UN accuses South Sudan’s Leaders of Systematic Corruption
The United Nations has accused the leadership of South Sudan of engaging in widespread corruption, siphoning billions of dollars from the country’s public funds while the majority of the population faces severe food shortages.
A new report from the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan paints a grim picture of a nation where a small elite has “institutionalized” the systematic plundering of national resources since the country’s independence in 2011.
Released on Tuesday, the 101-page report claims that various schemes have been used to divert public revenue, leaving South Sudan’s citizens struggling with deteriorating living conditions.
The Commission describes South Sudan as being “captured by a predatory elite,” where officials use the country’s wealth for personal gain while essential services like healthcare, education, and food aid are outsourced to international donors.
“Corruption is killing South Sudanese,” the report declares, noting that the state has effectively abandoned its duties to its people in favor of enriching a powerful few. In particular, the UN focuses on the country’s oil-for-roads program, which allegedly diverted funds intended for infrastructure projects.
The program, meant to improve roads using oil revenues, reportedly misused up to $1.7 billion out of a $2.2 billion allocation. Despite the massive funding, most of the planned roads remain incomplete.
One of the central figures highlighted in the report is Benjamin Bol Mel, a businessman with close ties to President Salva Kiir, who was appointed second vice president in 2023. According to the UN, Mel’s connections helped funnel oil revenue into companies linked to him, exacerbating the country’s financial instability.
The report also points to a scheme involving Crawford Capital Ltd., a company accused of siphoning millions of dollars through irregular government e-services, including electronic visas. The Commission asserts that corruption in South Sudan is severely hindering the government’s ability to meet its human rights obligations and has led to an ongoing food crisis.
Food security analysts estimate that 76 of South Sudan’s 79 counties are facing a severe food emergency. With little funding directed toward alleviating the crisis, millions of South Sudanese are left to survive in the face of both political corruption and the absence of critical state support.
While the government has denied the UN’s accusations, calling the report a smear campaign against the country and its leadership, the findings underscore the deepening divide between the country’s ruling elite and the suffering population. As South Sudan continues to grapple with its systemic issues, international attention is increasingly focused on holding its leaders accountable for mismanaging public resources at the expense of the nation’s most vulnerable citizens.
