Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The South Sudan Anti-Corruption Commission says it is intensifying efforts to combat corruption through sensitization of government officials and implementation of laws granting the institution prosecution powers.
A team of the Commission is currently in Unity State where it launched a two-day engagement workshop on Monday for constitutional post holders and members of the public on its legal framework.
The same team is expected to proceed to Ruweng Administrative Area and later to Upper Nile State before concluding its sensitization mission in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area.
The Commission has also dispatched similar teams to other states in the country.
The initiative aims to enhance the Commission’s legal authority to investigate and prosecute corruption cases.
This is in a bid to commit the country towards transparency and accountability amid public outcry on the endemic corruption.
In an interview with Eye Radio from Unity State, the Commission’s Deputy Chairperson Samuel Jok Beny said the program with funding from World Bank is meant to promote a collective fight against corruption.
“We are sensitizing them on the new Anti-Corruption Act 2009 amended in 2023 which has more development like prosecution powers which was not there,” he said.
“So we are giving awareness. Fighting against corruption is not us alone. So, we do what we can and cooperate with other colleagues.
Mr. Jok said the only pending procedure is the establishment of the department of prosecution by the Supreme Court make them fully capable of prosecuting criminal cases.
“It (department) is not established yet because it will be established at the order or procedure from the Supreme Court but we have the Mandate, we have the Act, and we have the law.”
Transparency International’s 2023 corruption index ranked South Sudan as the second most corrupt country in the world along with Syria and Venezuela as Somalia topped the list.
The country was ranked 177th out of 180 countries after scoring 13, out of a scale of 100, while Somalia scored 11 and plunges to the bottom of the list for the second year in a row.
The Corruption Perceptions Index – which is the most widely used global corruption ranking in the world – measures how corrupt each country’s public sector is perceived to be, according to experts.
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