 |
| Jikany Nuer White Army fighters holds their weapons in Upper Nile State, South Sudan in February, 2014. South Sudan's rebels said that government soldiers had launched attacks against their positions in oil-rich Unity State in what they said was a violation of a peace deal |
Khartoum (Telephost) - A high profile report detailing a network of alleged corruption in South Sudan emerged earlier this week, accusing South Sudanese senior hierarchy of profiteering from the civil war.
The 66-page report was released by Sentry, an investigative organisation founded by the US actor George Clooney and the rights activist John Prendergast. It presented evidence of documents and eyewitness accounts alleging that President Salva Kiir and his family members, as well as top associates including former Vice-President Riek Machar and close senior military officers were involved in corruption.
IBTimes UK looks at three key points from the report entitled, War Crimes Shouldn't Pay.
The report alleges that Kiir and Machar both amassed wealth through the civil war, which they then shared with their family in the form of luxury holiday trips, expensive cars and mansions.
South Sudan's leaders accused of profiteering from the war
"The key catalyst of South Sudan's civil war has been competition for the grand prize, control over state assets and the country's abundant natural resources between rival kleptocratic networks led by President Kiir and (former) Vice-President Machar," the report alleges.
"The leaders of South Sudan's warring parties manipulate and exploit ethnic divisions in order to drum up support for a conflict that serves the interests only of the top leaders of these two kleptocratic networks and, ultimately, the international facilitators whose services the networks utilise and on which they rely."
Sentry claims that Kiir and his family profiteered from significant business interests, through holdings in prominent companies across the country. According to the report, Kiir's wife and at least seven of his children, held stakes in various business ventures during and after the conflict. The head of state's 12-year-old son, for instance, held a 25% stake in a holding company of significant value, formed in February 2016.
"Immediate family members of President Kiir and his wife have held interests in almost two dozen companies operating in oil, mining, construction, gambling, banking, telecommunications, aviation and government and military procurement," the report alleged.