A United Nations commission reported on Tuesday that South Sudanese government officials have stolen billions of dollars in oil revenues since the country gained independence in 2011.
The commission said the government received $25.2 billion in oil inflows over that period but that “hardly any money reaches essential services” such as health and education in one of the world’s poorest countries.
“Our report tells the story of the plundering of a nation,” Yasmin Sooka, chair of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, said in a statement. “It is driving hunger, collapsing health systems and causing preventable deaths, as well as fuelling deadly armed conflict over resources.”
The report documents what it describes as “systemic government corruption and brazen predation”, highlighting the “Oil for Roads” programme, a flagship development scheme that received the largest share of oil money. The commission says the programme took $2.2 billion between 2021 and 2024, of which $1.7 billion is unaccounted for because roads were not completed, were vastly over-priced, or were finished to far lower standards than promised.
Investigators allege the funds were channelled through construction companies owned by Benjamin Bol Mel. Bol Mel has rapidly risen through the political ranks and emerged as a likely successor to President Salva Kiir after his appointment as a vice-president in February.
The report was published a day after Bol Mel announced on X that the National Security Service had promoted him to the rank of general.
“The diversions are not abstract budget failures — they translate into preventable deaths, widespread malnutrition and mass exclusion from education,” Carlos Castresana Fernandez, a member of the commission, said. He urged South Sudan’s international partners to make clear that the situation is unacceptable.
The government provided a lengthy response that was included in the report, accusing the commission of relying on “unverified information” from journalists, civil society groups and UN agencies.
The publication comes as a fragile power-sharing deal between Kiir and his long-time rival Riek Machar unravels, raising fears that the country could slide back into the civil war that killed around 400,000 people in the 2010s. Machar was charged last week with treason and crimes against humanity over an attack by an ethnic militia on a military base in March. His supporters said the charges aim to sideline hi