A United Nations temporary protectorate on South Sudan should include a cash recovery program and independent court system said Pagan Amum, leader of the SPLM-Former Detainees.
It is Amum’s latest push for increased UN authority in South Sudan, which the government has strenuously objected to.
“I have recommended to put in place a real program to find all stolen money and get it back to the people of South Sudan,” Pagan said in an op-ed.
Pagan outlined a forensic cash recovery program that has been influenced by the Enough Project and the World Bank. No South Sudanese official current or past will supervise the program, Amum said, and it should investigate all government programs and senior officials since 2005.
“I hereby volunteer to be the first such official to be investigated by the UNTA Cash Recovery Program” he said.
Among his other proposals for a temporary administration in South Sudan, he also noted giving the parliament greater authority, especially over spending. An independent judicial system is essential for the country as well.
Seemingly at every step, the government has fought the UN temporary administration, fearing that it is the first step to lose sovereignty. It has called those in favor of a UN protectorate “traitors”, and sources inside the government say that South Sudanese who attended a recent rally in favor of the idea have had their passports revoked.