South Sudan’s Minister of Justice Paulino Wanawilla recently acknowledged the existence of corrupt officials in the Ministry of Justice, as well as throughout the government. This is a significant statement highlighting the pervasive nature of corruption in South Sudan. In a recent article, the Sudan Tribune quotes the Minister as saying, ““I know in South Sudan corruption is not in one place, but it’s very sad when everybody is stealing.”
The article also points out that allegations of corruption and admission of its existence are not new in the country, and since independence in 2011 no one has ever actually been prosecuted for graft:
Since the ruling Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) came to power in 2005 over $4 billion of state funds have gone unaccounted for, according the South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir. In July 2012, President Kiir wrote to 75 top politicians asking them to return money stolen from public coffers and be exempted from prosecution. It remains unknown if any money was returned to an account opened in neighbouring Kenya.
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(The Sentry, an initiative of the Enough Project, seeks to disrupt and ultimately dismantle the networks of perpetrators, facilitators, and enablers who fund and profit from Africa’s deadliest conflicts.)