Report Links Businessman to Major Corruption and Violence in South Sudan

An investigative report published by The Sentry has uncovered financial links between the Sudanese businessman Ashraf Seed Ahmed Hussein Ali and the ongoing violence in South Sudan.

Known by his moniker ‘Al-Cardinal’, Ashraf has sought to line his own pockets by exploiting weak procurement procedures, limp oversight and an ever-expanding network of some of Sudan’s top military and civilian officials.

The report’s key findings address myriad conflicts of interest, the obstruction of institutional oversight, and the concealment of crucial information from the public.  It attributes these to “[m]ajor deficiencies in transparency and accountability frameworks” which have “facilitated exploitation by predatory foreign investors and South Sudan’s ruling clique”.

It further elaborates on Al-Cardinal’s growing international empire; tentacles which reach as far as China, The United States and Great Britain.

Al-Cardinal has, according to the report, continually sought to profit from violence in the region, securing lucrative government procurement contracts, from supplying Toyota Land Cruisers to Russian-made GAZ armoured 4x4 infantry vehicles.

The Sentry is an investigative and policy team founded by American actor George Clooney and human rights lawyer John Prendergast that examines capital flows that facilitate violence in Central and Eastern Africa.

The group’s main stated aim is to “alter the incentive structure of those benefitting financially and politically from conflict and mass atrocities”.  This, they believe, will “lend greater support to broader accountability measures as well as provide leverage to peace and human rights initiatives aimed at ending Africa’s deadliest conflicts”.