South Sudan’s Electoral Commission: Who is Not Broke in South Sudan?

By Malith Alier, Kalgoorlie, Australia

Monday, February 28, 2022 (PW) — The new Central Bank Governor declared last month that he was going to auction over ten million Dollars weekly to commercial banks and Foreign Exchange bureaus in order to bring the exchange rate down.

This week the dormant Electoral Commission, EC, declared that it was broke! The elections arbiter owes a certain landlord, an amount of US Dollars 540,000 rent according to Eyeradio.org.

When one thinks of the two organisations what comes to mine is Charles Dickens’ wonderful melodrama, A Tale of two cities:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, blah blah blah.

Assuming the central Bank is awash with US Dollars to auction to bring the rate of exchange down. This money the government banker boasts of does not flow, as expected, to the very government other institutions like the Electoral Commission, EC.

The EC on the other hand, cries for a USAID funding through IFES. The said organisation was funding the EC including payment of rent up to the time war broke out in the country in 2013. The elections constitutionally mandated for 2015 was too far away. The short cut to power was by use of force!

The primary reason why IFES ceased funding EC was because of war. IFES rallied for the country only for representative democracy through free and fair elections. War and elections are two different things. They cannot coexist as evidenced by several extensions of elections so far.

The hullabaloo of the EC for funding or payment of rent may be addressed by South Sudan government alone at the moment.

In South Sudan, the amount of $540,000 is a fortune! It is a mouth-watering sum to which the said landlord salivates every other night to have. The EC can only thank the landlord for being patient for a period of three years.

It is not the EC that is feeling the pain in this country alone. Other institutions closely associated with peace implementation languish in financial wilderness. They had shuttled between Ministry of Finance and related institutions for three years. When the Ministry of Finance coffers can’t be milked, they cry for donors like Troika.

Last time the minster of Cabinet Affairs directly appealed to citizens, not the poor and beggars on the streets of Juba, but the rich ones like Kur Ajing and the like to fund the peace implementation in the country. Will the rich citizens heed the appeal? The ball is in their court.

How many times had regional organisations such as IGAD and EAC suspended the country for non-payment of membership fees?

The financial pain is also weighing heavily on the states. Public sector employees from different states engaged in strikes since late last year. The strikes have permitted into the new year. They might grow bigger and louder. Only time will tell.

A couple of matters weigh heavily on South Sudan shoulders: violence and corruption perception. When the country was on track from independence, the 2013 civil war hijacked its progress. The violent conflict had caused the country support from friends and well-wishers to plummet to the lowest level.

Most of the friends and supporters had permanently left the country to its own devices. As if that is not enough, Transparency International, TI, has slapped it with number one ranking for rampant corruption in the world for 2021. This came after the country trailed Somalia for years before.

When one considers the situations of Central Bank and that of EC, A tale of Two Cities or a tale of two organisations in this matter rings true: we had everything before us, we had nothing before us!

The author, Malith Alier, is a concerned South Sudanese Australian public intellectual and political commentator who can be reached via his email address: alierjokdeng@gmail.com

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