A billboard erected in Juba town has prompted authorities to detain Mr Monday Moses, a civil society activist.
The banner reading: "#GurushWen" is part of a civil society campaign on transparency and accountability in South Sudan. "GurushWen" in Arabic means where is the money?
Monday, who is the Executive Director of Organization for Non-violence and Development (ONAD), was arrested and taken to the premises of the country’s National Security Service on Tuesday to answer questions on the billboard.
South Sudan’s National Security Service (NSS) has broad powers of surveillance, arrest and detention.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj this morning, Edmund Yakani, executive director of the non-profit Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), confirmed Monday’s arrest over the civil society campaign aimed at promoting transparency and accountability in the country.
"Yesterday at around 10 am, the National Security Service office of the Operation Unit behind the office of Immigration Authority, summoned Mr Monday Moses to answer questions over the billboard raised in Juba called #GurushWen. So since Yesterday until today, Monday Moses is still being detained," he said.
Yakani urged the National Security Service to immediately release Monday Moses or take him to a competent court of law, saying it is essential to observe freedom of expression and address any dispute in a legal way.
"The campaign is peaceful and within the spirit of implementing R-ARCSS Chapter Four. R-ARCSS Chapter Four calls for the enhancement of transparency and accountability across the country. The initiative of the civil society is in line with the implementation of R-ARCSS," he said.
CEPO calls upon the South Sudan Human Rights Commission to intervene in the matter.
According to reports, corruption in South Sudan permeates all sectors of the economy and all levels of the state apparatus and manifests itself through various forms, including grand corruption and clientelistic networks.
South Sudan was ranked as the second-most corrupt nation in Transparency International’s 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).
In March 2020, President Salva Kiir and his first deputy Riek Machar asked ministers to fight corruption as they rollout government programs.