Hundreds of thousands killed, injured, and raped. Millions more displaced. After five years of violence in South Sudan, the peace agreement signed in September 2018 is a hopeful attempt to end the corruption-fueled war.
But this is an uncertain time in South Sudan. The overall commitment to the peace agreement is low and implementation of some key provisions of the agreement has stalled completely. At the same time, President Salva Kiir continues to control South Sudan’s violent kleptocratic system of government that has deliberately constructed an infrastructure for corruption and private gain for its leaders. A peace agreement that is founded on this corrupt system is at high risk of crumbling because the system perpetuates a cyclical, competitive, and at times violent contest for power. In this system, the people of South Sudan suffer.