South Sudan’s political elite plundering public coffers
JUBA: Massive plundering of South Sudan’s public coffers is undermining human rights in the world’s youngest nation and threatening its already fragile peace process, a UN report said on Thursday.
Since independence a decade ago, South Sudan has struggled to emerge from five years of civil war, and is battling chronic instability, economic chaos, ethnic violence and a hunger crisis. The UN’S Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said a “staggering” amount of money and other wealth had been diverted from public coffers and resources — more than $73 million (62 million euros) since 2018, with almost $39 million stolen over a period of less than two months. It described the figure as only a fraction of the overall amount looted, saying President Salva Kiir had admitted as far back as 2012 that South Sudan’s ruling elites had diverted more than $4 billion.
“This plundering also continues to fuel political competition amongst elites, and is a key driver of the ongoing conflict, violations and serious crimes, jeopardising the prospects for sustainable peace,” the commission said in a report.
A 2018 ceasefire to end the civil war and a power-sharing deal was agreed between Kiir and his rival turned deputy Riek Machar but little progress has been made in fulfilling the deal’s terms.