If South Sudan had inherited anything from
the Sudan which is so counter-progress, so dehumanizing and so much
against the very reason for independence, it is corruption. Corruption
or baksheesh, as it is known in Sudan and some nations in the Arab world has horrifically grown into a customary among the public officials
of the new republic. It looks like the system in place - including the
functions and operations of the anti-corruption body- has no enough
tentacles to ensnare this malignant anti-development and bring it to its
finale. A few months into independence as a sovereign nation and no sign is
visible yet from the government on how to tackle issues related to corruption. The
anti-corruption has thus slipped into oblivion. It never says anything even as
public officials declare their wealth whether they are living below or above
their means.
The only credible indication that greets the
public, whenever a corruption case appears, is an attempt by the SPLM to round it
off to one infinite answer - blaming some of the members within the rank-and-file of the movement for what is obviously government embezzlement of public
funds. The public is left with no doubt that the scheme and other tactical
planks used by the SPLM are for covering up the whole matter in a single
wrapping. But could this be the real answer to the element of corruption in the
system?
In 2007, an investigation was launched into
what appeared to be the new country's huge financial scandal in which a finance
minister, Arthur Akuein Chol, was implicated. The government was in sheer
disbelief and shaken for what might transpire in such an investigation. The
results of the investigation were going to delegitimize the ruling party in the
eyes of the citizens who have placed a fair amount of trust in the people's
party. Before the investigation could be finalized, Arthur was quickly arrested
by the judge and minister who cared less about the due process of law as
enshrined in the investigation. The judge, Justice Makuei Lueth, failed to wait
for the due process of law which provides that, pending an investigation, a
person should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. He covertly invited
Arthur for some talks and promptly had him arrested. Even Arthur's lawyer
wasn't aware of the events that were unraveling with his client. It was in the
same spirit that Arthur was freed by his supporters who feared the game
was intended to end in one man's show, in which Arthur was to be the only
scapegoat and culprit in the corruption ring. The report to the parliament had
earlier indicated that between 2005-2006 financial year, US$1 billion went
unaccounted for from the national treasury.
A few years have since passed when earlier this
year, Arthur Achuein Chol accused the SPLM Secretary-General, Pagan Amum, of
having the knowledge of the whereabouts of US$30 million dollars transferred to
the party's account. Arthur did make a mistake somehow by failing to
differentiate between the SPLM as a party and its Secretary-General in the
person of Pagan Amum, who is responsible for the affairs of the party. He later
lost the court case due to that articulation error. It appeared he never
stuffed the money into the personal account of the party's secretary, as
acknowledged by the court in the defamation case. This was the deciding
position of the presiding judge. Surprisingly nonetheless, the
court admitted that the money was wired to the party's accounts by Mr. Arthur
Achein Chol as commanded by the 'orders from above.' 'The 'above,'
too high to guess was not identified. The judge, Lado, under duress from the chief justice
Chan Reec Madut, who made his intimidating presence in the court on the day of
the hearing, presumably in an effort to protect 'the above,' fined Arthur the
sum of US$37,000 for the defamation of Pagan Amum, the party's Secretary-General, or The SG, as he is famously referred to.
Where then, had this fiasco left the nation?
The vast majority of South Sudanese seem to think mechanically on the issue and
have therefore settled on the fact that Arthur remains the culprit and Pagan
Amum is innocent. The issue has therefore become a government-controlled and
tribally or regionally oriented saga. No doubt while Pagan was keenly
celebrating his innocence, the SPLM party was feeling an allergic impact from
the ruling. The public too, gullible on the festooned personality of the
secretary-general and the endeared party, never thought twice of what it meant
when the judge declared Pagan innocent on the premise that the party's accounts
were in receipt of the money. No one wants to hear that the people's party is
implicated despite the fact that all the big sharks of the SPLM party have
grown richer in a short span of time. Are we clear about the ruling in the
first place?
Since the nation has inherited a robotic judicial system that characterized the old Sudan, no justice is independent
and vocal enough to probe the SPLM for corruption. Arthur hinted again that he
would appeal the case, probably to straighten his language more appropriately
by bringing the SPLM into the arena as a suspect in the corruption case. If he
goes on with it - though this would be a personal tragedy he must be hunting
for - will the SPLM party honestly answer the charges of corruption brought
against it, or will it pirouette in the weakness of the judicial system that
has already made its mark in the country?
It is now clear that the culprit in the corruption scam is the SPLM party, not individuals like Pagan Amum, The SG, or The
Scapegoat, Arthur Achuein Chol.
If the nation is serious about probing
corruption, the former SPLM warlords, must not be allowed to twirl in the ring
accusing and counter-accusing each other. They will only fool everybody. The
body that shadows them, which is the party itself, must come with them to court.
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