A UN report uncovered ‘systematic looting’ by South Sudan’s rulers as citizens famish
On Tuesday, September 16, 2025, United Nations investigators accused South Sudanese leaders of looting their country’s resources, including paying $1.7 billion to companies associated with Vice President Benjamin Bol Mel for unfinished road construction work.
According to a report by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, the payments made between 2021 and 2024 are just one instance of the “grand corruption” plaguing the impoverished country, where the average GDP per capita has fallen to a quarter of its level at independence in 2011.
U.N. Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan
The commission, which was created in 2016 by the U.N. Human Rights Council, noted that “the country has been captured by a predatory elite that has institutionalized the systematic looting of the nation’s wealth for private gain.”
The report highlights that the annual budget allocated to the president’s medical unit exceeds the total health expenditure for the entire country.
In a formal written response to the U.N. panel, Justice Minister Joseph Geng stated that the report was based on figures that did not match the government’s own data and attributed South Sudan’s economic challenges to ongoing conflicts, climate change, and declining sales of its primary export, crude oil.
South Sudan has had numerous bouts of armed violence since its independence in 2011, including a civil war that claimed the lives of an estimated 400,000 people between 2013 and 2018.
Last week, the government filed charges of crime against First Vice President Riek Machar, whose forces battled soldiers loyal to President Salva Kiir during the civil war, intensifying a political feud that has contributed to renewed violence in recent months.
South Sudan is also struggling with significant reductions in annual foreign humanitarian aid. However, the report claims that corruption is the primary cause behind the country’s ongoing economic and humanitarian crises, with nearly two-thirds of its 12 million citizens experiencing crisis-level hunger or worse.
The commission noted that the research was based on 173 selected meetings and interviews from late 2022 to late 2024 as well as government documentation and financial data. Adding to that, the report was focused on corruption.
It was stated in the research that, “Locked in a zero-sum competition for power and control of resources and territory, South Sudan’s elites continue to pursue partisan political ends, mobilizing and exploiting ethnic differences and tensions.”
The 101-page report highlights companies linked to Bol Mel, whom President Salva Kiir appointed as one of South Sudan’s five vice presidents in February.
The U.S. government sanctioned Bol Mel and two of his associated companies in 2017, alleging that one had received preferential treatment from senior government officials for road construction projects. In 2021, the U.S. imposed sanctions on two additional companies connected to him.
Following the 2017 sanctions announcement, South Sudan’s administration denied that he was Kiir’s personal financial adviser and said that the decision to blacklist him was based on false information.
The U.N. report states that between 2021 and 2024, South Sudan’s government allocated an estimated $2.2 billion to companies linked to Bol Mel through its off-budget “Oil for Roads” program.
In certain years, this program accounted for approximately 60% of all government spending, according to the report.
According to a United Nations investigation, South Sudan’s government spent an estimated $2.2 billion from 2021 to 2024 on Bol Mel-affiliated enterprises through its off-budget “Oil for Roads” scheme.
According to the report, in some years, this program accounted for about 60% of total government expenditures.
In spite of the outlays, the companies linked with Bol Mel constructed less than $500 million in drivable roads, inflating the value of construction contracts by overstating the length of the roads, overcharging relative to industry standards, and building fewer lanes than agreed.
