Political Risk:
Critical
Score:
7/100
Defence and Security Policy and Policy Transparency
Q1
NA/100
Is there formal provision for effective and independent legislative scrutiny of defence policy?
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable, given the fact that Sudan does not currently have a legislative body. Former President Omar Bashir dissolved Parliament,…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable, given that no functioning legislature exists in Sudan at the time of this research. Currently, no transitional legislature…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable, given that no functioning legislature exists in Sudan at the time of this research. Currently, no transitional legislature…
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Q2
0/100
Does the country have an identifiable and effective parliamentary defence and security committee (or similar such organisations) to exercise oversight?
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No evidence could be found that a specialised oversight mechanism exists for Sudan’s defence sector. While the previous regime headed by Omar Bashir had…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable, as Sudan does not currently have a legislative defence and/or security committee or similar oversight committee specifically for…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable, given that no committee yet exists to review defence policies and decisions. An expert on Sudan’s defence sector,…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable, given that no committee yet exists to review defence policies and decisions. An expert on Sudan’s defence sector,…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable, as no committee yet exists to provide oversight. An expert on Sudan’s defence sector, who regularly publishes articles…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable, as no committee yet exists to review defence policies and decisions and to make recommendations to executive offices…
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Q3
6/100
Is the country’s national defence policy or national security strategy debated and publicly available?
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Prior to the 2018-19 popular uprisings that resulted in the ouster of former President Bashir and his government, little information about Sudan’s defence policy…
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Debate concerning defence policy and security strategy has long been almost entirely obstructed by a lack of verifiable information about actual policy, strategy and…
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Former President Bashir’s regime did not consult the public about national defence policy or national security strategy. Two experts on Sudan’s defence sector confirmed…
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A search of the Ministry of Defence’s online library in mid-2020 found that the most recent policy or strategy document available (concerning the whole…
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Q4
33/100
Do defence and security institutions have a policy, or evidence, of openness towards civil society organisations (CSOs) when dealing with issues of corruption?
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Former President Bashir’s regime had no formal or informal policy of openness towards civil society organisations with respect to the issue of corruption. Two…
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Before Sudan’s transition began, civil society organisations – both domestic and international – were closely scrutinised and avoided engaging in activities that powerholders might…
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The transitional government has targets for its corruption investigations, primarily officials who have been purged since the previous regime and who benefitted unduly from…
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Q5
50/100
Has the country signed up to the following international anti-corruption instruments: UNCAC and the OECD Convention?
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Sudan is ostensibly not a significant defence exporter, compared to all other countries around the world. It signed on to the UN Convention Against…
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Sudan has largely failed to comply with its obligations under the UNCAC, especially within its security sector. A formal anti-corruption law was approved in…
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Q6
25/100
Is there evidence of regular, active public debate on issues of defence? If yes, does the government participate in this debate?
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Prior to the 2018-19 popular uprisings that resulted in the ouster of former President Bashir and his government, little information about Sudan’s defence policy…
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Under Bashir’s rule, the government did not provide any meaningful information or communication about defence and security issues. Its self-publicised overtures to engage armed…
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Q7
0/100
Does the country have an openly stated and effectively implemented anti-corruption policy for the defence sector?
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While the Sudanese government has signed on to conventions against corruption and, in its transitional Constitution, paid lip service to the need for anti-corruption…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable, since there is no anti-corruption policy that also applies to the defence sector. A review of the Government…
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Q8
0/100
Are there independent, well-resourced, and effective institutions within defence and security tasked with building integrity and countering corruption?
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There are no compliance and ethics units whose mandate extends to defence institutions. Sudan’s previous regime established an anti-corruption commission and an ‘Anti-Corruption Investigation…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable, given that there are no compliance ompliance and ethics units whose mandate extends to defence institutions. The few…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable, given that there are no compliance and ethics units whose mandate extends to defence institutions. With respect to…
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Q9
NS/100
Does the public trust the institutions of defence and security to tackle the issue of bribery and corruption in their establishments?
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. A 2020 Bertelsmann-Stiftung report on Sudan explained that the former National Congress Party (NCP)-controlled…
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Q10
0/100
Are there regular assessments of the areas of greatest corruption risk for ministry and armed forces personnel, and are the findings used as inputs to the anti-corruption policy?
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No evidence could be found suggesting that a defence-specific assessment of corruption risk took place or was commissioned in the last 2-3 years, or…
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This indicator is scored ‘Not Applicable’, given that risk assessments are not conducted. No evidence could be found suggesting that there is a regular…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable, given that risk assessments are not conducted. Since no evidence can be found of a past risk assessment,…
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Defence Budgets
Q11
0/100
Does the country have a process for acquisition planning that involves clear oversight, and is it publicly available?
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Phone interviews with two experts on Sudan’s defence sector [1,2], as well as a thorough search of the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Interior…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable, given that there is no defined process for acquisition planning. Phone interviews with two experts on Sudan’s defense…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable as there is no process for acquisition planning. Since there is no formal and official acquisition planning process…
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Q12
13/100
Is the defence budget transparent, showing key items of expenditure? And it is provided to the legislature in a timely fashion?
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In December 2019, the Transitional Government’s Minister of Finance announced an increase in the defence budget from 33.88 billion pounds to 50.578 billion pounds…
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At this time, a transitional legislature has not yet been appointed in Sudan, so there is no legislative participation in defence budget planning. Sudan’s…
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Q13
0/100
Is there a legislative committee (or other appropriate body) responsible for defence budget scrutiny and analysis in an effective way?
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At this time, a transitional legislature has not yet been appointed or elected in Sudan [1]; the appointment of a legislative council is forecasted…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable. Since Sudan currently has no legislature, there is no legislative committee or other entity that is responsible for…
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Q14
0/100
Is the approved defence budget made publicly available? In practice, can citizens, civil society, and the media obtain detailed information on the defence budget?
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The most recent annual report produced and published online by the Central Bank of Sudan (CBOS) was for 2017. It includes information about the…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable, given that there is no defence budget published at all. In 2017 and 2019, the International Budget Partnership’s…
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Sudan’s de facto defence budget has long remained consistently and deliberately opaque. The International Budget Partnership’s Open Budget Survey for Fiscal Year 2019 scored…
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Q15
17/100
Are sources of defence income other than from central government allocation (from equipment sales or property disposal, for example) published and scrutinised?
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A review of the websites of the Ministries of Defence, Interior and Finance [1,2,3] yields no information about non-central government sources of defence sector…
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Mechanisms that would, in theory, scrutinise non-central government sources of defence funding either do not have access to information about such funding or, for…
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Some CSOs and media aim to gather and publish information that scrutinises non-central government sources of defence funding and how that funding is obtained…
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Q16
0/100
Is there an effective internal audit process for defence ministry expenditure (that is, for example, transparent, conducted by appropriately skilled individuals, and subject to parliamentary oversight)?
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A review of the Ministry of Defence’s website [1] and an interview with an expert on Sudan’s defence sector [2] indicated that there is…
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There is no internal audit of Ministry of Defence expenditure, nor is there currently a legislature in Sudan, so there is no parliamentary committee…
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There is no internal audit of Ministry of Defence expenditure, so there is no external scrutiny of such a function [1].
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There is no internal audit entity to conduct audits of Ministry of Defence expenditure, so no audits are conducted [1].
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Q17
0/100
Is there effective and transparent external auditing of military defence expenditure?
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Sudan has a National Audit Chamber but it is subject to political influence, according to a report conducted for Transparency International in 2017 [1].…
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Sudan has a National Audit Chamber and Auditor General, but it does not review military expenditure [1]. As such, this indicator is marked Not…
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As there is no external auditing of military expenditure, this indicator is marked Not Applicable. No reference to reports from audits of Sudan’s military…
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As there is no external auditing of defence expenditure, this indicator is marked Not Applicable. After reviewing the website of the National Audit Chamber…
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Nexus of Defence and National Assets
Q18
10/100
Is there evidence that the country’s defence institutions have controlling or financial interests in businesses associated with the country’s natural resource exploitation and, if so, are these interests publicly stated and subject to scrutiny?
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A review of the Armed Forces Act (2007) found that it does not prohibit defence institutions or individuals from having controlling or financial interests…
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In his report on Sudan’s political marketplace, Sudan expert Alex de Waal explains that the off-books sale of gold, mercenary services and (to a…
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The involvement of individual defence personnel in business relating to gold (and, formerly, more frequently oil) exploitation is widespread and sometimes illicit – but,…
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The fact that each of the reports by Global Witness, Reuters and The Guardian on security forces’ involvement in Sudan’s gold sector is investigative…
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Compared to the investigative reporting by foreign entities such as Global Witness, Reuters and The Guardian [1,2,3] on the involvement of Sudan’s defence and…
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Organised Crime
Q19
0/100
Is there evidence, for example through media investigations or prosecution reports, of a penetration of organised crime into the defence and security sector? If no, is there evidence that the government is alert and prepared for this risk?
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The January 2020 Final Report of the Panel of Experts on Sudan indicated that organised crime has penetrated the security sector. It stated: ‘The…
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The government is not actively trying to tackle some important systems of organised crime because some of the security and defence entities that are…
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Q20
0/100
Is there policing to investigate corruption and organised crime within the defence services and is there evidence of the effectiveness of this policing?
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No policing function investigates corruption or organised crime in the defence services. An expert on Sudan’s defence sector pointed out that most Sudanese would…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable as no such policing function exists. The influence of top military officials, including those who are members of…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable as no such policing function exists. The fact that there is no policing function over defence services’ involvement…
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Control of Intelligence Services
Q21
0/100
Are the policies, administration, and budgets of the intelligence services subject to effective and independent oversight?
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During Bashir’s presidency, the NISS itself was actually tasked with anti-corruption investigations, but no separate entity was empowered to oversee the NISS. While Sudan’s…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable as there is no evidence of the existence of an independent oversight function that can influence the intelligence…
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Q22
0/100
Are senior positions within the intelligence services filled on the basis of objective selection criteria, and are appointees subject to investigation of their suitability and prior conduct?
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The National Security Act of 2010 states that appointees to the National Security Services must be Sudanese by birth, ‘be fully eligible’, ‘be known…
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Two experts on Sudan’s security sector confirmed that, during President Bashir’s rule, senior NISS positions were likely filled as desired by President Bashir to…
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The National Security Act of 2010 states that appointees to the National Security Services must be Sudanese by birth, ‘be fully eligible’, ‘be known…
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Export Controls
Q23
0/100
Does the government have a well-scrutinised process for arms export decisions that aligns with Articles 7.1.iv, 11.5, and 15.6 of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)?
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Sudan has neither signed up to nor ratified the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) [1].
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable as Sudan has neither signed up to nor ratified the ATT [1]. In a phone interview, an expert…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable as there is no evidence that Sudan exports arms [1].
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Lobbying in Defence
No evidence could be found that Sudan has a framework for regulating lobbying activity. However, Sudanese defence actors themselves are known to hire lobbyists…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable as there is no legislation regulating lobbying in the field of defence/security in Sudan. No evidence could be…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable as Sudan has no legislation regulating lobbying and no lobbyist registration system. No evidence could be found that…
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable as there is no legislation regulating lobbying of defence institutions in Sudan. No evidence could be found that…
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