South Sudan govt urged to refund 18m dollar

Feb 7, 2007 (JUBA) — “You have one month to return $18 million U.S.
to the treasury or face the Southern Sudan Constitutional Court.” That is
the warning the Southern Sudan Democratic Forum has for the SPLM leadership.

Speaking to Sudan Radio Service from Canada last week, the SSDF
chapter chairman Gordon Buay said that the position of the SSDF and the
United Democratic Front is that the SPLM must return $18 million US, the
alleged balance of the controversial $60 million US the former Sudan
government gave to the SPLM in 2005, to the Government of Southern Sudan
treasury. If this doesn’t happen, Buay said, the SSDF will demand that
the courts take up the matter.

Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the Economic Committee in the Southern Sudan
Legislative Assembly, Professor Barri Wanji, said that the $60 million US in
question is the SPLM’s money and does not have to be accounted for to those
outside the SPLM.

“By that time, because the government had not been
formed, the SPLM in our own way of looking at it was the government, so it
was entitled to receive any money on behalf of the south.” He said.

Wanji said the money was correctly used on the “many things to be
done, such as personnel development,” at the time. He added that he does
not see any theft because the money is being deducted from southern Sudan’s
share of oil wealth.

(SRS)