By Kei Emmanuel Duku
South Sudan’s Chief of Defense Forces (CDF), Gen. Dr. Paul Nang Majok, has launched a sweeping internal operation to eliminate corruption, specifically focusing on the illegal sale and diversion of military food rations.
The CDF issued a stern warning and directive to top defense staff during a thanksgiving military parade held on Wednesday at the army’s General Headquarters in Bilpam.
In a press released by Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang, the SSPDF Spokesman, The CDF’s directive explicitly banned the sale of military food rations and warned division coordinators to immediately cease such malpractices.
This aggressive move is the center of his command following his recent reappointment by Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Salva Kiir Mayardit.
To ensure his orders are strictly enforced and to root out perpetrators, Gen. Dr. Majok ordered a high-level security coordination team to oversee compliance and accountability.
He directed Assistant Chief of Defence Forces for Administration, Finance and Personnel, Chief of Military Intelligence and the Director of Military Police to coordinate, supervise, and hold violators to account:
Division commanders were also specifically directed to ensure the timely delivery of food rations to their intended beneficiaries, emphasizing that the military’s supplies must reach the soldiers they were meant to feed.
The commander’s stern address extended beyond rations, targeting other forms of internal corruption that plague the army’s finances.
He specifically warned military officers engaging in fraudulent practices, including those maintaining ‘ghost names’ of nonexistent servicemen and women to embezzle state funds. He stated this malpractice is common among the high command, aimed solely at self-enrichment.
To combat this fraud, the CDF immediately reactivated the salary payments committee and directed all heads of units to surrender the lists of ghost names.
He threatened that any officer who fails to comply will face the retrospective repayment of all embezzled salaries.
In other directives issued during the parade that reinforce the theme of discipline and accountability, Gen. Dr. Majok also re-ordered the permanent removal of illegal checkpoints and demanded the immediate arrest or re-arrest of anyone found re-establishing the illegal check points.
The army chief reiterated his commitment to working with all genuine servicemen and women under his command, stating he was given a second chance to serve because of them.