The Government of South Sudan has been accused of grotesque misuse of public funds after a new United Nations report revealed that the Ministry of Presidential Affairs overspent its budget by nearly twenty times more than the Ministry of Health between 2020 and 2024.
According to the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, the Presidency spent $557 million over four years—an overspend of 584 percent of its approved allocation—while the Health Ministry received just $29 million, barely 19 percent of what it was due.
“These diversions are not abstract budget failures – they translate into preventable deaths, widespread malnutrition, and mass exclusion from education,” said Commissioner Carlos Castresana Fernández.
“Three-quarters of child deaths in South Sudan are preventable, yet funds go to patronage and private pockets instead of medicine or clean water.”
The revelations are contained in the Commission’s latest report, “Plundering a Nation: How Rampant Corruption Unleashed a Human Rights Crisis in South Sudan.”
It documents how both oil and non-oil revenues—worth more than $25.2 billion since independence in 2011—have been siphoned into opaque, off-budget schemes that benefit the political elite.
The consequences are stark. South Sudan ranks at the bottom of the UN Human Development Index, while international donors now spend more on basic services than the government itself.
Civil servants have reportedly only been paid about three times in the last two years, worsening poverty and instability.
“Instead of directing national wealth toward serving the population, the country’s political leaders have systematically diverted both oil and non-oil revenues,” said Commissioner Barney Afako.
“South Sudan’s ability to manage shocks and allocate resources to fulfill the rights of its citizens has been significantly impeded.”
Elites flourish, people suffer
While hospitals lack medicine and schools stand in ruins, political spending has ballooned. The report found that the Ministry of Agriculture received only $11 million across four years, and the Ministry of Gender and Social Welfare just $3.7 million—amounts dwarfed by the Presidency’s budget.
Yasmin Sooka, Chairperson of the Commission, called it “the plundering of a nation.”
She added: “Corruption is not incidental; it is the engine of South Sudan’s decline. It is driving hunger, collapsing health systems, and causing preventable deaths.”
The contrast between government priorities and the population’s needs has drawn comparisons to some of the worst cases of state capture in Africa.
The report warns that unless fiscal accountability is restored, the suffering of South Sudanese civilians will deepen.
The revelations come at a time of acute political crisis. On September 11, the government announced treason and murder charges against First Vice President Riek Machar, who has been arbitrarily detained since March.
His party has fractured, with many leaders jailed or exiled. Meanwhile, President Salva Kiir’s daughter and Vice President Benjamin Bol Mel’s wife have been elevated to senior government positions, further entrenching nepotism.
Observers say the skewed spending and patronage are fueling resentment and could reignite conflict.
“When public revenue becomes private fortune, peace cannot hold,” Sooka warned.
The Commission has urged South Sudan to urgently implement the financial reforms outlined in the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement.
But with elections approaching and corruption worsening, hopes for reform appear increasingly dim.