A Sentry report has exposed corruption at the highest levels of South Sudan during the civil war, claiming both President Kiir and rival Riek Machar exploited the chaos to line their own pockets.
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The new force will help provide security in the capital and at the airport, and help protect United Nations facilities after Juba was rocked by heavy fighting in July.
Last August Khartoum and Juba said that First Vice President Taban Deng Gai discussed during his meetings with the Sudanese officials the presence of rebel group in South Sudan and pledged to take tangible measures within three weeks. “The people of South Sudan need the leadership of the worldwide community to bring peace to their country and stop the senseless and brutal violence”.
The three-member United Nations team held meetings with South Sudan’s officials on critical issues of accountability, and said the officials indicated their willingness to co-operate with the AU on the establishment of the hybrid court.
The United States on Wednesday, September 14, threatened to push for a UN arms embargo on South Sudan if the government blocks the deployment of a new regional force and impedes the work of UN peacekeepers.
The track record of corruption in South Sudan is extensive – including abuse of preferential access to foreign currency, theft of state assets, and corruption in contracting and procurement.
The countries that have produced the most refugees are Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia. Violence escalated considerably in July 2016, when elements of the army attacked civilians and opposition forces in the capital Juba, despite the government having agreed earlier in the year to a peace deal and a government of national unity.
But fierce clashes erupted in Juba on July 8 between Kiir’s guards and troops loyal to Machar, who is now in Khartoum receiving medical treatment.
However, in July, they said that the truce was over and the fighting resumed in the country.
“The members of the Security Council expressed deep concern that members of civil society had been targeted in the days following the Security Council’s visit to South Sudan”, said the body, calling for the perpetrators to be held to account.
“The number of South Sudanese refugees sheltering in neighboring countries has this week passed the one million mark”, UNHCR said in a statement.
A surge of people has meanwhile also entered western Ethiopia’s Gambella region in the past week, while others have headed to Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic.
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The watchdog’s report also implicated worldwide banks, businesses, arms brokers, property companies and lawyers in “knowingly or unknowingly facilitating the violent kleptocracy that South Sudan has become”.
