A South Sudan newspaper says the government ordered its shutdown the day it published a front-page story on a US -based watchdog group’s investigation into corruption by top officials. But he said it might be linked to the publication of the U.S. Sentry report on corruption.
Advertisement
Rycroft added, “All of those three things are good commitments to have made and now what really matters is that the government of South Sudan abides by those commitments”. The authorities have detained journalists and temporarily closed media outlets as the five-year-old African nation has been convulsed by civil conflict.
While leaders have been pillaging government coffers, worldwide donors including the United States have remained steady supporters of the South Sudanese people, providing basic services including health and education that are essential for the population’s future, as well as massive lifesaving assistance that has helped avert starvation over the last two years.
“We recognize that the commitments that were made can’t bear fruit necessarily overnight, but they also can’t take days and days to bear fruit”, said Power.
The “key catalyst” of the war was “competition for the grand prize – control over state assets and the country’s abundant natural resources”, notably its oil, it said.
The report said South Sudan President Salva Kiir, former deputy Riek Machar and those close to both men have looted the country, with luxury cars, business stakes and mansions overseas. But the pact faced months of wrangling before fighting between the two sides erupted again in July this year in Juba.
The decision to deploy additional troops came weeks after clashes between forces loyal to Kiir and former and expelled vice president Riek Machar intensified, leaving at least 300 dead in the world’s youngest nation.
The report published on Monday has revealed for the first time the networks fuelling one of the world’s deadliest conflict zones implicating president, deposed vice president, political and military leaders, worldwide banks, arms dealers, multinational oil and mining companies.
The report has heavily implicated President Kiir, his family members and other relatives and in-laws as having involved in corruption, running various companies and holding major shares. Spokesmen for Kiir and Machar denied the charges. Its editor-in-chief, Alfred Taban, was also detained in July, which activists said related to a column he wrote about the fighting that month.
Advertisement
During a U.N. Security Council visit to South Sudan earlier this month, President Salva Kiir agreed to accept 4,000 extra peacekeepers and to allow some 12,000 peacekeepers already on the ground to move around freely so they can protect civilians.
