War on corruption in southern Sudan
By Malith Kur*
“If you swallow something that does not belong to you, you’ll be forced to vomit it out.”
August 23, 2007 — The war on corruption declared by Kiir is, to some extent, the basic logical attempt the government of South Sudan is trying to implement to root out this ill in our system of government. But the fight against corruption is not going to be an easy war to win. It will need a combination of many strategies to achieve success in this front. Therefore our government’s strategists need to identify the root causes of corruption within the system of government in South Sudan. If the above declaration is genuine, one can make some suggestions and analyses on the causes which lead to corrupt practices. Hence, incentives to help government officials avoid embezzlement of public properties can be devised. So, the most important factors which contribute to corruption include lack of accountability and transparency in our system, the only available employer is the government, no independent body that audits government expenditures, and lack of institutions to manage government resources.
The people of South Sudan have never had a chance to know what the authorities have been doing on their behalf since the GOSS was created two years ago. This is so because there is no mechanism in place to propagate information to the public about the government policy and business. Therefore people rely on rumors coming from sources that are closed to the authorities. But these sources never give out accurate information to the public since there will be two sides of the story to any information. Those who might be on different sides could manipulate information in their favour leaving the people in dilemma. So we are victims of both the absence and manipulation of information. Hence in this situation the lack of independent media has handicapped the circulation of vital information for public consumption. Here, the government conducts its business knowing that public opinion will not be an important factor because the members of the public will not show their approval or disapproval of government policies so long as they know nothing about them. So we need accountable and transparent system.
This lack of independent media has reduces public trust in the government. Even the SPLM as a political party that is going to compete in the upcoming general election has not yet put in place a mechanism of communicating with its power base. So GOSS’s accountability to the people of South Sudan is an issue that must take a different path so that the GOSS proves itself as a reliable shepherd of our people. So the lack of accountability on the part of our government encourages corruption because the public funds are being allocated to projects that do not exist. But no one seems to question those devious contracts until it is too late. This is so because the members of the public are not involved in the administration of the country.
The other major factor that helps corrupt officials to run their dirty business unchecked is the lack of system which monitors the administration of public funds. Many workers that now do not exist are being paid salaries every month draining the government treasury, but little if anything is being done to stop these criminal activities. This money goes into the pockets of those corrupt civil servants who have no remorse in allowing the practice to continue. One example cited by the Daily Citizen is the Aweil Mairam road project that has been taking a big chunk from the Southern Sudan Share of oil revenues but it has not been questioned by anybody. The question is do the people of South Sudan know that there is Aweil Mairam road project? The answer is no. None of us knew of the project until it was exposed by the Daily Citizen. So the fight against corruption in South Sudan requires a lot of commitment from all wings of government and members of the communities. Here we require honest people who want to serve our country in building a credible system which will discourage individuals from pocketing public money. Individuals working for the government must be made aware that as the President of Government of South Sudan puts it, “If you swallow something that does not belong to you, you will be forced to vomit it out.” All people serving in the positions of authority should be educated about the dangers that corruption brings to the country and her system. They must also know that there are serious consequences which they will face when they are caught in corrupt practices. Above all, these civil servants are serving their people most of whom have paid ultimate price to bring about the little freedom we enjoy. So we need honest and qualified individuals to take care of our resources. The government must make information available to the public in order to help in the war against corruption. In this way, the GOSS will have enough resources to fight corruption in public places.
Furthermore, the other factor that leads people to practice corruption is the lack of employment. The only employer available to the people of South Sudan at the moment is the government itself. In this situation, people compete for government positions even when they know they are not qualify to hold such positions. Here the element of nepotism comes into play. Those in the position of authority will try to offer employment to those who are related them. So such people will play around with public resources without proper supervision. In this regard, the GOSS can take different majors to stop nepotism. The best step in this direction is to make sure certain criteria are followed when government jobs are offered to individuals. Employment standards should be introduced to discourage nepotism. In addition, our government must encourage and strengthen private sector to help in job creation.
In fact, our young system of government needs to introduce accountable and transparent system that helps cooperation between the government and the members of the communities. In this regard, Independent media is a requirement that must be available to the people of South Sudan to assist the authorities in running of the country. The public has the right to know what the government is doing so that they form opinion about it.
* The author is based in London Ontario, Canada. he can be reached at [email protected]
Eluzai Abe Hakim
War on corruption in southern Sudan
The article by Mr.Malith Kur entitled,”War on Corruption in Southern Sudan”,Sudan Tribune 24th August 2007 touches on an important subject which must not be treated lightly.Mr.Malith makes some pertinent points to the issue of Corruption in Government and the need to identify the root causes of corruption within the Government system in the Southern Sudan.He alluded to the difficulty inherent in winning the war against corruption and suggested that we identify a “combination of many strategies” to fight corruption.This is a well thought out article.
The developed Nations of the Western World do not trust African Governments and often brand them in the Western media as universally corrupt.Many politicians from Mobutu of the Congo to Abacha of Nigeria, just to name a few high profile cases, have stowed away billions of public funds in foreign Banks beyond the reach of their Nations after their deaths depriving their countries of necessary development funds.Many Ex.African politicians and civil servants live in luxury in London and other Western cities, own Houses, send their children and relatives to top schools on public funds because there are no measures in place to recover such stolen funds nor arrangements in place to extradite such culprits for trial in their countries of origin.Whether this is because the money in the foreign banks earns the host countries interest and therefore a welcome source of revenue or because of the so called Human rights of the fugitive corrupt politicians defeats conventional logic.
My own view is that to address corruption in the Southern Sudan, at least, the following measures need to be in Place:
1.If a Politician or civil servant is proven to have stolen money from the public purse, the money must be recovered either in kind or through the sale of any houses they have bought in the Southern Sudan or abroad and the proceeds invested in a development project such as a school, a Hospital, a bridge, road or other useful project which benefits society as a whole.Such action must be given wide publicity to act as a deterrent to others with a similar frame of mind!
2.Given the dire poverty in African countries, and in the Southern Sudan in particular,an Extradition treaty needs to be signed with donor Nations to facilitate the extradition of errant politicians who have stolen money back to the Southern Sudan for trial.The treaty should also include the remittence of the stolen funds to the Ministry of finance and such money should be tied to a project immediately.The details of the project, its location and programme needs to be advertised to give the public confidence that the money is not being recycled through another civl servant’s personal bank account.
3. All Ministers and civil servants should declare their assets before taking up office so that the public knows what they had prior to assuming public office
4.Audited Government Accounts should be published Quarterly in a Government Gazette for purposes of transparency and if Development money is found to be short an immediate explanation must be given.There should be a public accounts committee to vet the use of development money and advise the Minister of Finance.Most Ministers of finance have no knowledge of Finance.If they do the knoweldge is is often out of date.
5.There must be good Governance marked by Transparency and accountability.Public services must be developed so that everyone benefits.People from Africa enjoy life in the developed countries because the standards in public life are so strict that payment of taxes to fund schools, security, water, roads are extremely strict.consequently services are excellent and hence life is very good for everyone.We can do the same in the Southern Sudan if the public funds are used for the provision of the services the people need through an honest and open system.Self reward through theft denigrades the Southern Sudan
Finally, all aid should be awarded in Kind and any finaces must be doled out from a strictly controlled fund by A National committee on which sit clergymen and women, professionals, lay people and Members of parliament.I admit you cannot run a country by committee, but for the Southern Sudan this seems necessary now.Someone has to watch the till. Those proven to have dipped their hands into the public purse should ne named and shamed and employment for them made difficult becuase of lack of trust in them.Such negative incentives which bring shame to the person concerned and his/her family at large will go a long way to stemming the tide of corruption which threatens our young Nation.Of all the colonised parts of the World by the Western World, Africa reamins the most underdeveloped despite being endowed with mineral and agricultural resources.Vietnam bounced back after a serious war to become the World’s top rice exporter.Singapore and Malaysia now export technology to the West! For Southern Sudan it is waking up time now.Theft, corruption,call it what you may will never develop us!!!