South Sudan National Assembly Investigative Report into the Appropriation of $10 Million Peace Funds
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Hon. Martin Elia Lomuro, Minister of Cabinet Affairs in the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity, South Sudan
Editorial: Parliament’s Reckoning with Graft Long Overdue in South Sudan
Sunday, 09 June 2024 (PW) — For years, the plundering of South Sudan’s resources and institutions has been an open secret, as a cavalcade of self-enriching leaders systematically looted the young nation’s promise. Now, the startling admission by Minister Martin Elia Lomuro that he accepted $10 million in questionable funds has laid bare the scourge of corruption that has held this country hostage.
“Part of the money was used for special projects that are classified and I informed the committee what the projects were with detailed expenditure report on these expenses,” Lomuro claimed. However, his feeble claims that the funds covered unspecified “special projects” ring hollow in the face of South Sudan’s acute development needs.
In a rare move, parliamentary committees have summoned the audacity to scrutinize the perceived misdeeds of the executive branch. Lomuro, the Cabinet Affairs Minister, was grilled over the $10 million payment to his ministry, which he admits transferring to a personal account.
Since independence, the government’s consistent failure to deliver basic services exposes the true cost of such gross malfeasance. Resources meant for roads, schools and hospitals appear to have instead padded the coffers of the ruling elite through embezzlement and self-dealing.
“The Parliament is being used by Political Criminals to undermine the Peace Agreement. There are Political Criminals abusing their powers in Parliament. Part of the money was used for special projects that are classified and I informed the committee what the projects were with detailed expenditure report on these expenses. I can also go on record that my Ministry did not receive $10 million as alleged by the lawmakers. Instead my Ministry received ssp15 billion which i was later informed that it was the equivalent of $10 million that was approved. What happened in Parliament was a political witch hunt against other parties in the Government from SPLM-IO Lawmaker. This undermines the spirit of agreement. Some of the lawmakers who were asking me questions this week are part of the Constitutional Review Committee which I fought hard so that a portion of their budget, like sitting allowance, could be prioritised so that they could start their work as the remaining money is being processed by the Ministry of Finance. Some of these organs have been paid their allowances including the Deputy Speaker of Parliament while others are being processed. Some of these lawmakers want to distort reality especially those that never have experience in running the government. It’s therefore a political witch hunt but not for public interest.”
Hon. Martin Elia Lomuro, interview by Hot in Juba.
Lomuro’s blustering defiance only underscores the entrenched culture of impunity. He denounces concerned lawmakers as “political criminals” pursuing a “witch hunt” against parties in the fragile unity government. “Some of these lawmakers want to distort reality especially those that never have experience in running the government. It’s therefore a political witch hunt but not for public interest,” he charged. Yet it is the unvarnished truth that criminal enterprise has been perpetrated against the South Sudanese people themselves.
For far too long, the nation’s future has been plundered by kleptocrats growing “fabulously wealthy” amid endemic graft, as Lomuro himself charges of the opposition. All while the institutions meant to defend the public good wither from neglect and war. If ever there were a national security threat, it is the metastasizing corruption devouring the country from within.
Whether parliament’s belated scrutiny proves a turning point remains uncertain. But the status quo of unchecked avarice and self-dealing cannot persist if South Sudan is to emerge from the ashes of conflict as a prosperous, democratic society.
The diversion of public funds represents more than a breach of public trust; it is an unconscionable betrayal of the nation’s hopes following hard-won independence. As legislators at last find their voice, South Sudan’s path forward will be defined by upholding accountability over sanctioning malfeasance as a privilege of power.
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