South Sudan soldiers - Courtesy

South Sudan, ten years after independence, is still a deeply fragile country, the US government has said.

The Biden Administration says the country is affected by weak governance, persistent insecurity, and corruption.

In a 2022 report to the congress on the US policy toward South Sudan, the department of state, in consultation with the USAID and other federal departments and agencies, the Joe Biden administration says it has three main priorities in South Sudan.

This include, support the emergence of core institutions of democratic governance to counter violent competition for political power.

Others are to reduce the need for humanitarian assistance, and lay the groundwork for a self-reliant South Sudan that can enable long-term recovery and economic growth.

Transparency International 2021 Perceptions Index ranked South Sudan as the most corrupt country in the world.

South Sudan was graded number 180, out of 180 countries studied in the report.

The report often attributes the reasons to the weak democratic foundation and the manipulation of undemocratic and populist politicians who use it to their advantage.

In South Sudan, a similar ranking in 2019 indicated impunity the leaders exercise in managing public resources.

At the higher levels, the UN reported that millions of dollars have continued to be siphoned out of the country by the elites.

President Salva Kiir acknowledged that the country is not getting enough from the non-oil revenue following the decline in oil production and sales.

Some civil servants, including security officers, have admitted that they demand bribes from the public due to delayed salary payments and the economic meltdown.

The common forms of corruption in the security sector include freeing of suspects in exchange for money, conspiring with criminals, and organized crime gangs in the trafficking of drugs, humans, and weapons.

A report conducted by the Sentry in 2019 showed top government officials as profiteers in the South Sudan conflict.

According to the report, “kleptocratic” South Sudan leaders and foreign individuals and companies have accumulated billions of dollars.

It is recommended to the international community to deny corrupt officials from accessing luxury goods and property abroad.

The Sentry also demanded going after entire networks, including international facilitators, and sounding the alarm on corrupt real estate acquisitions.

Some citizens blamed corruption on the way Kiir’s government handles corruption cases.

Several reports, including the latest – Oil or Nothing: Dealing with South Sudan’s Bleeding Finances – suggest that the administration misappropriated the country’s riches.

In November last year, President Kiir’s press secretary Ateny Wek Ateny said the government was unable to prosecute corrupt officials for fear of rebellion.

The statement came days after President Salva Kiir accused some of his former senior officials of siphoning off the country’s resources.

The unnamed officials, Kiir said, have opened personal bank accounts outside the country and have built skyscrapers and luxurious apartment complexes with money from the state coffers.

On the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement, the US government says the political deadlock between President Kiir and Dr. Machar over the allocation of the command positions and compositions of forces has prevented graduation of the forces.

It says the continued absence of of competent, trained, political security forces is a contributing factor to growing levels of subnational violence and must be addressed for the unity government to deliver its promise of a secure environment for free and fair democratic national elections.

The Joe Biden administration says the defections within the SPLM-IO have also contributed to subnational violence.

It further states that escalating harassment, intimidation, and arrests by national security and other government officials have had a chilling effect on civic spaces and caused many civil society and media actors to self-censor, resign, withdraw from peace process activities, and or flee the country.

According to the US government, the government of South Sudan lacks fiscal discipline and transparency in managing public finance and has low capacity to manage the country’s convoluted and oil-dependent budget resulting in large-scale corruption and insufficient fiscal transparency.

It says South Sudan’s governance failures have also become a key driver of national and subnational violence and, as such, sustanie reform, transparency, and accountability is critical to resolving the root causes of conflict.

On transitional justice, the US says South Sudan government made small steps and there are efforts to expand access to justice in the democratic system and address conflict-related sexual violence.

Despite efforts to combat corruption, reduce conflict and improve respect for human rights in South Sudan, the US government says the youngest country is far from these goals.

It further says it will continue to impose costs on those who perpetuate the conflict in South Sudan and will continue to apply pressure on the senior leadership of South Sudan to take concrete measures to bring peace and stability to the country.

The government of South Sudan is yet to comment on the US report.