South Sudan students in Egypt accuse GOSS education official of corruption

The Southern Sudan Students’ Association (SoSSA) in various Egyptian Universities and Higher Institutions of learning held their meeting on the 09th/Oct/ 2009on the issues affecting Students in various Colleges and Institutes in Egypt.

The attendance was over 90% and most students participated in the meeting. The meeting covered a lot of issues which are affecting students’ progress in Egypt and ways forwards were made available by students themselves. Some of the striking agendas of the meeting includes the administration of the coordinator; corruption at the office of education coordinator, poor coordination, continuous movement that leads to his total absence from the office, His total insincerity. Many students expressed their dismay over the ministry of Education for having failed to remove Mr. Santo Malek Anai, the education coordinator for Southern Scholarships to Egypt despite to the fact that many suggestions and voting have been carried out regarding the above education coordinator.

Students in the past held several meetings and presented the reports about the removal of Mr. Santo. Mr. Santodespite of being an education coordinator, Mr. Santo Malek Anai cannot stay in Egypt, but keeps moving from Egypt to Nairobi, Juba, Dubai, United Kingdom, Khartoum and many other places. Mr. Santo could only come to Egypt when GoSS has released students’ bursaries. Every Southerner should ask himself/herself who is paying that money for everyday movements? Does that money belong to Mr. Santo or not? Tell us who is paying for his tickets for these ups and downs movements? Or whether the money he is using is his?

Since his handpicked appointment on the 10th of March, 2008, Mr. Santo reported to Egypt in late, and he went back immediately after spending less than two weeks in Cairo, he stayed in Juba for all that period until when he came back on 21st of September 2008 to Cairo. Just on 17th of October, he went back to Juba and stayed there until the 11th /12/2008 when he came back to Cairo. He only stayed here for three days and left for Juba on the 14th /12/2008. On 27th /12/2008, he came back to Cairo and went back again to Juba on 29th /12/2008. Mr. Santo since December 2008 only came to Egypt in April 2009 when he was given the money for Jan to June as stated by education committee of Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly, SSLA which he claimed it was only for three months. Mr. Santo again appeared in Egypt on the 12th of June 2009 in which he only spent one week in Cairo. He went back to Juba on the 21st July 2009, and he stayed in Juba until the 19th of Sept 2009 and he went back on the 29thSept 2009, until now he is still in Juba, and nothing has been done in regards to students’ affairs especially the issue of students’ bursaries and transfer cases.

There are a lot of issues that crop up from the administration of Mr. Santo, since his arrival as education coordinator; Mr. Santo came with new ideals of chopping students’ money. For example if you travel to Sudan for holidays, the money for the period a student stays in Sudan will not be given to such a student , claiming that, those are government policies. The questions which students do ask Mr. Santoare; When a student goes for holidays on his/her own ticket, is there any burden that, he/she can had on the government? Is there any rule/article in the constitution of Southern Sudan and Sudan in general that stated that, when a student goes for holidays, his money should be axed? What about those Ministers, who go for leave, are they not paid? Our coordinator until date was not able to answer these questions. The parliament after meeting students’ leaders in Juba stated clear that, there is no rule/article that states that, when a student is for holidays, his/her money should not be given, thus H E, the Minister of education was told to instruct Mr. Santo to refund back the money of such students.

On the issue of students’ bursaries, Mr. Santo Malek could not bring the money for the students in time even if the government releases the money in time; he keeps on lingering in Juba with the money of students before he travels to Nairobi, Khartoum instead of sending the money through the bank. The reason why he is doing all these is because; there are lots of ghost names which he doesn’t want anybody to discover in his evil plans including his assistant education coordinator. That is why he only appears in Egypt when the money is released from Juba, after paying the students their money, he goes back immediately with the balance whether some are missing students or not. Students became so angry on that and decided that, the coordinator must be changed with immediate effect,if not, students will take severe action against Mr. Santo should the Ministry of education failed to adhere to their quest and the Ministry of Education will be responsible for any vandalism that students will inflict on Mr. Santo once he step in Egypt.

There is a serious issue about the students who failed twice in their colleges, and in the same class. According to the Egyptian Ministry of education, these students are supposed to change their colleges/faculties to new faculties which are lower than their previous faculties. When this issue was presented to Mr. Santo,he did not accept it on his own assumption that, these students should be transported back to Southern Sudan so that he keeps on eating their money. If the Education committee at Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly, the SSLA and Egyptian government says these students should be given more chances, so who is Mr. Santo to say NO? Is this Santo GoSS or he is GoSS employee? This point annoys many students and we realized that, there are people who are working at the downfall of government of Southern Sudan, GoSS like Mr. Santo Malek who is lacking the vision of New Sudan. If president Kiircan say ” illiteracy is the biggest enemy of Southern Sudan” and who is Mr. Santo to deprive Southerners of their rights to education?

Having got some of the evidence from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology about the mismanagement of education money meant for students in Egypt, so in today’s’ meeting, students resolved in a vote that Mr. Santo should be removed. We would wish every Southerner to analyze and see with his/her own eyes how day light corruption is done in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. See this false report given by Mr. Santo about how he uses students’ money in Egypt for only a period of three months, from January to March.

From the month of January-March, Mr. Santo gave a report to the Ministry of Education of how he used the 690,420 SDG, an equivalent of 306,854 US$,which was given for students’ bursaries and other allowances. Mr. Santo in his report claimed that, he spent the whole money on all students’ affairs. That was a complete lie and a really cheating that the government must take serious.

Mr. Santo Malek claimed that, he has 300students studying in Egypt, and he was given the money for all these students. Each for three months, an amount of 195, 720 SDG an equivalent of 83, 641US$, was allocated for students’ monthly bursaries, this is a total lie and self deception because the number of all students present in Egyptian scholarship is 227, others are not even in the school and Mr. Santo was informed to eliminate these ghost names by students leaders and send the correct report to the government of Southern Sudan, but he did turn deaf ear to then report and request of such students’ leaders. That means, out of that money, Mr. Santo is got 63US$ as bonus from each student yet students are still suffering and demands more help from the government. Even this academic year, the number of students has fallen completely, and is probably less than 200 who are present at the moments because most students got frustrated, others got traumatized. Many have already gone to Sudan. Mr. Santo until date still claims that, the number of student is 300 when he was interrogated by the parliament on last week by the SSLA. We would wish the government of Southern Sudan Ministry of Education and Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly to send a committee here to find the exact number of students studying in Egypt.

Mr. Santo also brought money books, 270,280 SDG an amount equivalent to 115,504 US$but the actual cost for books for all students in 2008/2009 academic year was less than 15,000 US$,and Mr. Santo did not pay all students money for books because he was telling students that, the government has got no budget for books yet he knows very well that, Egyptian Universities put the issue of books as a priority that the government of Southern Sudan should pay. Those students who fall prey of this malicious act of Mr. Santo ended up repeating their classes and those who have parents from the working class were supported and they excelled in their faculties. As of recent, many students have not got registered in their colleges. The colleges like Economic and Political. Faculty of Engineering, faculty of Law, faculty of Commerce, faculty of medicine and many others especially English section do not register a student unless he/she pays the money for books and such a student will be exempted from attending lectures. For if Mr. Santo was to be honest and budgeted the 115, 504 US$ in a faithful way, the money could have settled the issue of books for nearly three years. But where is that money now?

The coordinator further claimed to the Ministry of Education that, he is renting apartments for students who are repeating classes and Diploma students who are renting outside. He was allotted a sum of 58,250 SDG, an amount equivalent to 24,893 US$,all this was the money for the rent of the three months period. Yet the actual fact is that, there is no single repeating student whom the coordinator was/is renting the apartment. What we know is that, there are two apartments rented for students who are studying in the Institutions, the two apartments in the months of January-March only cost 984 US$, at an average cost of 164 US$, so where is the 23,993 US$??This is how the Education Coordinator has been cheating the government of Southern Sudan so as to get money from GoSS MoEST, in the names of students.

In fact the coordinator could not end here since this is his way of survival, he went further by allocating his own money for his areas of presence; he allotted another 39, 651 SDGfor medical care. Yet during that period, there were no kind of serious medical referral cost as he said, only one person Mr. Mading Maluk, from Helwan University who broke his leg in a fast moving train. The money for his treatment was 15,000 Egyptian pounds, an equivalent of 2,888 US$,but that money was not paid at all. The only amount which the Coordinator paid was half of that amount, an equivalent of (7,500)Egyptian pound. The balance of the money was paid by the parent of the boy, but where is the so-called 16,945 US$?? Or the 39, 651 SDG meant for treatment??

Mr. Santo also claimed that, he has four staff in his office, yet in actual fact, he has only one staff by that time, until the recent recruitment of a cleaner in April, yet his report was for January to March. The above cleaner even earns only 300 US$ which cannot take a fraction of that money. His assistant is only getting 500 US$. And the monthly payment of those staff is 300 US$, and 500 US$ respectfully, can the payment of the above two staff take all the 95, 064 SDG, an equivalent of 40, 625 US$ even if they were all his employees at that time? Meaning that, each staff gets 13,542 US$, which is not true. Mr. Santo further lied that before God that, he rent an office at 20,970 SDG, an equivalent of 8,962 US$,and the office of education coordinator is just given by GoSS Embassy. Can GoSS also charge education office for the rent of the two rooms? If so, then it cannot surpass 200 US$, because a house with three-four rooms in Egypt is rented with only 200 US$. Mr. Santo further claimed in his report that, he is renting the car at 10,485 SDG an amount equivalent to 4, 660 US$ yet anew car can cost slightly greater than the above value. If he is receiving monthly payment for the rent of the car, an amount as stated above, why not to buy a new car even if it means saving money for a period of three months??

6. Mr. Santo was given 225, 500 SDG, an amount equivalent of 100,000 US$ on the 12th, June 2009 to cover the money for rents during three months holidays from June to September, since money is the root cause of all evils, when Mr. Santo came to Egypt in June, he claimed before all students that, the Ministry of education is not ready to rent apartments for the three Universities of Cairo, Ain Shams, and Alexandria, that they have to stay on their own, but would rent apartments for other Universities. The point behind this was that, the above Universities covers a great number of Sudanese students, and it was safe for Mr. Santo to say that so that he can eat a great deal of the above 100,000 US$,students complained as to why the government can make such discrimination, when the Minister of Education was rung from Juba by student leaders, he supported the idea without knowing where these students will stay or is it logical to rent apartments to other students while leaving others without any special considerations? This was how students became so bored of Mr. Santo

Note: All the above quotations in mentioned is for only three months, (Quarterly report), what about in a year, how much can Mr. Santo eat??

From all the above messes, since students in Egypt have been presenting their evidence and facts to the Ministry of education about corruption and mismanagement of students’ money by Mr. Santo, with no good news or many action taken, we have decided in a vote carried today the Friday the 09th October 2009, at Ramsis SDA Stadium that Mr. Santo is ‘’NO LONGER OUR COORDINATOR’’ what he has eaten is enough and we need Santo no more.

Out of 132 students who attended the meeting, 121 students ”VOTED” in favor of the removal of Mr. Santo Malekas education coordinator from Egypt. That is 91.6%of the students voted in favor of the removal of Mr. Santo as education coordinator from Egypt. All those students who participated in the meeting and voting process, all their names were registered with each student’s signature and are waiting to be presented to the Committee that will be sent from Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly SSLA that will be dispatched to Cairo to come and investigate corruption at the office of education coordinator. But most students spoke openly in a meeting that, Mr. Santo should not only be changed but must be arrested for the corruptions he carried while in Egypt as Education coordinator.

The most repeated remark from some students was that, several voting have been carried out for the removal of Mr. Santo Malekas education coordinator of Egypt but hem Mr. Santo is still there, so what can we do as students to avoid Mr. Santo? A serious signal to the government of Southern Sudan is that, if you don’t respect our opinion, we shall deal with Mr. Santo accordingly.

The most distrusting and painful issues are; in the months of June to July, Mr. Santo was given the bursaries for students, 222, 500 SDG an, equivalent of 125, 643 US$,Mr. Santo came to Egypt and paid only those students whom he got within, and less than 150 students were present because many went for holidays, other were far in places like Alexandria, Mansuora, and some had no money to travel to Cairo to get their bursaries. Mr. Santo as usual stayed in Egypt in less than a week and packed his boots back to Southern Sudan, and many students who were in Cairo did not get their bursaries for those months. All those students who went to Southern Sudan were not given their money. If Mr. Santo only paid 15,000 US$ to those students who were present at that time, where is the 110,643 US$??

In the month of August, Mr. Santo Malek was given 150, 000 SDG, an amount, equivalent of 64,000 US$,in the same manner, he paid the money to those who came during the time he is within Egypt, and in less than 10 days when he arrived from Nairobi on the 19th September 2009, and he went back on the 29thof the same month without paying money to many students. The most alarming issue is that, Mr. Santo travels with money like his passport, and his assistant until date has not paid money to many students who never received their bursaries. Could anybody ask Mr. Santo where he kept our bursaries? This is time for new academic year, things like registration, shopping for books and other academic requirements need money, but if Mr. Santo transport our money back to Sudan, how can we go on with education? Ms Zeala Juru, a medical student at the faculty of Medicine, Cairo University was told to buy has apparatus for practical exercise outside the University, this lady went to the office of GoSS to ask for her monthly bursaries, she was told clearly by assistant education coordinator that, Mr. Santo has traveled back to Sudan with the money, and she was only given 100 Egyptian pounds, so students had to carry contribution to help this lady rescue her chance and it was done. Can you see this appalling situation in which students’ own bursaries are used for personal gains and other projects??

Finally, about the issue of those students who failed twice in one class due to one reaso9n or the other, the position of Egyptian Ministry of education is clear that, these students are supposed to be transferred to some faculties lower than their previous ones, and what the Egyptian government need is only a recommendation from GoSS office. The Education Committee at Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly stated clearly that, such students should be given more chances, but Mr. Santo and the acting under secretary at MoEST; Mr. Atem gave their contrary decision to the opinions of Egyptian government, Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly and students by cooking their own idea that, those students must be transported back to Sudan. Students got disappointed here and are wild.

The Minister of education, GoSS has done nothing in regards to the removal of Mr. Santo Malek. We wonder whether the parliament is doing its work or not. The continuous insistence of Mr. Santo that, the number of students is 300 will only be proved wrong when GoSS Ministry of Education and Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly, SSLA send the delegation to come and move from University to university to find out for themselves how many students are exactly studying in Egyptian Scholarship.

The truth that will never be hidden is that, in 2007, the number of students was less than 150, when the new admission was done in 2008/2009 season, the number rose to 227 students until now, but the Number has NEVERbeen 300 students since the awards of this scholarship. Even the 227, many of them have abandoned their chances but Mr. Santo has never given the names of those students to GoSS MoEST.

With transparency and sincerity, we can build Southern Sudan

Yours

Lomini Mathias Anthony, Students’ President

Ochang Omol Ochang, Secretary for Information