Donors want 28 states revoked in South Sudan before releasing money
June 20, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudanese presidency has revealed that donors want the controversial 28 states revoked as a precondition in order to release money to assist in recovering the deteriorating economic situation in South Sudan.
This latest development was revealed to the press by the spokesperson of President Salva Kiir, Ateny Wek Ateny, on Monday.
Speaking in an interview to a local radio station in Juba on Monday, Ateny claimed major donors for South Sudan have asked for dismissal of finance minister Athorbei and Central Bank governor Mayiik in a confidential letter they have jointly sent to the government.
Ateny in response accused the donors of interference in “matters of sovereignty”, calling on them to simply help save the country from economic collapse without any conditions.
“The matters of changing the minister of finance or the governor of central bank are matters of sovereignty of a given country,” said Ateny, speaking to Eye Radio during an interview broadcasted on Monday.
He also alleged that the United States, Norway and Britain – collectively the TROIKA for South Sudan – also asked the government to revoke the controversial 28 states which President Kiir unilaterally decreed into being despite the August 2015 peace deal based on the current constitutionally recognized 10 states.
He added that donors said they will not release money to South Sudan until the conditions are met.
Sudan Tribune has not been able to get the said confidential letter and Troika sources have declined to comment on the story.
Ateny insisted that the letter was delivered to the presidency but he cautioned donors against meddling in internal political affairs.
“They [decisions of governance] are not imposed by a foreign power simply because they would support or they would be giving money here or there,” he said.
He further challenged that the number of states should be left to South Sudanese, saying “it is not also good for any foreign intervention on this simply because it is the people of South Sudan who are well placed to decide whether they want more states or they wanted less state.”
“My appeal to TROIKA is to stop those conditions and support South Sudan unconditionally,” Ateny said.
But donors said besides being a violation of the peace agreement signed last year by the warring parties in South Sudan, it also did not make sense to increase the number of states from 10 to 28 when the government did not even have money to operate the 10 states.
Civil servants in the national capital, Juba, and in other parts of the country are on strike due to non-payment for three months and soldiers have not been paid as food commodities continue to rise and citizens continue to suffer.
Minister of information, Michael Makuei Lueth, last week came out openly saying the government had no money to pay the civil servants for the months of arrears, calling on them to remain patient.
With the revelation from the donors not to release money unless the government put its house in order, economic situation in South Sudan is expected to further deteriorate.
(ST)