No
government can succeed in anything without strong institutional functionality
modals. At any level, there has to be day-to-day methods for
micro-accountability. Auditors should only play supervisory roles as their
duties come once in a while. For South Sudan, we need self-perpetuating methods
that’d remain as cultural…daily. Psychologically, South Sudanese should
understand that accountability is a daily happening.
Corruption
isn’t going to end through the arrest of few individuals. What the government
has to do is to establish systemic instruments that can act as deterrents for
would-be corrupt employees.
What
we have to understand is that auditing is a yearly event that does little in
fighting corruption in Africa. In that case, what the country needs is structural
establishment of across-the-board modalities that can make sure accountability
becomes a golden cultural phenomenon.
The
recent suspension of Finance Minister, Kosta Manibe, and Cabinet Affairs
Minister,Deng Alor, is a political faux
pas. While some might rush to argue that the President has finally got some
nerves in fighting corruption, the arrest raises more curious questions than
answers. Admittedly, the incident makes South Sudanese even more wary and
confused than comforted.
What’s
the fate of the 75-fellows letter? When is the president going to report back
to the nation about what happened to the letter?
The
suspension of these two ministers and the subsequent investigations are going to
neither to reduce corruption nor assure anyone that the president is serious
about fighting corruption.
Fighting
corruption shouldn’t be a political cherry-picking. The president has to either
do a systemic overhaul or devise modalities that can be applied by every single
worker in South Sudan. Accountability shouldn’t be restricted to government
departments either. It should apply to everyone in both the public and private
sphere of work…and at all levels.
Each
and everyone should be enlightened and given strict directives in order to know
that accountability is to be made a cultural phenomenon in South Sudan. Strict
transitive causal relations can help: A->B->C->D. Every single person
should understand that they are accountable to someone above them. This
accountability modal shouldn’t be restricted to fiscal enterprises. The modals
should be applied to any given task that directly affects the lives of South
Sudanese and their developmental future.
Regular
accountability meetings at every given department should be made mandatory. A
culture where people know that they can be called anytime by their superiors is
the culture we want. If one knows that one’s boss can call anytime for one to
account for the hours worked, the quality of work or any task money-related,
then it would be possible for people to keep clean records of what they do.
For
instance, employees should keep their records because their supervisors can
call them anytime to account for what they do; whether they adhere to codes of
conduct and their job descriptions. Supervisors should also keep their records
because they can be summoned anytime to account for what they do in front of
departmental heads. Departmental heads should also keep their records clean as
they might be called to account in front of directors. And this should continue
up to the ministers, to the parliament and to South Sudanese citizens. Without
this systemic inculcation of the culture of accountability, arresting or
suspending individuals only becomes an excuse; a political ruse meant to cover
up the macabre malady of corruption.
National
Audit Chamber (NAC) can either devise these modalities or the government can
contract an independent consulting company to make sure that accountability
isn’t restricted to government officials. NAC yearly auditing is just a pinch
among all the ingredients required for workable and effective accountability.
Let
what we do be transparent! Let accountability be cultural!
Follow: @kuirthiy
