Day: October 18, 2021

South Sudan awarded contracts worth up to $4 billion to sanctioned businessmen with direct links and business ties to President Salva Kiir, a move that is likely to cast down on the South Sudanese leader’s commitment to ensure accountability and fight corruption in the young nation.

In a new report, The Sentry, an investigative arm of The Enough Project, identified Kur Ajing Ater, an in-law to Kiir and Benjamin Bol Mel, a business partner to the South Sudanese leader as having obtained contracts for companies they control.

“In South Sudan, a new Sentry investigation has uncovered over $4 billion in government contracts awarded to companies that appear to be controlled by US-sanctioned businessmen Kur Ajing Ater and Benjamin Bol Mel. In a well-worn tactic for sanctions evasion, the awarded companies were registered after the men’s sanction designations and seem to be owned by their relatives who can serve as proxies while potentially bypassing internal compliance controls at banks,” said John Prendergast, a co-founder of The Sentry.n

“This scheme could enable Ajing and Bol Mel, both part of President Salva Kiir’s inner circle, to still be the likely beneficial owners of the companies and continue conducting business in USD despite the US sanctions against them”, he added.

The report, entitled, “Sanctioned South Sudanese Businessmen Are Skirting US Sanctions” offers evidence of large-scale corruption, points to the influence of the businessmen with links to the president.

The advocacy group argued that the way contracts were awarded to the sanctioned businessmen makes it likely that officials knew of their alleged beneficial ownership because some of the contracts were no-bid.

The investigation highlights the need for the government to enforce the laws and for financial institutions to ramp up their due diligence and compliance systems.

It urges the US government to work with South Sudan to help build strong corporate transparency, oversight, and accountability mechanisms, in addition to taking more direct action related to the findings of this investigation. The actions of those in power, according to Sentry, undermine stability as they are hell-bent on nothing but a desire to enrich themselves by selling out the future of the country.

“As today’s alert illustrates, those in power in South Sudan continue to line their pockets, undermine stability, and sell out the country’s future. The awarding of billions of dollars in potentially no-bid contracts to companies that appear to be controlled by sanctioned persons close to the president is just one more documented instance of corruption, which is a key driver of conflict and political crises in the country”, explained Prendergast.

Debra LaPrevotte, Senior Investigator at The Sentry, said the awarding of lucrative government contracts to companies beneficially owned by sanctioned individuals is a sad indication of the Kiir regime’s lack of interest in fighting corruption.

“The activities detailed in our recent investigation further expose the unchecked looting of the country’s wealth and resources, as those in power continue to line their pockets, undermine stability, and sell out South Sudan’s future,” she added.

The Sentry, however, recommends that the US Treasury Department should investigate and, if appropriate, impose sanctions on the individuals and entities named in this report.

It further urged the US to amend the South Sudan and Global Magnitsky Executive Orders to include a provision on immediate family members of sanctioned individuals.

Source: Sudan Tribune

Parties to the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan’s should demonstrate the political will required for the full implementation of the peace deal, Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) said on Friday.

In September 2018, South Sudan’s warring parties signed an accord to end a civil war that killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions. A Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGNoNU) was formed in February 2020, in accordance with the peace deal.

CEPO has lauded South Sudanese parties to the peace agreement for the success so far registered in reconstituting the revitalized transitional government of unity at national and state levels.

Concerns still remain on delays to reconstitute independent commissions at the national level as well as the reconstitution of state legislative assemblies and local government legislative councils.

The delays in the implementation of the peace deal, especially the security arrangements, has also been expressed by the Revitalized Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (R-JMEC),

“Without the genuine implementation of the transitional security arrangements, the pathway to transition societies of South Sudan from violence to peace is very long,” says CEPO’s executive director, Edmund Yakani.

He adds, “Political will to implement the transitional security arrangements is required from the parties with the primary responsibility to make peace and security prevail in South Sudan”.

Meanwhile, CEPO acknowledged roles played by the African Union and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to ensure parties involved in the conflict sign a peace accord.

Source: Sudan Tribune

The United Nations Security Council has raised concerns over the operating conditions of peacekeeping forces in Abyei region.

In a press release extended to Sudan Tribune on Friday, the Security Council members expressed grave concerns over recent developments in Gok Machar, South Sudan, including threats to the safety and security of peacekeepers which resulted in the death of a peacekeeper from Ethiopia on September 14, 2021.

The Security Council members, in the statement, also reiterated their full support for the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) and expressed their continued concern that the full implementation of UNISFA’s mandate is being obstructed.

The members urged South Sudan government to facilitate the unimpeded implementation of UNISFA’s mandate and provide full support to UNISFA’s personnel by removing any obstacles that hinder UNISFA’s work to protect civilians, including by ensuring the mission’s freedom of movement and by facilitating UNISFA’s provision of food, medicine, among others to its personnel.

The council members underscored the important role of UNISFA and the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism (JBVMM) in support of achieving peace, security and stability in Abyei and the broader region, and urged the government of South Sudan to intensify its mediation efforts with members of the local community in Gok Machar to reduce tensions and to provide for the redeployment of UNISFA personnel to team sites 11 and 12.

Meanwhile, the members of the Security Council welcomed the continued cooperation between the Governments of Sudan and South Sudan, which is critical for the peace, security, and stability in Abyei and the broader region.

The further called on Sudan and South Sudan to convene a meeting of the Joint Political and Security Mechanism to address the existing challenges and facilitate the work of the JBVMM.

UNISFA was established in 2011 by the UN Security Council to monitor Abyei border. It is mainly composed of Ethiopian forces of around 4,200 troops and 50 police personnel.

Source: Sudan Tribune