What can we do about the cancerous corruption in South Sudan?
4 min readBy Martin Ariel Majak, Alexandria, Egypt
October 15, 2017 (SSB) — Suppose, just suppose it happens that we stop fighting one another, and the protracted civil war comes to a halt by chance, and all guns go silent around the entire country. What do you think would be bedeviling a peaceful South Sudan? It would be corruption, yeah, corruption. Nothing else.
The astonishingly high level of corruption in our country, which is by and large overshadowed by the raging political instability, is something to worry about – should we one day get back from the insanity of tribalism.
With every entanglement of our country in the war every single day, corruption has concomitantly grown more and more vicious with it as well. The monstrous corruption – as it has become – is one of the major leading factors fueling the conflict.
Deeply beneath the false reasons made by those aspiring for leadership lies the genuine fact – which is the quest to win control so that one can loot and plunder the little resources we have – as he wishes, just like what is being done by those holding offices right now.
So, what can be done about this cancerous corruption that has permeated our lives, both public and private?
Judging from what I have seen, I’m more than ever convinced that the fight against corruption cannot be won through creations of more anti-corruption bodies and even laws.
There are enough of such laws and if they were strictly adhered to, many leaders, politicians, their families and cronies, business people, bishops, civil servants and much more would be behind the bars.
While our country may not be the only corrupt one in the world, it presents the extremes of many absurdities about corruption.
Wherever you look – corruption stares you in the face without blinking and the tolerance level for it is so high that – we have become either active promoters and beneficiaries or complacent and cooperative victims.
Of course, there is nothing particularly cultural or Sudanese about corruption. But we should not take cover under such notion. Corruption is tearing our country apart.
From the traffic policemen that seek daily bribes on the roadsides, to the courts where the rule of law is selectively applied to the poor and not onto the rich, corruption is more omnipresent than God.
Even in our churches and mosques, Corruption reigns. We reserve high tables at religious, cultural, social and political events for thieves and rogues who continue to rob us and wipe our noses in their acts. We elect them and complain afterward.
It is not possible to uproot corruption without everyone one of us willing to do our part. You may not be able to do something about it, but you can decide not to take part of it.
You can show your zero tolerance of corruption no matter how small it is. As long as we are willing to partake in it or not mind being its beneficiaries through our kith and kin, then, corruption will remain endemic.
It is about time we borrow from other parts of the world like China and Singapore where corruption is treated with the highest contempt and sternest sanctions, including capital punishment.
In the course of the anti-corruption drive, not all thieves would be caught but those caught would not be allowed to go unpunished.
It is the culture of impunity in many African countries – South Sudan included – that has aided, abated and institutionalized corruption.
The writer is a medical student at Alexandria University, Egypt. He can be reached via his email arielmajak93@gmail.com.
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