Sudan's difficult days… Corruption is suffocating the state (1).. ✍️ Rashan O'Shea
When the state becomes sterile and its machine is incapable of producing what can fill its structural gaps, corruption arises and the corrupt enter the decision-making power to press their dirty hands on the wounds of the Sudanese.
-A few days ago- I obtained a set of documents, from various sources, on multiple subjects. I was leafing through the newspapers and my tension doubled between the judiciary, the prosecution, the customs authorities, the port authorities and the transition. Sovereignty Council as well. I said in secret: the flood of corruption is more dangerous than the flood of war…
The country has never faced such a dilemma. In the body of this article, I will present readers with just two cases as examples – but not limited to them.
The customs authority has launched a call for tenders to rehabilitate one of its hospitals. Companies applied, but some did not commit to fulfilling the conditional obligations. The tender for three companies was eliminated, and one was excluded because it did not commit to providing: (tax exemption, zakat release, upfront insurance).
The value of the bid, as estimated by the authority's committees, was (35) million pounds. The offer has been signed by a company and has started to complete its procedures. Everyone was surprised when the excluded company got approval for the offer. the director of the customs authority at the time, Lieutenant General Bashir Al-Taher, and presented an invoice amounting to (468,079,560) million pounds.
This corrupt man, who agreed to win this tender, has from the beginning the unshakable conviction that the state is incapable of punishing him, which is a mild description of a long-term project aimed at uprooting the state of the institutions of its roots.
Well… back to the subject of the offer. Part of the bill details were estimated at huge amounts. It included temporary connections, a water tank, a pump, water, electricity, fuel and generator maintenance bills worth . (3,160) million pounds, a vehicle rental with maintenance and fuel, tea and coffee services and breakfast worth (28,020) million pounds…
The other scandal was a customs exemption for a quantity of (375) tons of commercial flour that a trader brought across the Sudan-Egypt border from Egypt without paying a single cent in government fees. What is the compensation that the person responsible for this shameful. corruption received?
What we have presented is just the tip of the iceberg of shameful corruption, involving government officials at all levels.
The battle for the State is open, but the path is not easy. Public finance control agencies must be mobilized, notably the General Intelligence Service, keen to protect Sudanese national security.
Leaders must fulfill their moral duty to the Sudanese people to protect their gains and interests, and be prepared to make painful decisions, the most important of which is to accept the idea that the war against corruption is no less important than the war against the rebellion.
My love and respect
