South Sudan civil society sceptical of president Kiir’s speech on corruption

July 11, 2015 (JUBA) – Majority of South Sudanese members of the civil society alliance in the country have expressed scepticism over the commitment of president Salva Kiir to live up to his recent speech and implement pledges to combat corruption in public institutions, citing his previous declarations and statements which did not “hold water.”

“The speech of the president was great and one of the well prepared and encouraging one. I read it many times myself and I found it is loaded with powerful words indicating that the president would commit himself and his government to fighting corruption. What remains to be seen is whether these powerful words will be translated into real actions and followed with political commitment or they were uttered just for public consumption, and it will be usual business,” Anthony Sebit, a Nairobi based South Sudanese society activist told Sudan Tribune on Saturday.

President Salva Kiir, according to Sebit, uttered similar strong statements in his previous speech during the proclamation of independence on 9 July 2011, but failed to implement it.

“I read the recent speech [on 9 July 2015] and compared it with the speech he made in 2011 at the independence. The president in his own words which are there for everybody to judge said and I quote: Those who are unwilling or unable to make the sacrifices required in the public service will not be part of this government. They have options through which to satisfy personal aspirations and pursue other ambitions outside government,” Sebit recalled.

He further recalled that the president uttered that “Transparency and accountability is pivotal. Official corruption has been one of our major challenges during the interim period. In order to develop our country, and deliver on the important goals of our National Development Plan, it is critical that we fight corruption with dedication, rigour, and commitment.”

“This is what he said at the independence on July 9th 2011, and whether he followed the speech with actions is there for everybody to judge,” he observed.

President Kiir also in 2012 said he identified 75 of his former and current government officials who stole a total sum of $4 billion US dollars over the years and asked them to return the money. Nobody among the officials returned the money and no single person was arrested, taken to court or prosecuted for the alleged crime.

Meanwhile Edmond Yankani, executive director for community empowerment for progress organization said his organization together with other members of the civil society alliance in South Sudan will monitor the implementation of promises which the president made during the independence day celebrations in the national capital, Juba.

The speech of the president enumerated issues he would tackle during the period of three years granted to him by the national legislature. He vowed commitment of his administration to bringing peace, make reconciliation and prepare the nation to go for general elections.

Other areas in which the president expressed commitment of his government included fighting corruption, reviewing the constitution and giving humanitarian access to the conflict affected areas in the country.

The president told the nation at the independence celebration that he had dismissed officials he believed to have abused their positions in the government in the issuing of US dollars to some companies at a low exchange rate to import basic food items and essential services to the nation.

“I would like to inform the public that the principle of zero tolerance to corruption will never be a slogan but a reality,” president Kiir told the audience at the independence celebration on Thursday 9 July, adding, “Those who are abusing public offices will not only be dismissed but will face justice.”

The president, however, did not name who were among the officials he had removed from their positions due to corruption and what did his administration do to ensure that the public resources they had stolen were traced and returned to the national treasury and those found to have taken the resources illegally taken to court to answer for their actions.

It was not also clear whether he was referring to recent decisions in which he replaced the managing director of the national oil company and the undersecretary in the ministry of commerce. The two are among some of the public institutions which were involved in the approval of Letters of Credit (LCs). The president also sacked two senior officials from his office for allegedly stealing hundreds of millions using the president’s signature, but no legal action yet taken against them.

Commenting on the Thursday’s speech of the president, Yakani told reporters on Saturday that his organization will be reporting on the progress of the promises on monthly basis after an observation report at the end of this month.

“The president has said it very clear that it is time corrupt officials are not only being sanctioned by dismissal, but will also be prosecuted,” Yakani said. “We need to see that at least these words hold water.”

(ST)