As allegations of embezzlement mount, Kiir keeps his accounts under lock and key

Reports of illegal practices and a lack of openness in South Sudan continue to mount, but President Salva Kiir’s government refuses to share its financial or oil statistics.

South Sudan was named the most corrupt country in East Africa in 2020.

Transparency International recently classified the country as the most corrupt in the world, trailed only by Somalia. Syria took the initiative.

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights charged certain South Sudanese lawmakers and top government officials of stealing at least $36 million since 2016.

The Sentry revealed in December of the same year that some South Sudanese elites were laundering money and engaging in grand corruption through networks in the United Kingdom.

According to the UN Development Programme’s 2019 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index in Sub-Saharan Africa, the level of inequality in South Sudan is “huge.”

South Sudan’s inequality is estimated to be 91.9 percent, according to the research. A group of major donors to South Sudan has urged the unity government to make key oil and non-oil revenue data available to the public as part of public financial management reforms.

Many people have frequently stated that fiscal statistics, including oil and non-oil revenues, should be published on the Ministry of Finance and Planning’s website on a regular and timely basis.

Whatever outstanding sum owed to Sudan under the Transitional Financing Arrangement, as well as any debt Sudan may currently owe South Sudan from the oil it receives in kind each day, should likewise be made public.

The Kiir administration has repeatedly been charged with the importance of continuing and strengthening current reforms, which demonstrate the government’s commitment to the reform process and enhance trust with international partners, but Kiir appears to keep everyone in the country in the dark about the country’s current financial situation.

However, Kiir has consistently kept his account under lock and key. He has been keeping his account private for a long time.

When it comes to implementing important components of the peace deal, the country’s financial situation will be made public.

Kiir appears to be ignoring and refusing to obey the ban on accumulating new non-concessional debt, notably by not issuing letters of guarantee, putting ordinary residents at risk of greater taxes and increased government spending.

All efforts to fix exchange rates have yielded no real results, no good monetary policy, and no policies that are meant to be critical to preserving low inflation. South Sudanese population are constantly subjected to escalating prices.

The Bank of South Sudan, which was intended to refrain from any monetary financing of the budget shortfall, would fund it in the recently approved budget.

Was the Revitalized Transitional Legislature going to debate the budget? The MPs appear to be toothless rubber stamps. The budget was just passed “as is.”

A fully effective Cash Management Committee, which is critical to prudent expenditure in accordance with financial allocations, received no attention.

Kiir has avoided the much-anticipated full and thorough audit of the IMF loan’s second tranche. There has been no progress report on anti-money laundering improvements as outlined in the Financial Action Task Force Plan.

“We reiterate our commitment to a peaceful and prosperous South Sudan, where the populace benefits from public services supported by transparent and responsible public financial management,” the coalition concluded.

According to a study released this year by the United Nations Human Rights Commission, $73 million has been embezzled from South Sudan’s government finances since 2018.

Following the release of the report, human rights groups stated that corruption is rampant in the country and is encouraged by politicians and official institutions.

Furthermore, South Sudan’s Auditor General stated in a late-year report that there were “ineligible payments of $2,134,080 paid to individual accounts and $849,830 irregularly spent on salary arrears in foreign embassies from June 2019 to July 2020.”

During the audit, the Auditor General stated that the government also failed to produce supporting paperwork for $468,287 in payments.