Articles and Analysies
Purging Political Life by John Gordon
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Jun 27, 2008 - 7:15:14 AM

Purging Political Life

The fight against corruption is frequently highlighted by newspapers published by southern Sudanese. That move is certainly commendable since it targets campaigning against one of the evils that eats into the fabric of the State. Corruption, as we know, is not peculiar to a certain country. It is a phenomenon that exists everywhere with varying degrees.

African countries in particular, are said to be plagued with corruption, the reason being abuse of power and the predominantly tribal nature of these countries.

In the case of South Sudan, accusatory figures have been pointed at certain individuals allegedly believed to be involved in corrupt practices. As a result, an anti-corruption strategy has been established by the Government of South Sudan to combat that practice.
Indeed, such strategy should acquire certain dimensions if it is to serve its purpose. First and foremost, an independent entity should be assigned corruption combating and so this will ensure that no individual would be immune from prosecution if found involved in corruption.
The other effective measure is to adopt full transparency as to the award of governmental contracts and the recruitment of staff for job opportunities.

It remains to be said that the commission assigned the anti-corruption campaign should work closely with the media.

The latter in its turn should mobilize all efforts to detect areas of corruption wherever it existed and reveal that to public and official attention.

However, for the media to play that role, they should verify their investigations carefully to avoid coming up with unfounded accusations.

Again, we add our voices to those calling for campaigning against corruption to purge our political life from this serious practice that has continued to stigmatize some African systems of governance.