A United Nations commission has found that government officials in South Sudan siphoned off billions of dollars in oil revenue since independence in 2011, leaving essential services starved of funds in one of the world’s poorest countries. The Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, acting for the UN Human Rights Council, says the state received $25.2 billion in oil inflows over that period, yet “hardly any money reaches essential services” such as health and education.
How much money vanished, and where did it go?
The report documents what it calls “systemic government corruption and brazen predation,” naming the Oil for Roads programme as a major example. That programme received $2.2 billion between 2021 and 2024, of which $1.7 billion is “unaccounted for,” the commission says. Roads tied to the programme were either not completed, priced far above market rates, or finished well below promised standards. Much of the money was funneled through construction companies owned by Benjamin Bol Mel, who has recently risen to vice-president and emerged as a likely successor to President Salva Kiir. Bol Mel announced on X that he had been promoted to the rank of general in the National Security Service the day before the report’s release.
What are the human costs of the corruption?
Yasmin Sooka, chair of the commission, captured the scale of the damage in stark terms. “Our report tells the story of the plundering of a nation,” she said. “It is driving hunger, collapsing health systems and causing preventable deaths, as well as fuelling deadly armed conflict over resources,” she added. Carlos Castresana Fernandez, a member of the rights commission, framed the losses in concrete terms. “The diversions are not abstract budget failures -– they translate into preventable deaths, widespread malnutrition and mass exclusion from education,” he said. The report calls on international partners to make clear that the situation is unacceptable and to press for accountability.
The government directly challenged parts of the commission’s findings, accusing the panel of relying on “unverified information” from journalists, civil society groups and UN agencies. The release of the report coincides with growing political instability. A fragile power-sharing deal between President Kiir and rival Riek Machar is unraveling, and Machar faces serious charges that his supporters say are politically motivated. His backers have called for armed mobilisation to pursue “regime change.”
The report reads as both an allegation and warning. It links financial plunder to humanitarian collapse and renewed conflict, and it places pressure on regional and international actors to demand transparency and to tie future support to clear reforms and accountability measures.
By Risper Akinyi
