South Sudan army investigates pocketing of army’s salaries by senior commanders
October 12, 2015 (JUBA) – The senior command of the South Sudanese army (SPLA) has formed a committee to investigate disappearance of salaries for the army division 6 in Lakes state, believed to have been diverted to private pockets by senior commanders which led to a strike by soldiers in the state.
The committee will specifically investigate allegations of delay in the payment of salaries for soldiers in Rumbek for the months of April and July, resulting from misappropriation of the monies.
A source working at the army’s general headquarters in Bilpam told Sudan Tribune on Monday that their records showed the money was released for salary payments, wondering how the unit of the troops did not receive their dues.
“The command wants to establish and know the cause because our records at the general headquarters, especially in the office of deputy chief of staff for administration and finance, shows the salaries have been released long time [ago]. This money was paid out to the account of the division 6 and it was collected,” the military source with the working knowledge revealed to Sudan Tribune.
Several other military sources who also spoke to Sudan Tribune however revealed that their records showed the money for the salaries of the soldiers of division 6 had been divided by some of their senior commanders, who claimed they would refund the money in the future in form of loans.
“The report we have from the military intelligence personnel and finance shows that the money was taken and divided by the command of the division. We have seen one report showing how the money was divided by the senior officers. We have seen a report in which the division commander, Major General Johnson Juma Okot himself took 235,000 South Sudanese pounds (SSP), (roughly equivalent to $100,000 US dollars), from the salaries of these soldiers,” he said.
He read from the records, further revealing that other senior commanders including Major Juma Deng, who is the military intelligence officer in the division took 393,000 SSP; head of the logistics department in the division, Brigadier General Manyuat Ruei, took 112,000 SSP; and head of administration in the department, Brigadier General John Malith, took 100,000 SSP.
“This was the report we got from the records of transaction. They (commanding officers) said they will return this money after sometime because they have something urgent they want to do with this money,” he said.
The source further explained that the soldiers began to strike when the money was not returned on time, detecting that something went wrong, as the money was borrowed without their knowledge and consent.
The situation has however caused unrest among the soldiers in Rumbek, capital of Lakes state, who are associated to division 6 in the region.
The committee will attempt to establish the facts leading to the pocketing of the salaries and how to remedy the situation so that it does not result to serious indiscipline and disobedience among the soldiers.
(ST)