Following the signing of the Public Procurement and Disposal
of Assets Regulations, aimed at enhancing transparency and accountability,
CEPO’s Executive Director, Edmund Yakani, calls for strong political will to
implement these reforms to tackle corruption and financial mismanagement.
Yakani welcomed the progress made by the Ministry of Finance
and Planning, along with other financial institutions, noting that it addresses
a long-overdue demand.
“This is a long-awaited deal, reforms that we demanded that
should have been delivered long time ago, but it's better than having no
reforms,” said Yakani
The procurement regulations signed on Thursday are part of
extensive public finance management reforms targeting the pervasive corruption
and resource mismanagement in South Sudan.
Historically, public procurement has been a significant
issue, with weak financial controls leading to widespread fund misuse.
The new regulations aim to address these problems by setting
strict guidelines for procurement and asset disposal, enhancing governance and
resource allocation.
These measures are designed to combat corruption through tighten
oversight of government procurement and asset disposal processes.
This initiative is part of a broader effort by the Ministry
of Finance and Planning and the Central Bank of South Sudan to improve revenue
collection and spending transparency.
However, Yakani emphasized that while the signing of these
reforms is a positive step, political commitment is crucial for their success.
“These reforms will be meaningless if there's no political
acceptance, political will, political commitment starting from the top
leadership of the country and their subordinates who feel that they are
powerful and powered by the top political leadership of the country. We cannot
succeed in improving our finance, economic and revenue sector reforms if the
top leadership of the country does not commit themselves to enforce those
reforms,” Yakani stated.
He added, calling on the president to support anti-corruption bodies like the National Audit Chamber and the Anti-Corruption Commission, which have long been underfunded and politically paralyzed.
The Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Regulations, 2024, was passed by the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) in August 2024 to address malpractices and corruption in government asset management.
