Head of South Sudan Civil Society Alliance missing since Wednesday

July 6, 2012 (BOR) – The Chairperson of South Sudan’s Civil Society Alliance, Deng Athuai, has been reported missing since Wednesday night, the executive director of the group, Biel Boutros has revealed.

Boutros told South Sudan Radio on Friday that his colleague had last been seen at the his residential place at Beach Hotel in Juba, adding that he suspected Athuai had been kidnapped.

Boutros, who heads the South Sudan Human Rights Advocacy Association (SSHRAA), described his colleague as instrumental in following up on the lost $4 billion that is alleged to have been stolen by corrupt South Sudanese officials since 2005.

“As per now, we cannot point any finger at anyone because we don’t know who picked him”, he said over the local radio.

Boutros said that on 11 June Deng Athuai was among the activists that marched to South Sudan’s parliament asking the government to reveal the identities of 75 officials suspected of corruption.

South Sudan’s President recently wrote to 75 senior officials asking them to return stolen money anonymously into a bank in Kenya.

According to Boutros, Deng left the hotel at about 8:30 PM local time, on a motor bike, to buy his ailing nephew something in the nearby market but never returned.

Boutros urged the government to investigate the disappearance of of his boss urgently.

(ST)