The government of South Sudan has been sent to task by regional and continental bodies to meet its mandatory membership financial obligations or face expulsion.

The East African Community and African Union are both piling pressure on the Juba administration to clear all outstanding arrears to guarantee to maintain its membership grip.

It’s for the second time in two years the country defaulted on its financial mandates, especially to the East African Community.

In July 2020, South Sudan and Burundi dominated the agenda of the East African Legislative Assembly as serial debt defaulters. The regional body threatened to revoke the membership status of the two countries by then. 

“Although EAC Financial Rules and Regulations provide that the contributions from each Partner State shall be considered due on the 1st day of July in each financial year and shall be paid within the first six months of the financial year, Partner States continue to default and some remain in arrears throughout the financial year,” Abdikadir Aden, the Chairperson of the East African Legislative Assembly General Purpose-Budget Committee, was quoted by the East African to have said.

Member States of the East African Community are mandated to pay $8 million every year in dues. As of June 10th 2020, South Sudan had $27 million in arrears.

Within the same year, South Sudan got expelled from the African Union for failure to pay $9 million membership dues. In an embarrassing scene, James Pitia Morgan, South Sudan’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union was denied participation in the organization’s business until the due is settled.

Recurring phenomenon

While the coronavirus affected most economies around the world including that of South Sudan, Juba has always struggled to meet its regional and continental financial obligations long before the pandemic. 

Though those are the major contextual focus, it’s worth noting that civil servants at home go for months without salaries, the country’s embassies abroad are reeling under financial conundrum. This has been the trend for years safe for those when the country was in crisis.

Action taken

Like any country that has emerged from independence, South Sudan has so much to fix. In most intellectual discourses, commentators argued that it was too early for Juba to join bodies like the EAC before putting the house in order.

However, all has not been thorny. On Friday last week, the Council of Ministers approved $100 million to address the aforementioned financial woes. This is a major step, which, if implemented, will go a long way in saving the country’s reputation abroad.

Another positive stride on meeting the financial obligations is the implementation of the 100% salary raise for civil servants promised by President Salva Kiir during his address to the nation on the 10th anniversary of independence.

Protection of country’s reputation abroad

The late Lucky Dube once said, “It takes so many people to build a great, good reputation but it only takes one stupid fool to destroy everything they have done”. This implies that a good reputation is hard to build but very easy to destroy.

South Sudan from a six-year conflict and on a rebranding mission. Regional, continental and international platforms should be utilized to achieve this objective through responsible financial conduct.

The shame that emanates from the expulsion of the country from such bodies is enormous and demoralizes representatives there to raise the flag of the country high. But this can be avoided when a portion of priorities is given to the country’s regional affairs. It must be done or we will be done.