While In Africa, President Obama Should Counter South Sudan Kleptocrats

Dear PaanLuel Wel Readers,

Hope you are doing well.

Like many of you, we are following developments in Addis – both the resumption of IGAD Plus led talks and the AU’s planned meeting to consider its Commission of Inquiry report, closely. As President Obama embarks upon this historic trip to Kenya and Ethiopia this week, I am writing to share four new pieces from our team at Enough.

1. The first is our latest policy brief, “Creating a Cost for Those Destroying South Sudan,” offering specific recommendations to tackle corruption and conflict financing in South Sudan. We make the case for an escalating targeted sanctions regime along with capacity building support for enforcement in the region, a transnational kleptocracy asset recovery effort, beneficial ownership transparency regulatory reform both in the US and the region, an arms embargo, a hybrid court with an investigative wing & purview over economic crimes, and an effort to reevaluate donor commitments to regional infrastructure projects in light of the ongoing conflict in South Sudan.

1. The Enough Project’s new report, “President Obama in Africa: Countering Violent Kleptocracies Is a Prerequisite for Peace” analyzes the effectiveness of the Obama administration’s initiatives on peace and security, democratic governance, and economic growth in key conflict-affected countries in Africa – with targeted recommendations focused on creating accountability for the architects of atrocities and disrupting their access to the means that enable them to wage war.

1. Delivering Enough’s core argument in a new TIME Magazine op-ed “President Obama Must Help Tackle Africa’s Hijacked States,” Enough Project Founding Director John Prendergast discusses how policy efforts to combat atrocities must now begin to center on how to make war more costly than peace.

1. Finally, yesterday we joined 18 other organizations in sending a letter to the White House urging that a central component of President Obama’s agenda be combating the culture of impunity that surrounds the conflict in South Sudan to help forge an enabling environment for peace negotiations.

The international community needs a fresh strategy for addressing the deadly nexus between conflict and corruption, and President Obama’s trip to the region can set the tone for prioritizing new policy approaches to conflicts that had once seemed intractable.

I look forward to your feedback and answering any questions you may have.

Best,
Akshaya

Akshaya Kumar
Sudan and South Sudan Policy Analyst
Enough | The Project to End Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity
www.enoughproject.org
@AkshayaSays

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PaanLuel Wël

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PaanLuel Wël is the founder and editor-in-chief of PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd, a news website that covers news, opinions, analysis, history, culture and literature of South Sudan and the world. Founded in July 2011 by PaanLuel Wël to create a platform for free expression and constructive dialogue, the website features articles from various contributors, including columnists, commentators, poets, authors, activists and academics. PaanLuel Wël believes that media can play a vital role in informing, educating and empowering the people to participate in nation-building and social transformation. He also believes that media can foster a culture of dialogue, tolerance and diversity among different communities and groups, and hopes to inspire and mentor the next generation of South Sudanese writers and journalists.

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