicians in our society view the government as an object to be looted.

I am very disappointed with the ways some of our politicians in Juba have misused the billions of dollars which could have been used to build the basic infrastructure in every city in South Sudan. The GOSS has also neglected to empower our people to improve their lives by creating small businesses for our local people who might have the ability to do business. I am sure that if some of these billions of dollars which had been looted by the politicians for the last three years had been used to create small businesses for our people, they could have contributed to our local economy.

South Sudan can only strengthen its economic system by creating small business and encouraging our citizens to learn to do business.  I believe the GOSS has the resources to create small businesses for our citizens. The GOSS could have setup small business loans to encourage our people to do business because we cannot depend on foreigners to run all the business.  

We also should know that those foreigners who are running the businesses in South Sudan today have no interest about the development of our nation, but instead they are only interested in getting wealthy in South Sudan.  Today, if South Sudan becomes unsecured all these foreign businessmen can go back any time to their countries of origins. The question is who is going to run the business for us? I think the GOSS has the resources to create the small business even the government of South Sudan can set up loans to allow our citizens to borrow money from the bank to do small business with very small interest rates. I am sure many of our citizens can do better in business, but the government of South Sudan must encourage and empower our citizens to engage in the business world.

 These are the kind of programs the GOSS can create to empower our citizens to achieve economic freedom in our society. Confucius who was the China philosopher said, “To rule a country, there must be reverent attention to business, and sincerity; economic in expenditure, and love for fellow human beings; and the employment of the people.” If South Sudan is going to get its independence in 2011, then we must prepare ourselves to be able to run our own business and our own economic system without depending on foreigners.

Today in Juba many businesses are owned by foreigners: Kenyans, Egyptians, Ugandans and so on. I was amazing by statement made by a former United Nations de-mining expert who set up a place to stay the so called “Global Camp” said, “There was no competition. You could do anything.”  One could not believe that in Juba many of those Hotel camps that are run by foreigners and are charging up to $250.00 dollars a night. I worry that the cost of living will soon be too high for our citizens to afford because all the merchandise is sold by foreigners and they are overcharging our citizens because the GOSS has not regulated the prices in the market and many illegal businesses are over charging our citizens.

I was very surprised when Barri Wanji, who is the chairman of parliamentary committee to tackle corruption in government, made this statement to “The Financial Time, Limited” that, “We have decided to let them have a good time until we get the legal system in place.” My question is when is the government of South Sudan going to have a legal system place because it has been three years and we have no legal system in place?

The corruption in South Sudan has become a political culture where the politicians are directly stealing the public funds which are supposed to develop the South Sudan basic infrastructure.  Three years ago, the chief of international Monetary Fund (IMF) said, “South Sudan has enough resources from oil revenue to build the basic infrastructure.”  I believe no one can dispute that because if we can look at the budget spending for last three years by the government of South Sudan has been in the billions of dollars.

 The misappropriation of public funds in South Sudan by politicians is a complete disgrace for the people of South Sudan. When the Southern Sudanese took up arms in 1983, we have blamed the bourgeois in the center who have continued to accumulate the wealth for themselves and marginalized our people in terms of development, but the Southern politicians today are just doing that.

Two years ago the President of South Sudan said, “Zero tolerance to corruption,” and now corruption in South Sudan has become a national epidemic. Many of these politicians who are involved in the corruption are holding the ministerial positions in the government of South Sudan and they have not been charged. Several of these politicians are not concerned about the sufferings of our people but they are only concerned about enriching themselves.

The corruption in the government of South Sudan and economic reality has become nightmare for the ordinary people of South Sudan to survive the high costs of living.   Our leaders have gone to the extent that corruption has become a lifestyle for them because those who are involved in the corruption charges have not been convicted.

I believe the only way to root out the corruption in South Sudan is to appoint an independent and professional judiciary system to end the corruption within the government of South Sudan. The independent judiciary system could be a vital watchdog to insured that the corrupted officials are brought to justice and held accountable for their acts.

Corruption has been practiced by high level public officials in the government of South Sudan and many of them have not been brought to justice. I think it is important to have an independent judiciary system to improve the credibility of our justice system in South Sudan. I think we need a clean and capable judiciary system to combat the corruption in the government of South Sudan.  An independent judiciary system that must be able to enforce anti-money laundering measure against the public officials who have been accused of corruption within the government of South Sudan

 The corruption in South Sudan has become a chronic disease for many public officials within the government of South Sudan.  Since, we all know that corruption is both a major cause and the result of poverty in many societies and around the world. To help deal with corruption in South Sudan, the government of South Sudan should put in place an independent judiciary system and appoint a special prosecutor who can prosecute the public officials who are involved in corruption charges.

I believe if the GOSS can put in place an independent judiciary system, they will be able to eradicate the corruption in South Sudan, because the assigned special prosecutor will investigate, indict and prosecute the government officials who are involved in the charges.

As long as corruption remains a serious problem in South Sudan, the development in South Sudan will not be accomplished unless the government of South Sudan eradicates the corruption