South Sudan govt not qualified to probe Garang $60 mln
Dr. Samson Kwaje, unfit to head Committee to investigate what happened to Beshir donation (of $60 million) to SPLM during the Interim period January – July 2005
By Eng. Charles Barnaba Kisanga
Jan 17, 2007 — I received with dismay the news that Dr. Samson Kwaje would head such a committee appointed to investigate the disappearance or the evidence of the mentioned money as stated by President El Beshir during the arguments in Juba on the 2nd Anniversary of the CPA. Who appointed Dr. Samson to head such a committee any way? If there was at all any money ($60 million) given then by Sudan’s President El Behsir to late leader Dr. John Garang then it might have been Dr. Samson Kwaje , James Kok and Kuol Mayeng who would have handled it and if it was eaten then they would have been part of the group of Garang’s kitchen cabinet who ate the amount. Many of these people were very corrupt officials eating SPLM money then and to appoint one of them to head a committee to investigate the disappearance of the money is a mockery of justice. A committee headed by a well known corrupt South Sudanese official like Dr. Samson Kwaje is just a mere propaganda and will yield no result at all. It is the same old style of the SPLM old guard; always the same people are rotated to do work which can be done effectively by neutral people. In really Democracy have one ever seen a cabinet Minster heading a committee to investigate corruption by the very Government the minister serves? Where are some neutral great South leaders like Abel Alier or Joseph Lagu or University Professors or even from the Diaspora, experts like me?
The Government cannot appoint its own member to investigate itself. Never. The committee must be an impartial one and always headed by campaigner and people with integrity who have nothing to lose from telling the truth. Suppose Dr. Kwaje was part of the corruption and is part of the corruption now since he is a cabinet minister what will you expect him to do? Protect his interest of course. I see such an appointment as the truth of what people say, that the SPLM is too deformed to reform. Is this just a mere manoeuvre to divert attention and bury the whole truth about he money then? Let somebody come forward defend to us how Samson Kwaje can really investigate money embezzlement while he is part of the whole process also. What about his job as minister. We must learn to diversify resources people. Why it is the SPLM or GoSS is always using the same people instead of getting all south Sudanese involved inclusively. Even Behsir said the same thing about SPLM on the 9th January in Juba. He said when SPLM was told to bring technical committee to take part in the boarder demarcation technical committee, a minister was the one sent to them, a minister alone was sent to them. Let them do what with a minister any way? They wanted people who can do the job effectively and who know the material and not a minister., and the minister will do what? When can many Southerners grow and mature in work and politics? There are hundreds of capable south Sudan to do the work but the cronies is there to marginalise capable South Sudanese and that is why they are always nominating themselves to do everything. A minister always head south committees and is member of so many things yet there are hundreds of capable South Sudanese who can do the job. Where did the minister acquire his education which allows him to do everything on earth while others’ educations cannot allow them to do the same and he is the only person who can do so many jobs. Recently I even came across one GoSS member bragging about all the positions he /she holds and they even think it is good as it brings so much glory. People, Government is there to render real services to the people and any body who can claim he/she is the only person who can do that and work like a horse twenty four hours a day is a liar and is only stealing all those titles because of the love of money and not for the love of the country because if you love your country and you are patriotic then you will involve all the people and the work you do you have to do it effectively but you cannot claim to work effectively if you claim to hold so many positions. Do people know each job position is supposed to tax you at least 10 hours every day?
Are people really serious about democracy and freedom for South Sudan. Many of our people went abroad during the war with hope of learning better ways of doing things and contribute effectively so that South Sudan can emerge and be different from the failed African countries which crippled African countries through the African Liberation days of the 1960s. When I see what is going in South Sudan I can only feel like crying because people are messing up things in broad day light and there is nobody to stop them. Such information is not rocket science and it should be very clear to all that Samson Kwaje is unfit to head a committee to investigate a body of which he was part. I’m surprised that some people can even applaud such a committee with Dr. Samson heading.
* Eng Kisanga is former SPLM National Liberation Council member who lives in exile in the UK and works as Consultant Communication Systems Engineer. He can be reached on cbkisanga@yahoo,.co.uk