The topography of corruption: Mr. James Deng Wal Achien and lack of accountability and transparency in the multi-million dollar J1 construction project

By the Editor*

 

"On perusal, the process was not carried out in accordance with procedures prescribed by the Public Procurement and Disposal of Asset Act, 2018 by conducting competitive tendering so that value for money could be obtained and cost reduced." Moulana Filberto Mayuot Mareng, March 25, 2022 (letter)

Photo: Government of South Sudan

The construction at South Sudan's State House, commonly known as Juba One (J1), has resumed. "The J1 project," according to the office of the president, was "ordered back into motion by President Kiir after a high-level meeting with the Oversight Committee."  

This project is causing some concerns among some people in South Sudan because of lack of transparency. While the government departments and officials involved in the project between 2021 and 2026 are aware of the details, the South Sudanese public only knows there is a construction project at J1.

Given the importance of J1 to the South Sudanese sovereignty and nationhood, there are many questions the office of the president should answer for the sake of transparency and accountability. 

The documents

 Using documentary sources from a source whose identity will not be revealed here for security reasons, this article explains why the construction is causing some concerns. The documents were forwarded to me by a concerned South Sudanese living in Juba. Concerned about the possibility that "The J1 project"  is a front for the siphoning of public funds, the individual believes the public needs to know some details about the project and the people involved in it. 

I have reached out to the office of the president, the ministry of information and the some officials involved but I have not heard back from them. I will update this article should any details change. 

Issues of concern

There are a number of issues that should concern the public. It is of course up to the office of the president to address them transparently. Unfortunately, transparency and accountability are institutional requirements South Sudanese officials ignore or disdain. They are apparently beneath them. 

The first issue of concern is the nature of the contract between the office of the president and "Rams Civil Works and Engineering Consultant Ltd" (Here after RAMS), drafted on April 8th, 2022. 

Note that the company sometimes writes the name as "RAMS for Civil Work and Engineering Consultant Ltd." The reader should also not that this South Sudanese [RAMS] company should not be confused with RAM Civil Engineering, a Canadian company. I want to make that clear. 

Doc. 1

Is Adut Salva Kiir a proverbial wolf in a sheep's clothing?

President Salva (left) and Adut Salva Kiir (Right)

When Adut Salva Kiir was appointed President Kiir's special envoy for special programs in August of 2025, many of us received her appointment with high hope. We overlooked the nepotistic element. We had good reason. She promised to be different. What stood out for me was her promise to South Sudanese Gen Zs and all the voiceless South Sudanese.

 At the time Kenyan Gen Zs were protesting the high cost of living in Kenya.  She duly told South Sudanese young people that they had the right to express their grievances without fear of reprisal. That was the first time a high-ranking official had said something like that. Protests are taboo in South Sudan. For the powers that be, protests reek of revolution. 

But Adut appeared different, almost presidential. She pledged with that beguiling soft-spoken voice that she is

"representing those who served our nation. I'm representing the vulnerable. I'm representing those that have unspoken voices. I'm representing our fathers, their struggle. I'm representing a nation that had high hopes. And I don't take it lightly." 

How could one not like that?

There was good reason to hope that Adut would be strategically and politically different. She had lived in Australia, a relatively freer society, a society in which institutionalism and the rule of law are very accented. She appeared to know the value of reasonable disagreements and the logic of political and civil space. She even said she would have "an open-door policy. You can come to my office and I will listen." 

There is more. 

And more importantly, she said she was "open to criticism as well. I may not like it all, but I will take it in." 

It seemed like the dawn of a new day. But we were too optimistic.

Private reports and social media engagements by people very close to the first family and J1 informants are painting a different picture. Adut was only wearing a mask of amiability, of magnanimity. 

As things stand now, Adut, it seems, is no longer interested in service provision and national development. She wants to be Adut the wielder of unbridled power, an unaccountable power. 

She has been, apparently, sucked into power politics. She is no longer someone who is interested in changing South Sudan for better. She is interested in power as South Sudan's heiress apparent. 

Mabior Riiny Lual, a former MP in the South Sudan's transitional legislative assembly as an opposition figure, wrote on his Facebook account on May 25 that Adut was about to have herself decreed into office as Vice President for economic cluster and the first deputy chairperson of SPLM, the ruling party in South Sudan. 

This means she would replace Dr. James Wani Igga. Vice President Wani is now the first deputy chairperson of SPLM and the Vice President in charge of economic cluster.

This means the SPLM and the presidency would be led by father and daughter. But there seems to be an obstacle to her ascendancy. 

In my recent conversation with Mabior on KuirthiyTV, Mabior also mentioned that Adut is the one who does not want the former Vice President, Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel, to be released from detention. According to Mabior, Adut threatened to commit suicide if Dr. Bol Mel is released.