An extensive report overview by US Department of State on 2020 Climate Statement: South Sudan had revealed the hands which torture the South Sudan economy and the extent that pertains to collapse of the institutions in the country.
According to the report, South Sudan’s government and IO officials highly benefit from customs which are mainly paid by the NGOs and other humanitarian bodies. The amount collected does not reach the central point which should drive the economy to greener future.
As of July 2020, there are over thousands of road blocks or illegal checkpoints country wide through which a lot of money from both foreigners and locals are generated.
Prior to the collapsed of the economy, the report note that the Bank of South Sudan and the legal systems have been engulfed by powerful individuals and couldn’t take care of the economy.
“The government has made efforts to simplify and centralize taxation, with the creation of the National Revenue Authority. The Bank of South Sudan has launched a website where it posts key financial data. However, the legal system is ineffective, underfunded, overburdened, and subject to executive interference and corruption. High-level government and military officials are immune from prosecution and parties in contract disputes are sometimes arrested and imprisoned until the party agrees to pay a sum of money, often without going to court and sometimes without formal charges.”
Concerning oil sector which have the burden of carrying South Sudan economy through:
“The oil sector is the major industry that attracts FDI, but transparency in the oil sector is absent, despite it being mandated by law. The Ministry of Petroleum does not share data at an institutional level with the Bank of South Sudan and does not release it to the public. The Ministry of Petroleum does not publish oil production data. The contract process for oil companies that are planning to bid and invest in South Sudan is controlled by the Ministry of Petroleum, but the law appears to grant this authority exclusively to the National Petroleum and Gas Commission. Bidding and tender information is not publicly available.”
The executive is also noted to contribute to the collapse of the instructions that are backbone of South Sudan straightness.
“The executive regularly interferes in judiciary matters. Parties to business disputes have been arrested by state security forces and held at length without charges. High-level government and military officials are often immune from prosecution in practice, and frequently interfere with court decisions. Parties in contract disputes are sometimes arrested by authorities and imprisoned until the party agrees to pay a sum of money, often without going to court and sometimes without formal charges.”
The Economic Crisis Management Committee have summoned already the heads of administrations such as the Traffic Police Department, Directorate of Nationalities, Passport and Immigration and as well the heads of Customs but nothing substantial has been retrieved and neither have the corrupts been prosecuted.
“How can the government itself doing the corruption investigates itself” is a popular question that is still asked up to date by the puzzled citizens.
South Sudan is a country in complete quagmire and the peace agreement doesn’t either seem to bring the light that many ordinary citizens have been hoping and waiting for.