Jon Bilek

Ms. Fit zpatrick

CGW 4U0

29 Dec 2023

The Consequences of Greed and Corruption in South Sudan

South Sudan is known as one of the least developed countries in the world. With a

population of 12 million as of 2023; 8.2 million are in extreme poverty (ISS Africa), and 7.8

million have had less food than they need (International Rescue Committee). These facts

encompass a larger portion of the population each year, yet the statistic that remains static is the

institutionalized corruption pervading South Sudan. South Sudan has ranked as the second most

corrupt country in 2022, consistent with the lowest 5 rankings since 2013 (Transparency

International). This blatant corruption affects every aspect of South Sudanese life, undermining

and perpetuating humanitarian crises occurring across the nation. This then poses the question:

should South Sudan ensure governmental stability or remodel their systems to combat the

widespread humanitarian issues? By assessing the inaction, greed, and corruption in developing

stability, the necessity to reshape South Sudan’s governmental systems and power structures is

unquestionable. The current governmental systems in South Sudan destroy the lives of their

people, and are completely unsustainable for a country of the 21st century.

The Unchecked Power of the Elite

The corruption that compounds South Sudan was not born out of a single incident, but

many that have shaped the course of South Sudanese history. South Sudan gained its

independence from Sudan in July of 2011 after 98% of the population voted in favour of

succession. Despite the years of rebellion to form this country, a power struggle between the
president, Salva Kiir, his cabinet, and vice president Riek Machar plunged the country into a

deadly civil war. In 2018, the Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South

Sudan (ARCSS) was signed. This agreement was aimed to do just that, and employ methods of

stability and power sharing. One of these methods is the formation of the Revitalized

Transitional Government of National Unity (RTGoNU) which was put into action in February of

2020, committed to implementing every facet of the ARCSS (Vhumbunu). The importance of

the formation of this country to the current situation of South Sudan cannot be understated. In

2011, Salva Kiir and his party (the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement) had the power to incite

a war ending the lives of hundreds of thousands, a result attributed solely to the desire for power.

Salva Kiir maintains the title of president, and through the actions himself and other elite has

exemplified, he maintains the powers that incited this unrest initially. Therefore, to create any

progress for humanitarian action, the power a president can have in national affairs must be

heavily restricted. One may think that the implementation of the RTGoNU had a significant

impact on the effectiveness of the government, by allowing for 5 vice presidents and a

parliament of 550 people of diverse parties and opinions. Yet, The World Bank Governance

Indicators on 6 aspects of the government’s effectiveness have either barely improved or

regressed further since the agreement was signed (The World Bank). What this shows more than

anything else, is the government’s inaction in upholding the responsibilities they agreed to in

2018, which would aim to decentralize power from a single party in the government. A blatant

example of this came with the allocation of responsibility at local scales. After the parties failed

to reach a consensus on the responsibility of states, Kiir arbitrarily decided which states would be

allocated to which party in May of 2020. This had nothing to do with the prevalence of the party

in that area, and was established with no systems in place on how local power would operate
(Vhumbunu). It is these unilateral decisions that destabilize the political structure of South

Sudan. Instead of reaching for long lasting policies and accountability, Salva Kiir continues to

vie for more power in government, regardless of the consequences. It is not just Salva Kiir whose

power goes unchecked, his greed has extended his network of influence to a string of systems

born of greed and loyalty. This is embodied by the financial sector which not only aids the

centralization of power but necessitates it. The government still lacks a single account for their

oil revenue, something that was promised in the peace agreement, allowing funds to be diverted

to the pockets of governmental elites, and powerful military figures. The distribution of power

through the oil industry was also signed in ARCSS, requiring 5% of the revenue made from oil

go to oil producing states. Though it is shown that this revenue scarcely makes it to those places

(Harutyunyan and Maslen). Regardless of the unbridled greed in these decisions, they keep the

country from progressing to the transparency, stability, and human rights enjoyed by developed

countries. As no methods of separating the government from their funds were employed in South

Sudan's inception, an authoritarian-adjacent bureaucracy was inevitable. Additionally, reports

from the auditor general to parliament have been kept out of the public domain to prevent

discussions on the matter of the government’s public finance control (Harutyunyan and Maslen).

This hasn’t stopped at just controlling the information coming out of parliament, as Salva Kiir

has fired four finance ministers, the foreign minister, and defense minister, all in complete

violation of the ARCSS (Wudu et al.). The complete control that Salva Kiir has over government

officials and national policy destroys any hopes for a dismantling of the power structures which

have breached the peace of the nation. The power-hungry systems that Kiir and those loyal to

him have created, intercept any distribution of power inside the government, permitting him and

his cabinet unchecked ability. Preventative actions must be taken to stop the further degradation
of stability perpetuated by the institutionalized greed undermining not just humanitarian issues,

but the hopes of an entire people.

The Brazen Corruption of the Economic System

The bureaucratic operation of the government does not simply serve the most loyal or

influential. Institutionalized economic corruption aids South Sudan’s elite, and takes away funds

publicly allocated to solving the country's largest issues, while destroying international relations.

The economic system must be changed to allow for transparent and reliable funds towards those

in dire need. This is evident in the country’s GDP which has decreased by 63% since 2011

(International Monetary Fund). This complete degradation of national wealth is attributed to a

malevolent system of wealth distribution to the elite. A UN report in September 2021 revealed

how more than $73 million USD was diverted to expenses for the South Sudanese elite.

Politicians, government officials, international corporations, and military officials have

participated with aid from the Ministry of Finance and the National Revenue Authority (United

Nations Human Rights Council). This incident only exemplifies a small portion of how South

Sudan manages their funds. These systems are in complete opposition to the judicial and

governmental systems the government is responsible for. These incidents are also a disrespect to

the countries and organizations who pledge their aid, and are destroying South Sudan’s

international relations. The unjust and evident theft of funds which South Sudan participates in is

compounded by the exploitation of their largest export: oil. Oil constitutes about 90% of South

Sudan’s revenue (Ngor), and the country has consistently promised loans of oil to pay for their

own incompetence. In one case, they received a loan from the UAE of US$539 million to be

repaid in oil sales. Instead of the money going into the designated oil revenue account, much of it

was paid into South Sudanese government official’s bank accounts (Harutyunyan and Maslen).
This is not a singular incident, and the redirection of funds aimed to aid financial stability has

occurred so consistently that the US has instilled a policy opposing the financial aid of South

Sudan beyond anything needed for humanitarian aid (Harutyunyan and Maslen). The short-term

gain to the country’s elite that the diversion of funds allows is completely reliant on the ignorant

benevolence of countries and corporations. South Sudan’s governance of funds has proved to be

completely unsustainable, and they are already facing the monetary consequences and inevitable

accountability. These systems were not recent in South Sudan’s history, and since the country's

independence there have been numerous scandals involving embezzlement and corruption of

national wealth. These scandals reveal the crushing weight that national corruption has on the

people, and how critically unsustainable it is. The largest of these scandals was investigated by

The Sentry in 2022 titled “Cash Grab”. Between 2012 and 2015, the government of South Sudan

received lines of credit from the Qatar National Bank and Stanbic bank in Kenya to help

communities import fuel and goods to the war torn people. These letters of credit ensuring goods

were instead given to ghost companies, military officials, and president Salva Kiir's own family.

By 2020, the matter remained unsolved, and none of the perpetrators were investigated for

corruption. $1 Billion USD promised for the people were never given, and the country was

plunged into severe debt (The Sentry). This incident not only formed the institutionalized

corruption which would shape the country for years to come but cemented the South Sudanese to

bear the weight. These systems allow very little money to go to any public resources, to aid the

rampant poverty in South Sudan. Despite estimates of national revenue, the government’s

consistent robbery of money specifically allocated for the people has been a necessary aspect of

their governance since their inception. To have any chance of South Sudan participating in the
positive aspects of globalization, supporting their people, or supporting their own economy, their

economic systems must be overhauled.

The Consequences of Corruption

Corruption is not simple in its cause and effect, and when it is as institutionalized as it is

in South Sudan, there are many branching effects. Through their national corruption, the

government has perpetuated instability on local scales in various sectors, to centralize more

power to themselves, and eliminate any peoples who threaten them. The systems of

redistribution to the wealthy which South Sudan relies on necessitates humanitarian aid for the

people, as funds are diverted away from the public. Yet even basic humanitarian aid is exploited

to aid the government. As humanitarian aid travels through the country, the only safe roads are

occupied by 139 checkpoints which charge a tax from humanitarian vehicles. These taxes are

vital, and are the largest non-oil revenue for government agents and security forces. Along with

this, the government has continuously and deliberately kept humanitarian forces away from their

military operations and regions largely supportive to rival parties (Harutyunyan and Maslen).

The permission of these checkpoints and their use to control basic aid is not only out of greed,

but allows complete control to the government to determine survival based on values. By

abusing their power and implementing a monetary incentive to minor figures, the government

ensures that they control any resource in their country and are not directly involved in the

immoral consequence. Despite all of these violent injustices being committed, the government

has not fully implemented every aspect of ARCSS. Many are dedicated to dismantling corrupt

systems which the government relies on, whose inaction directly aids them. For example, the

ARCSS agreed to develop systems to investigate corruption, and methods to combine every

localized militia in the nation into the national army to stop the rampant communal battles. So far
neither have been implemented, and the consequences happen to be exploitable by the

government (Harutyunyan and Maslen). The government has supported certain militias of the

racial majority for the purpose of destroying communities of minorities, and again discouraging

any humanitarian aid from opposition groups or corporations to access the people (ARTE.tv).

This perpetuated intercommunal violence, accounting for 60% of civilian casualties in 2022, and

the displacement of at least 257 thousand people (UN Office for the Coordination of

Humanitarian Affairs). The severe power imbalance between the government and the people that

allows free will to any government action is consistently being exploited. In their perpetuation of

intercommunal violence, an agenda of prejudice against race and political opinion is being fully

established. If the unchecked corruption in the government continues without investigation, these

atrocious policies could be enacted in law and more would have to suffer the consequences. Even

in their legal and police systems, the government’s corruption allows for inconsistent and unjust

actions to be taken. The South Sudan Police Force is guilty of this as they abuse their power to

unpredictably incarcerate protestors, journalists, or any citizen whatsoever. This corruption stems

from the lack of government funding for sometimes months at a time, though the systems these

people must endure are still inhumane. They are consistently held without trials, and as there is

only one court of appeal in the nation which abides by outdated laws, months of imprisonment

can result in violators of human rights walking free (Harutyunyan and Maslen). The reformation

of the legal system was again required in the ARCSS, though has never come about. The

government consistently withholds resources from valuable public services in their country,

escalating instability to allow for absolute power to themselves. The legal system is the epitome

of this: a system which should be just to all rendered underfunded and inconsistent. This is the

state of South Sudan. The Government’s unilateral decision making fueled by greed for influence
and monetary gain leads them to abuse unjust systems and exploit their people to ensure that the

echelon of power is never disrupted.

Counter-Argument

Despite the unarguable corruption of the government, and the devastating effects that it

has on their people, some would argue that the course of action is not clear. Reforming any of

these systems in an attempt to decentralize power and end the government’s unjust systems

would challenge the authority of the South Sudan elite. This would counteract the years of peace

that has occurred in South Sudan, and escalate tensions to possibly another civil war. This

argument holds the immediate threat of war more dangerous than the culling already occurring in

South Sudan. The government is supporting the destruction of communities holding racial and

political minorities. Not simply these groups, but anyone not of the elite is openly restricted from

human rights such as education, food, healthcare, security, and justice. The more outside factors

such as droughts, floodings, and refugees start to plague the country, the more deaths to the

populous. This outcome is identical to that of a civil war, yet further allowing these incredibly

immoral systems to operate does nothing to aid the people. Instead, progressive action must be

taken, more political power has to be given to the parliament, and a further separation of military

and government must be enacted. Whether this is initiated by pressure outside or inside the

nation, the human rights of a people can only be assured this way.

Conclusion

The situation inside of South Sudan is nothing less than a nightmare. The people live in

constant fear of not only the unsureness of their survival, but how the government will next

perpetuate it. The lives of innocents are constantly held to a lower degree than the power of those

in the upper echelon, and the purposeful lack of advancement only serves to centralize the power
further. Whether through financial, judicial, or governmental systems, the government constantly

exerts their power to gain every morsel of monetary and influential gain possible, and do

everything in their power to avoid accountability. The development of policies born out of

prejudice and hatred is already forming, and with the absolute power of the government no one

will be able to stop these if they fully form. A country in the 21st century cannot subsist by this.

When their actions cause their people to perish, their industries to fail, and their crops to wither,

what else will they have to gain? Who else’s actions will there be to blame but theirs? Action to

reform every system supporting South Sudan’s perpetual corruption must be taken, before there

will be no country to save.

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