Corruption is a personal crime not political
By Isaiah Abraham
April 27, 2011 — The government of the people of Southern Sudan promised people that it would not entertain corrupt practices within government institutions. Anti-corruption Commission was established in 2006 headed by a doyen lady in the person of Dr. Paulino Riak. The body she heads is an independent financial watch dog mandated to investigation and make necessary follow up with relevant authorities to arraign financial accusers in custody, and subsequently bring them to courts. So far, the Anti-Corruption Unit had tried to fight corruption but too little has been achieved. Six years done the line, there have been loud outcry that the body (Anti-Corruption) is not doing enough to go further than recording corrupt cases.
The strong lady however has started to show signs of taking the war to criminals. All along she has been arguing that her Unit ‘isn’t a police or a court’. But somewhere last year after Parliament passed the Anti-Corruption Bill, there are signs of activities towards that end. For example, an Undersecretary in the Ministry of Education was accused, and this month the court charged her of theft and was sentenced for ten (10) years imprisonment. Last month (March 2011), the Auditing team from Auditor General ‘qualified’ books of accounts for the Ministry of Labor and Public Service as; four senior staffs of that Ministry were implicated and are reported to be behind bars in Juba Prisons.
The dura scam of 2008 has now surface and big fish are likely going to appear before the law on what had happened to the money at that time. Recall the money was said to have been distributed to Ten (10) States but the bags of dura weren’t delivered. The current minister of Finance had already passed the bug to his predecessor and the public is waiting with a baited breath on who are these people in the first place that pocketed four (4) billion pounds.
I have seen this Paulino beating her chest that she will go for nothing short of zero tolerance to corruption in the Government of the people of Southern Sudan. Is the Anti-corruption Commission bold enough to apply justice irrespective of any person involve or will the body be selective of who to prosecute and who not? We will wait and see! For now though she needs strong backing from the public and the government. Lip service to corruption was exploited by people who were looking for anything to discredit the people’s government.
Auditor General is a disappointment, and badly wants him to go! He spoiled my day during his Press Conference regarding his strategies for the next few years or months. Mr. Wondu labored for hours to tell the public tangible challenges his department faces. Lack of qualified auditors wasn’t a challenge. Again when did Auditing become an institutional matter in our third world countries? True we need internal auditor in every institution but for now external auditors could have done much. External auditors aren’t missing; they are everywhere. He was ‘corrupt’ with his words to the public.
But the truth of the matter is that corruption fights back. It has already started to do so long enough as some groups have started to cry foul that their sons and daughters are victimize. Regions are ganging up against their own people, and tribes are cursing the government of having targeted their sons. This is nonsense! Financial criminals must not apply cheap politics to hide behind their people and bubble about what others haven’t done. Crime doesn’t ascribe to be tribe but personality; you commit it you face the law. That charged Undersecretary didn’t send money to Uganda using Madi people but her conscience directed her to do so. Public officials at the ministry of Labor and Public Service didn’t inflate allowances; they did it individually with no one form their families. If we continue to associate crimes with our people then we missed it wide.
Let no one politicize the drive please; after all we have been charging that the government is doing nothing, isn’t that good to cheer them up so to eradicate the deadly vice once and for all? I strongly feel so, and don’t see any reason of defending anyone who is on the wrong side of the law. Some people say but why Dr. Josephine when others have cashed away more, and the point is that the alleged theft haven’t be proven. We all know how the law works, don’t we? Unless evidences show it otherwise, the person is deemed innocent. Whirls of rumors have been in the air for sometimes now, but if you dig deep in to the alleged corrupt practices at GOSS, you find that nothing concrete that proves the suspected. Hence it is not fair to make judgment before proving it in white and black.
Some of the claims in the air aren’t all true. I’m saying these for the sake of the truth; in our today payment systems in Finance Ministry, its not easy for an individual to walk away with money without being noticed. Thanks to friends from overseas who are stationed there! If you want a claim or money it takes you not less than 6 stages by different bodies before it is actually banked. This means that we have come a long way from our initially start of our financial management system in 2006 and 2007. Mr. Tisa and Garang, the Undersecretaries there are doing their best, and we should commend them for job well done.
Allow me to go religious below: corruption my people, is a sin before it becomes a crime. If this land would be exorcised from evils of old, we should not defend anyone who wants to get rich quickly. In our last government in Juba here in the seventeenth and eighties, we failed really to live within our means, but did everything to amassed ill gotten wealth, and God blew everything away. We can’t repeat our past mistakes again. Let’s not make God angry. It is a sin for the people of God in the South to ignore that we had Almighty God taking care of us at that time, and still around with us during the peace time. The South must do everything to protect its image abroad; my people weren’t corrupt before.
Isaiah Abraham writes from Juba, he is reachable at [email protected]
Nyieth-Aguthon
Corruption is a personal crime not political
Isaiah Abraham.
Southern Sudan is under Corruption’s command. Each looter has his or her own individual brand of looting. A particular kind of looting can come to an end only by the death of the looter.
Looters should be hanged as a illustration for entire nation. Corruption has become part of our life, especially our boss have made the government system so corrupt that every person consider it their own right, right to misuse public funds.
Even though corruption is everywhere, South Sudan one is too much. I do not even think if new constitution would help fighting poor financial management down there.
Cibaipiath Junub Sudan
Corruption is a personal crime not political
Dear Isaiah Abraham,
I thank you for bringing up corruption as a topic. I therefore, want you to define it to reflect its terminals. It is really a personal crime and sometime became a political crime if the top officials are silent, reluctant and leaned against the walls of corruption without taking seriouse majors against those who practice it.
It has gone in to the nervous systems of Government officials. Some of them have gone beyond apex of corruption by cutting the tits of the lacting cows and left udder to swell. I am referring to the Ministry of Internal Affairs specially Prisons Service which you have just given an example.
Demoted officers are crying for help when their budget continues to follow and their money is used by the bottle neck officials who have acquired luxurious assets for themselves. Government vehicles are now owned and GOSS number plates meant for GoSS vehicles is changed to CE number plates. Every GOSS official has stacked 5-15 cars in his/her homestead while some key government officials walked on foot and sat in dirty and filthy offices. These lucky officials term Government of South Sudan as Government of Self Service. They get positions to serve themselves better while others are still deterioting. Their wives and children are all in abroad. Sometimes, Key Government officials spent ends in abroad.
If corruption was a personal crime why is the Government silent about complaints of the employees? Why sometimes, President is drived to accept activities whose outcome are 100% corruption? Why the Ministries are not seeking the Monthly, Quarterly and Annually progressive reports from their subbordinates or line Ministries?
Corruption is in the nerves of the officials and all GOSS officials are affected and if it was a virus like HIV/AIDS all of them would die.
Southern Folks are to be appreciated for being patient. They are really the one who are fighting for the sucession and declaration of the South Sudan Independent. The GOSS officials are really concern with how to get their daily bread- They all have one prayer which Jesus had taught his Disciple I.E “Our Father ….” Otherwise, if this issue is not taken care of as of now, South Sudan is going to be like the arabs countries-There is going to massive protest against GOSS. Therefore, Corruption is a personal crime and at the same time a political crime if Government is silent about it.
Takpiny
Corruption is a personal crime not political
Mr Isaiah Abraham , corruption might be personal crime in the countries that knew role of laws and regulations but in the south Sudan corruption is really abusing of power because those in power with their family members are the most corrupted people they thought that south Sudan is their own property which is not correct though.
GOSS ministers MPs and States governors don’t know exactly the different between their own salaries and public founds they grabbed up very thing as much as they like. Also nobody knows a different between the SPLM as a party and the GOSS.
SPLM has huge budget and that money come from public founds otherwise, there is no an other source for SPLM party to make money .and that why i used a word abusing of power, have a power in the south Sudan, have chance to practised any type of corruption you like. what a nation.
Catch 22
Corruption is a personal crime not political
The prosecution of corruption cases in south Sudan has forever been prejudiced at the onset of the establishment of the government of south Sudan where powerful people who looted public funds were left to carry on with their lives in total disregard to common knowledge that they stole. To make the matter worse, the anti corruption body appeared not interested to investigate these cases and where initial investigations had already began, the trail went cold for obvious reasons (political and ethnic connection). As if that is not enough, other less connected persons who are implicated are expeditiously rushed to the courts with the zeal and intention of having them convicted and jail to prove the courts are working without completely proving their guilt. Josephine Lagu’s case is one such case where a pre-trial court clearly concluded that she has no case and her persecutors appeal to the court of appeal which after a thorough review affirm the decision of the high court. To change the tactics, the prosecutor appeal the case to the supreme court under justice Wol Madut. After quashing the verdict of not guilty by the previous courts he went on to pronounce a guilty verdict on Josephine without giving her even a hearing and asked a compliant judge to implement his verdict since other previous presiding judges were deliberately transferred to avoid rejecting the implementation of such politically motivated verdict. The decision of Justice Wol is an embarrassment to the legal fraternity and contravenes the supreme court procedures. If Justice wol believes there was overwhelming evidence to implicate Josephine Lagu, he should have call for a re-trial. It is this blatant abuse of the justice institution to settle political scores that south Sudanese from all walks of life find it distasteful and doubts the credibility of the courts to dispense justice impartially devoid of the need to please political godfathers. In fact Justice Wol has been call out of retirement, I suggest he voluntarily retires before the least remaining faith in the justice system melts away. Failure to stand to this corrupt tendencies and abuse of the justice system will cost us big one day.