The Securitisation of the South Sudanese State
Malith Alier Deng, South Sudanese Australian Political Analyst and Cultural Critics
By Malith Alier, Australia
Sunday, November 24, 2019 (PW) — Before I proceed with what is “securitisation” of South Sudan, I should make a distinction of two terms that are sometimes taken as synonyms; state and country.
A state according to Miriam-Webster dictionary is (a) a politically organised body of people usually occupying a definite territory especially: one that is sovereign, (b) the political organisation of such a body of people, (c) a government or politically organised society having a particular character such as police state, welfare state etc.
On the other hand, a country is defined as an indefinite usually extended expanse of land: region. Example, miles of open country.
It has been argued that South Sudan is a country that aspires to be a state in the near future perhaps when the current generation of liberators is receded to the background of the state. A portion of that assertion is mine. You can deduct that this generation was fighting for a country they may call their own. After achieving a country, the people are in dire need of a state that may conform to the definition above and cater for their needs such as security and rule of law just to mention a few.
A couple of months ago, I wrote a piece on the National Revenue Authority, NRA, and the perfunctory dismissal of the inaugural Commissioner General of that body in August 2019. The Minister of Finance and Planning usurped the powers of the president or parliament to wield the axe on an independent body in total disregard of the law. And a couple of months later nasty reports are emanating from NRA that the revenue collection in September and October has dropped by a large percentage point.
To add insult to injury, the collected funds had been redirected to NRA operations account for possible misappropriation. The NRA 2016 Act stipulates that the tax body shall appropriate only 2% from revenue collections for its operations. But in total disregard or call it violation of the Act, the acting Commissioner General, typical of military men, appropriated the funds in 80% drops. What is two percent if you can get a hundred percent with impunity?
The current NRA Acting Commissioner General, thanks to Eye Radio reports, is a former National Security personnel. He was a Director of Administration and Finance in that hawkish organisation.
The accession of NSS personnel into a civic enclave like NRA is a part of a trend the citizens can no longer ignore. The blatant involvement of the military in civilian functions of the state has stubbornly refused to go away for the last 15 years of the creation of South Sudan; first as semi-autonomous and then independence.
The National Congress Party in the former united Sudan highly securitised the state under Omar Bashir. All the ministries of the national government, banks, and other financial institutions had posted national Security Officers. Hospitals had security apparatus watching. Newspapers had to be approved to publish only after National Security expurgations
South Sudan today under Salva Kiir is no exception. Banks are posted with security officers. Airports have national security personnel constantly on the move. Those suspected of subversive act can be grabbed without warrant and taken to the “blue house” in Nyakuron west near Jebel market where they can face torture or banishment for ever.
The 60-day jinx
The Constitution of South Sudan 2011 has a reference to 60 days when the position of the governor of state falls vacant. The Constitution stipulates that an election shall be organised within 60 days after the position has become vacant for whatever reason. Governors of states have been dismissed without a single election organised in sixty days.
The NRA Act 2016 says, no Acting Commissioner for consecutive sixty days without the approval of the president. Mr. Bullen Geu, the NSS man in charge at the NRA has been acting for over six days now. The Acting Commissioner immediately began to dismantle what the former Commissioner General has accomplished.
He stopped publicly publishing the collections claiming it has no basis in law. Under him the NRA went underground for good only to resurface in a familiar fashion – money laundering. Money laundering of graft is also known as the taking of South Sudan in Sentry report 2019.
In summary, South Sudan is a police state. This is seen in the unfiltered involvement of the military in civic administration since 2005. The generals are not only confined to the military headquarters. They are in parliament. They are found in the executive and they are involved in judicial sphere.
The NRA Acting Commissioner General has raised the 60-day question afresh. No matter where you find 60 days, be it in the constitution or the Act of parliament, it will not count.
Eye Radio, “our eye on South Sudan” has done a tremendous job by exposing the scam in NRA. It was not difficult to infer why the former Commissioner General was hounded out of office.
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