South Sudan is in turmoil after seceding from Sudan following a referendum that passed with 98.83% of the vote.
On July 9, 2011, the country gained its independence and for a while, the newest nation was optimistic that the sporadic wars could cease.
Five years after that day, the country has gone from bad to worse.
In a report by The Sentry, co-founded by movie actor George Clooney and John Prendergast, the country is suffering due to political and military elite syphoning public money.
This money, according to the report 'Entitled War Crimes Shouldn't Pay', ends up buying expensive assets in Nairobi and Uganda.
Details from the report show that top officials ultimately responsible for mass atrocities in South Sudan have at the same time managed to accumulate fortunes, despite modest government salaries.
The report indicates that South Sudan leader President Salva Kiir, his former deputy Riek Machar and military generals have stolen from the state, accumulating an array of luxury homes and cars.
Apart from enriching themselves, they have also incorporated family members through stakes in oil and other business ventures.
To show how much the state officials have plundered, in June 2014 the family of General Hoth Mai purchased a home in Narre Warren, a Melbourne suburb. This purchase was in the name of his son. The home is valued at $1.5 million an equivalent of Sh150,000,000.
Several of Kiir's children attended high school and college in Australia, Malaysia and Uganda.
Both Kiir and Machar’s spokesmen have denied the leaders have properties in Kenya and other African countries.
South Sudanese army chief Paul Malong, had at least two luxurious villas in Uganda in addition to a $2 million mansion in a gated community in Nairobi. Malong makes roughly $US45,000 a year.
The report says the elite’s family members have stakes in commercial ventures in South Sudan despite local laws forbidding constitutional office holders from engaging in business outside government while in office.
Reportedly, Kiir's family has been involved in a series of transitions involving government procurement deals and relationships with a foreign oil company. Kiir's 12-year-old son holds a 25 per cent stake in a holding company formed in February 2016.
Documents show that in Kenya, $3.03 million moved through Gen Reuben Riak’s personal bank account between January 2012 and early 2016. The US dollar-denominated account at the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) show transactions recorded includes more than $700,000 in cash deposits. There were also large payments from several international construction companies operating in South Sudan.
Over this four-year period, $1.16 million in cash was withdrawn from the account.
Kiir family residence, according to the report is located along Manyani East Road within Lavington while the Machar family maintains a residence in Runda after moving into a home in Lavington.
When presented with the information obtained by The Sentry, KCB did not reply to requests for comment.
The report follows the trail of money with links to the families of both Kiir and Machar.
Those named in the report, based on evidence and testimony gathered in two years, have not yet responded to the allegations.
The Sentry is a new investigative unit aimed at ending armed conflicts in Africa by dismantling their financing.