The need for funds is at its greatest even as corrupt officials siphon off millions of petro-dollars in South Sudan and scurry off to Ethiopia for talks on Abyei with Khartoum, writes Gamal Nkrumah Heightened political risks in Sudan's border regions with South Sudan have given South Sudanese officials the opportunity to make illegal fortunes. After months of apparent denial it has dawned on the authorities in Juba to come out clean on corruption -- especially if the ideal of ideological purity is to be upheld. The initial optimism surrounding the independence of South Sudan has given way to mounting concerns over graft and corruption sparked by a series of scandals brought to public attention by none other than South Sudanese President Salva Kiir himself. Much of Juba's challenges are out of his hands, but a steadily gathering storm of carping over opprobrium will almost always benefit his adversaries at home and in Khartoum. This week's ignominious drama gave the South Sudan leader a chance to parade a familiar routine. Battling graft cements the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)'s political credentials. When they are faced with turpitude of this sort, SPLM officials switch easily into crisis-management mode -- a state of affairs the battle-hardened bunch seem to relish. President Kiir warned this week that corrupt officials in his own administration had stolen public money. "An estimated $4 billion are unaccounted for, or simply put, stolen by former and current officials as well as corrupt individuals with close ties to government officials," Kiir extrapolated. Kiir would like to see the accused face the death penalty. South Sudan's president, after all, cut his teeth in the bush fighting northern Sudanese government forces. There is one thing that Kiir and Khartoum as well as the representatives of humanitarian agencies and human rights groups in South Sudan agree upon, and that is to make sure that those who embezzled state funds have their day in court. "Most of these funds have been taken out of the country and deposited in foreign accounts. Some have purchased properties often paid in cash," Kiir added. South Sudan has one of the worst health and education statistics in the world. It is against this backdrop that the Agreement on Temporary Arrangements for the Administration and is expected to commence today, 7 June. Delegations have already started to congregate in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa for the meeting, and they include tribal elders of the Mesiriya Arabised nomads and the indigenous Dinka Ngok non-Arab sedentary agriculturalists. The Addis Ababa meeting on Abyei is chaired by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, head of the high level panel for Sudan set up by the African Union. Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir is in an uncompromising mood. His often bursque manner does not help in delicate deliberations such as those on Abyei in Addis Ababa. President Kiir on the other hand has struggled to throw off his image as an uncouth freedom fighter fresh from the bush. His ten-gallon hat, apparently a gift from former United States president George W Bush, hung on him early in the presidency of South Sudan, and he never takes it off. With a penchant for fraternising with Western leaders, Kiir's approval ratings in his own country are far higher than Al-Bashir's in Sudan, who habitually makes a virtue of his role as defender of the Islamic faith. Al-Bashir does not hesitate to use emotive language. Kiir, in sharp contrast does not does not inspire much enthusiasm among his own people. Yet his magic hat seems to work wonders. That is why the graft scandal may be a watershed not just for Kiir's political career, but for South Sudan's economic fortunes and political stability. Al-Bashir's classic bravado will be taken rather more seriously in Addis Ababa when the question of Abyei crops up. The South Sudanese corruption scandal comes just as Juba stakes its claims over Abyei. The SPLM administration in Juba, the South Sudanese capital, is trying to clean up its act amid allegations that the country's vast oil wealth is being squandered. Of course, this kind of attention from politically connected South Sudanese elite can erode the SPLM monopoly of political power in Juba. Khartoum, on the other hand is a bastion of barbarism as far as Western powers are concerned, just like Juba is the El Dorado of unimaginable bounties. Al-Bashir derides the heathen and heretical South Sudanese politicos. He sees Kiir as a protégé of imperialist powers. Whether or not South Sudan is viewed from Khartoum as a neo-colony or not, Kiir has demonstrated in the past that he has managed to keep the motivation engine firing on all cylinders while smoothing out some of the rougher edges. Kiir is confident that Abyei is ultimately his. And, that eventually Al-Bashir will acknowledge Abyei as South Sudanese territory. The debate about Abyei's future needs to start now. By outflanking his northern counterpart Kiir has already won the approval of his SPLM supporters in northern Sudan, and in particular the adjacent provinces of Blue Nile and South Kordofan. Khartoum insists that the SPLM as the ruling party in Juba have no right to interfere in the internal affairs of Sudan. Juba believes that the question of SPLM activities in Blue Nile and South Kordofan are within realm of reasonable debate. After all, Kiir argues, the SPLM-North ought to be a fully-fledged political party in Sudan, and therefore does not take direct instructions from Juba. Khartoum rejects this hypothesis, arguing instead that the SPLM-N is a fifth columnist fomenting trouble in the war-torn Sudanese provinces of South Kordofan and Blue Nile. In any case as far as Khartoum is concerned, it is too late for a white knight from Juba to rejuvenate the fight for forcibly acquiring the disputed provinces.
