USSP disapproves South Sudan plan to borrow from World Bank

– Your Excellency
– General Salva Kiir Mayardit
– The President of the Government of Southern Sudan

Date: 01/05/07

Your Excellency,

RE: YOUR GOVERNMENT’S PLAN TO BORROW UP TO £550 MILLION FROM THE WORLD BANK AND OTHERS

United South Sudan Party (USSP) is dismayed to learn from news reports that the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) is seeking to obtain a loan from the World Bank and other sources to cover a shortfall in the budget for 2007. Although USSP is not well versed with the depth of the financial problems your government is facing and any other reasons leading to your request for the above amount, this news report sounds almost unbelievable. One cannot imagine that your government would responsibly want to lead the country and its future generations into debt whilst the rest of the developing world is trying its utmost best to get out of debt.

Your Excellency, as you are well aware, our country has just emerged from one of the most devastating wars in Africa and the country lacks the necessary infrastructure to create a viable economy that will be capable of paying back such loans. The consequence will be that South Sudan will be forced to use whatever oil revenue it earns to pay back the interest on such loans and the country will inevitably become forever subjected to impoverishment. Unfortunately, with concern for the well being of South Sudanese people being our overriding motivation, USSP will not endorse or accept such decisions which will have far reaching negative consequences for generations to come.

Your Excellency, USSP believes that South Sudan is in a better position than most African countries that have found themselves crippled by World Bank loans in that it can learn from the mistakes of those other countries and cleverly avoid the same pitfalls. Your Excellency, as you are aware, most of these countries, including the Sudan itself, are using almost all their revenue to service such debts, leaving them with no money to meet the necessary investment in crucial services such as education, health care and so forth.

Your Excellency, USSP understands from the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that both the Government of the Sudan and the Government of Southern Sudan have pledged themselves to make ‘unity attractive’. With this in mind, we suppose that the Government of National Unity should be readily forthcoming to the aid of Government of South Sudan (GOSS) in order to pass the test of making ‘unity attractive’. If the Government of National Unity is not willing to bail out GOSS, it should be able to provide an internal loan to South Sudan under a special arrangement instead of leaving it to fall prey to the temptation of a World Bank Loan. Such a course of action would be beneficial to the entire Sudan because it will not give rise to payment to external agencies.

Your Excellency, USSP is of the opinion that the constant news of corruption coming out of South Sudan does not reflect GOSS as a government that is competent at managing its finances. With such a record within a short period of time of self rule, the request for a loan is likely to solicit scrutiny of your finances and intervention of foreign forces before you qualify for a loan, especially one that will commit innocent citizens to drastic and possibly inhuman conditions for the rest of their lives.

In conclusion, we recommend the following:

1. South Sudan should not be committed to a loan with far reaching consequences, especially given the fact that the present GOSS is an interim government without a democratic mandate of the South Sudanese people and without the long term ability to monitor the progress of payment of such a loan.

2. The Assembly or Parliament in South Sudan should debate this issue fully and come out with a clear position.

3. We strongly recommend that GOSS should be transparent in its dealings with international bodies, especially those that will commit every citizen to unnecessary burden and suffering. We trust that this letter will receive favourable attention by your government as we move forward together for the benefit of our nation (South Sudan).

Thank you very much.

Yours truly,

Clement Mbugoniwia,
THE LEADER
USSP

– Copied to the World Bank