South Sudan: The Dubious Practices Of An Army General

"Creating a fortune by creating a famine", is the title of a survey published this Wednesday 31 May by The Sentry, the investigation team of the American collective Enough Project, which fights for the end of conflicts in Africa. The collective highlights the dubious financial and business practices of a general of the South Sudanese Army Malek Reuben Riak, deputy chief of staff since 2003 and blamed by the UN panel of experts On South Sudan as one of the responsible of violence that contributed to the famine in the state of Oneness.

According to the survey, more than three million dollars were transferred to General Reuben Riak's personal account in Kenya between January 2012 and early 2016, of which $ 700,000 came from foreign construction or extraction companies. These transactions are particularly visible with the mining company China Wu Yi, which transmitted several documents to the Enough Project collective.

To buy the explosives necessary for his activity, he needed an authorization from the corps of engineers of the South Sudanese army. And it was the army that sent him back to Mak International, a company that was presented as the only company authorized to sell explosives and was controlled by General Reuben Riak, according to The Sentry.

Everything to stay in power

Of the eight payments made by China Wu Yi, six checks went to the general's personal account for a total of $116,000 and only $13,500 was paid to Mak International. Conflicts of interest? Simple lack of transparency? For The Sentry, these suspicious transactions show in any case why some military may have an interest in doing everything ... including fueling the conflict to stay in power.

The group is also interested in mining companies that would be co-owned by the general or his family and political elites in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda. The Sentry, therefore, questions the credibility of the involvement of these countries in diplomatic efforts to bring peace to South Sudan.

A lever against those who benefit

However, these international transactions may well be, according to JR Mailey in charge of the investigation for The Sentry, a lever of the international community against these officials: "  The case of General Ruben Riak shows that those responsible for massive violations of rights Humans and who get enormously rich at the same time, are in fact in a precarious situation. Their wealth is also their weak point. Whenever someone, like General Ruben Riak, makes a dollar transaction,
if he uses a bank, that transaction goes through the US financial system, if only for a fraction of a second. "

"  This means," continues JR Mailey, " that the US government in particular, but also other governments, have an important means of lobbying. They have at their disposal several financial control tools to prevent these violent "cleptocrats" from using the international financial system. Sanctions can be imposed on the general and his network to prevent them from moving money.  "

Government pressures

On the other hand, "  some governments may also put more pressure on financial institutions to ensure that they do not voluntarily transfer money,from criminal patronage or corruption. This is what we are asking for in South Sud because there have been dozens of threats of sanctions, but so far none has been inflicted on many of these senior leaders, yet responsible for the worst violence  ", Concludes the reporter of The Sentry.