New South Sudan minister of finance freezes govt accounts

March 29, 2007 (JUBA) — Newly appointed Southern Sudan minister of finance has decided to freeze temporarily all the payments of the autonomous government in order to reorganize the accounting system.

The acting minister for finance and Economic planning, Gabriel Changson Cheng, has decided to freeze all the payments for one week or less. The minister informed the southern Sudan cabinet that he wants to determine the financial situation of the government.

Salaries are not concerned by the measure.

“The freeze was put in place on March 20,” Chang told
Reuters. “Maybe next week we will lift it.” He declined to give
details of any problems in the government’s accounting system.

Gabriel Changson Cheng, who is also the minister of Parliamentary Affairs, is appointed as minister of finance after the lifting of the immunity and the arrest of Arthur Akuien Chol for buying vehicles for the government and police above market prices.

The bills for the vehicles showed they were bought for $95,000 each. Investigators said the same vehicles could be bought for between $40,000 and $45,000 each.

Cheng also demanded to examine all government accounts “in order to gain an accurate picture of the current cash situation,” said a statement issued by the minister of information Samson Kwaje, on March 28.

Further, he recommended to close all the accounts of the government and to keep only accounts held with the central bank. GoSS’s accounts are currently held with commercial banks in Khartoum and abroad, besides the Bank of Sudan.

Cheng was one of the founders and directors of Ivory Bank (Khartoum) in the mid 1990s.

(ST)

This evening, following a meeting of the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) Council of Ministers which was chaired by HE President Salva Kiir Mayardit, the following statement was given to the press by HE Dr Samson L Kwaje, Minister for Information and Broadcasting.

The Council had received a briefing by the Acting GOSS Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, HE Gabriel Changson Cheng, which aimed to update the Council on the current financial situation of GOSS. The briefing covered a number of areas, including oil revenues, salaries, expenditures and the finances of the States.

The Acting Minister suggested a number of immediate steps to be taken. These include:

– An immediate freeze on all payments by GOSS. This measure excludes salaries, which will be honoured as usual. This urgent step is designed to allow the Acting Minister time to reorganise the accounting system. It is expected that the payment freeze will be brief, lasting one week or less.
– Balances are to be sought for all government accounts, in order to gain an accurate picture of the current cash situation. Accounts are currently held by GOSS with the Bank of Sudan, as well as with commercial banks in Khartoum and internationally, particularly in Nairobi.
– The Acting Minister recommended closing all but the account held with the Bank of Sudan, in order that there should be just one financial system in operation.

HE Dr Kwaje further reported that the Council had issued a number of Circulars. The first related to the recent problem of reductions in salaries to Civil Servants, resulting in losses of up to one fifth of the accustomed salary. These losses had resulted from reductions in the value of the US dollar relative to that of the Sudanese Pound. This had affected the salaries of Civil Servants because accounting is carried out in dollars, whilst salaries are paid in Sudanese currency. The Minister of Finance together with GOSS would be responsible for educating citizens about this issue.

The second Circular concerned the cleaning of Juba Town. HE the Minister stated that Juba had become the “dirtiest town in the world” and pointed out with concern that the coming rainy season would inevitably bring many deaths due to cholera and other water-borne diseases. Responsibility for cleaning Juba had been an issue of confusion. The Council had stated that this responsibility lay with the Commissioner of Juba, in the office of the Governor, who would receive some assistance from GOSS. HE the President would personally be taking up the issue with the Governor of Central Equatoria.

The third circular related to the release of staff, mostly from the Ministry of Transport and Roads, to attend training as pilots, ground crew and technicians.

The Council had considered a Memo for the Minister for Presidential Affairs relating to progress with implementation of the 200 day action plan. The Council noted that some progress had been made, by nearly all the Ministries, towards achieving the aims set out in the 200 day plan. Also noted was the fact that there had been constraints and challenges which affected this performance, including delays in accessing cash. The Council hoped that these delays could be addressed in the shortest possible time.

The council had next expressed its concern with the continued slow pace of progress with certain infrastructure projects for the construction of roads, housing renovation, installation of electricity, provision of clean water and construction of sewage systems. These tasks were part of large contracts, mostly held by two Ministries. The Council felt that, in view of the very slow progress, some of these contracts may have to be reviewed.