Northern Bahr el Gazal governorship

By Dut Yai Akol

Nov 28, 2006 — Why would a Governor leave his position as head of the State? There are three reasons that could explain this departure as in our present circumstances.

He could resign;
He could be unpopular with the community and they chose to elect a new leader ;
He could be ask to leave by higher authority.

What happened in Aweil?

The revenue collection of the States Market

The Governor did not like the way the States market revenues are being handled because Maj.Gen Paul Malong Awan who is now in charge of the security in the South and very close to the president of GOSS was collecting the State markets revenues. The Governor was given the approval by the State Assembly to pool the revenue collected to one account for services and development of the State. The result of the action provoked a reaction from Paul Malong who had been collecting the revenues for his 75 wives whom he had married during the civil war. The collection was being spearheaded by his loyalist of all times Col. Madut Dut (Abuk Abuk). They crossed paths with Governor and since nobody is sure who the other beneficiaries of the money are, the governor was gone.

Embezzlement by the Judges, Staff and the Traders in the Market

The three groups had agreed to design the case against the Government of Northern Bahr el Gazal (Aweil). They forged a case where the government of the State allegedly owed a trader Mohammed Ali Jebril the amount of SD 750,000,000 (Seven Hundreds and Fifty Millions Sudanese Dinars). The trader wanted compensation for that amount for the food and items he had supplied the Popular Defence Force in the years 2003 – 2004. The Judge hurriedly settled the case that the money should be paid by the SPLM government of Northern Bahr el Gazal and the sum should include SD 330, 000, 000 (Three Hundreds and thirty millions Sudanese Dinar) owes by the former NCP government to the traders in the market. The Governor refused to pay the money and this was what led to the much publicized beating of the Judge in Aweil. It was a false claim and anybody who was in Aweil at that time can attest to this. Unfortunately, this very same Judge who made the claim of the beating was a very close relative of the GOSS president. Was it the Lion cub that was beaten?

A fraud contract by the former Governor and member of the NCP

The former NCP governor Garang Deng Aguer took a contract to Col. Mareng Akuei, the then Aweil State Governor and asked for the State approval. He said that he was given the said contract in Juba to the tune of $288,000,000 (two hundreds and eighty eight millions US Dollars) to be set off against Aweil development funds for building of roads and bridges in the State. Col. Mareng refused to sign the contract and told Garang Deng Aguer to come and sit with the State authorities and bring all the legal documents. Garang Deng Aguer refused to do that and told Mareng in the face that he will work very hard to be removed and bring another governor who is cooperative. Col. Mareng did not know that Garang Deng Aguer had become a good friend of the President of the GOSS and he has a full backing of the President. Shortly before that, Garang Deng Aguer had taken similar contracts from the government for State development but instead divert them to his projects and he now owns aero planes. He is also now busy buying Security personnel of the GOSS in order for him to be free to do whatever he wants to do in the South.

In the past, Garang Deng Aguer went and joined the SPLM/A with money which he used to buy some leaders of the SPLM High command and he did succeed in doing that. When he finished doing that, he went back to Khartoum where he was given an assignment to forge American Dollars and then to proceed to Nairobi to do destruction in the SPLM/A leadership. Now it seems that Garang Deng Aguer has got the big fish and is busy catching the small ones. Garang Deng Aguer is now using the money given to him by the South contract of fraud against Northern Bahr el Gazal to create confusion among the leaders of the South and he can now easily run between Khartoum and anywhere in the South using the aero planes he bought with the money of the South. Is the South financing its own failure???

Now the questions are:

Will the new governor Col. Madut Biar let the revenue collection go back to being collected by Col. Madut Dut (Abuk Abuk) and by doing that, deprive the State of development and by doing that, make Maj. Gen Paul Malong his friend and stay a Governor?
Will the new Governor let the Judges make rulings against the State so that he does not get falsely accused of ordering a judge beating who might be related to the GOSS President and stay a Governor?
Will the new Governor agree to sign the contract of Fraud to build $288,000,000 worth of roads and Bridges with Garang Deng Aguer and stay a Governor?

Or will the new Governor Col. Madut Biar be a good Governor and be a friend to the people of the Northern Bahr el Gazal State (Aweil) and make sure that development money is used properly and corrupt people are dealt with by the law and Constitution of South Sudan.

Time will tell us which path the new Governor will follow.

* Dut Yai Akol is a Sudanese National based in Wau, South Sudan attending Economics Course at Bahr El Gazal University in Wau. He can be reached at [email protected]