Juba “unhappy” with 4th place inclusion in failed states index
South Sudan on Tuesday expressed disappointment with the two-year-old nation’s inclusion as the world’s fourth most failed state in a report by US-based organisation the Fund For Peace.
South Sudan’s first complete year on the Failed States Index (FSI) shows it sinking into the same cycles of instabilitmany of its neighbours. Sudan, from which the South separated in 2011 is ranked third, while the Democratic Republic of Congo which borders the country to the southwest.
The top five places are taken up by East and Central Africa, with Somalia (1), Chad (5). Another of South Sudan’s immediate neighbours, the Central African Republic was ranked ninth after a coup deposed the government earlier this year.
Reacting to the report published on 24 June, a leading member of South Sudan’s ruling party told Sudan Tribune that it was “unfair” to compare the nation, which gained independence in July 2011 “with countries which have had their independence thirty or fifty years ago”.
Mark Nyipuoc, who was the first post-war governor of Western Bahr el Ghazal state, said the ruling SPLM had faced many difficulties since assuming official control of the region in a 2005 peace deal.
“Despite the large volume of aid that has flowed into the country since independence, it has been unable to effectively utilize those resources towards actual capacity building, the report said, adding that “corruption is endemic in South Sudan, with an estimated $4 billion of public funds having gone stolen or unaccounted for by mid-2012 alone.”
Pointing to Sudan’s alleged backing of rebel groups in the young nation, Nyipuoc argued that insecurity was hindering the government’s efforts to allow development to take place at the speed expected by the general population.
“Armed conflict with Sudan over oil rights and disputed pipeline fees prompted the government in Juba to halt oil production in January [2012], a risky move as 98% of their income was projected to come from oil production”, the report says.
Nyipuoc acknowledged that “not much development has taken place” but argued that this was because Khartoum has never allowed South Sudan to concentrate on building the country by backing rebel groups.
“If such mentality and attitude of war continues to be imposed, then how you expect the country to focus on development efforts? The conflict in Jonglei is part of the conspiracy by Khartoum to destabilise this nation. They want us to fail so that they tell the world we cannot manage our affairs”, he explained
Decades of civil war have not allowed “development to take place. All this happened because Khartoum did not want the South to develop the way Juba is currently changing. You yourself can tell the difference from 2005 and now”, he argued.
About 75% of Sudan’s proven oil reserves are now located in the new nation, with some in the hitherto disputed border areas. Oil revenue provides an estimated 98% of the total income of the government. With the oil infrastructure of the pipeline, the refineries, the export facilities, as well as the ports themselves all situated in northern Sudan.
Although the new nation has had intricate and difficult negotiations on a wide range of issues notably, nationality; currency; public service, international agreements and treaties; debts and assets; oil fields, production and transport; oil contracts; water resources; and property, it managed to sign a deal to exports crude to the international markets through Sudanese territory in September 2012.
However, differences continue to emerge over issues relating to security and the borders between the two states.
Because of the ongoing disputes with Sudan many South Sudanese officials feel the country should not have been considered or included in this years failed states index.
The annual report, which looks at security, development, economic and political pressures faced by each of the countries that are analyzed, observed that independence has failed to provide the South Sudanese population with a relief from conflict with continued tensions over land and resources.
The report mentions the estimated $4 billion of public funds that had been stolen or gone unaccounted for by mid-2012. The index also cites allegations that South Sudan’s army – the SPLA – has been accused of gross human rights violations including rape and torture.
The report further highlighted on the state of media freedom where a notable comment writer, Isaiah Abraham was killed in December after speaking out against government-sponsored corruption and violence.
The Failed States Index focuses on the indicators of risk and is based on thousands of articles and reports that are processed by software from electronically available sources.
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article47075
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