The Sentry Organisation works on investigative pieces concerning money laundering in Africa’s Youngest nations.
South Sudan which has had a lot of internal turmoil occasioned by wrangles between leaders since it separated from the North in 2013, still has a fair share of conflict fueled by those who aided its path to peace and eventually cessation from the north.
The men who liberated South Sudan proceeded to hijack the country’s fledgling governing institutions, loot its resources, and launched a war in 2013 that has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced millions of people’, the report begins.
Individuals from different countries in African have been named in what the Sentry terms as ‘complicit in hijacking the world’s newest nation’.
Powerful Individuals and Corporations
The individuals fueling conflict in South Sudan are well-connected, some owning multinational firms, others are just brokers out to make cash from the war-ravaged nation.
A coalition of individuals including South Sudan’s politicians and military officials have created a network of corrupt and illicit business for money laundering in real estate; and grand corruption and violence.
The local kleptocrats and their international partners—from Chinese-Malaysian oil giants and British tycoons to networks of traders from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya and Uganda—have accumulated billions of dollars. The country’s natural resources have been plundered, lethal militia and military units responsible for atrocities have received financing and kleptocrats have lined their pockets with untold billions of dollars allocated by government programs meant to improve the livelihood of some of the poorest, most vulnerable people in the world. The spoils of this heist are coursing through the international financial system in the form of shell companies, stuffed bank accounts, luxury real estate and comfortable safe havens around the world for the extended families of those involved in violence and corruption, the sentry says.
The corruption and violence means that multinationals scuttle peace process by funding militias who attack civilians sometimes on behalf of government. The China Petroleum Corporation and Petronas, a Malaysia state-owned oil companies are named as having financed a pro-government militia that went on to commit atrocities, including burning of entire villages, targeting civilians, and an attack on a U.N. protection-of-civilians site.
Another firm associated with the China Petroleum Corporation, the Dar Petroleum is said to have dumped high levels of heavy metals and dangerous chemical compounds at its oil production facilities, threatening the local population.
In a state that has a weak central government, South Sudan grapples with all manner of violence perpetrated on it’s people by rogue leaders, the outside actors who are supposed to help out such as the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) often seem helpless in such arrangements.
The report says of Dar Petroleum that, some records indicated that funds earmarked for community development were diverted to Dar Petroleum to finance oil production, purchase armored vehicles and pay for the college tuition of the son of Malek Reuben Riak, a senior military general who was placed under UN sanctions a month prior to the payment for “actions or policies that threaten the peace, security or stability of South Sudan.
The Corporations are from far and wide in Africa, the report names a firm associated with former South African President Jacob Zuma, Vukani played a key role in flying the top intelligence leaders around the country. The bad things is that this association aided in the oppression of civilians
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) also seems unable, as its staff have numerous times been intimidated not to act.
Several more companies are mentioned in the report along with over 20 individuals. The individuals are:
- South Sudan President: Salva Kiir,
- Former South African President: Jacob Zuma
- Gen Paul Malong
- Gidon Moi – Son to former Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi
Ezekiel Gatkuoth Lol, Winnie Kiir, Abdelkarim Adam Eisa Mohamed, Dawd Adam Rife Abute, Lt. Gen. David Yau Yau, Ashraf Seed Ahmed Hussein Ali, Bior Ajang Duot, Ghebremeskel Tesfamariam Ghidey, David Greenhalgh, Gen Gregory Vasili Dimitry— Kiir’s brother-in-law., Colonel Tor Ajuot Deng, Mohamed Benjamin Lino, Zhuo Zuokun, Ramadan Chadar, Mayen Wol Jong, and Ramadan Chadar Dhok.
You can download and read the report here
Featured Image by Washington Post
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