UN investigators on Tuesday accused South Sudan’s authorities of looting the nation’s wealth through schemes that included payments of $1.7 billion to companies linked to Vice President Benjamin Bol Mel for road construction projects that were never completed.
In its latest report, the UN Human Rights Commission on South Sudan said the payments made between 2021 and 2024 were just one example of the “grand corruption” in the impoverished nation.
South Sudan’s per capita GDP is now only a quarter of what it was at independence in 2011.
The commission, established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2016, stated:
> “The country has fallen into the grip of a predatory elite that has entrenched the systematic looting of national wealth for private gain.”
The report also revealed that annual budget allocations for the president’s special medical unit exceeded total spending on healthcare nationwide.
Government Response
Justice Minister Joseph Geng, in a written response to the UN commission, argued that the report relied on figures inconsistent with government data. He attributed the country’s economic woes to conflict, climate change, and declining crude oil sales — the nation’s main export.
A spokesperson for Vice President Bol Mel declined to comment.
Since independence in 2011, South Sudan has endured recurring armed conflict, including a civil war from 2013 to 2018 that claimed an estimated 400,000 lives. Last week, the government accused First Vice President Riek Machar — whose forces fought those loyal to President Salva Kiir during the civil war — of committing crimes against humanity, escalating clashes in recent months.
Exploited by Elites
South Sudan has also suffered deep cuts in annual foreign humanitarian aid. However, the commission stressed that corruption remains the clearest explanation for the country’s persistent economic and humanitarian crises, with nearly two-thirds of its 12 million people facing severe hunger or worse.
The report drew on 173 meetings and interviews conducted from late 2022 to 2024, as well as government records and financial data.
It concluded that focusing on corruption was justified, as graft has directly undermined the government’s ability to uphold human rights and fueled armed violence.
> “Amid the lack of competition over power and control of resources and land, South Sudan’s elites continue to pursue partisan political agendas, stoking and exploiting ethnic divisions and tensions,” the commission warned.
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