Juba: corruption investigation committee determined to “establish facts”
July 18, 2013 (JUBA) – The head of an investigation committee formed by South Sudanese president Salva Kiir Mayardit to look into a financial scandal involving two senior government officials said his team was neutral and determined to establish the true facts behind the deal.
Finance minister Kosti Manibe and his cabinet affairs counterpart, Deng Alor, are accused of approving the transfer of $8 million in public funds without the knowledge of the relevant state institutions, in what is regarded as the biggest financial scandal in the country’s post-independence era.
The pair were subsequently suspended in a decree issued by Kiir who also appointed a five-member committee to investigate the duo.
Committee head Justice John Gatwich Lul said there were a lot of “unnecessary talks and unfounded fear” from some quarters of the public, with some expressing doubts over whether his committee would deliver on the assignment given to them by the president.
Some top level officials have also spoken out critically of Kiir’s decision.
Party secretary-general Pagan Amum was quoted at an informal gathering on Wednesday as saying the matter should have been resolved internally given that Deng is a founding member of the SPLM and Kosti is a member of the SPLM leadership.
The committee is tasked with finding the facts and establishing the legality of the contract for which the money was requested and approved by the two officials.
“I just want to tell our people to exercise patience and wait for the result of the report which will be made public”, Lul told Sudan Tribune on Thursday.
“There should not be anxiety because this committee is fully independent and will remain so. It is judiciously carrying out its work with determination to fully establish the facts”, he added.
Lul, who declined to provide specific details on the investigation, maintained the government was committed to fighting corruption at all levels and has demonstrated its will by taking prompt action in every case that has come to light.
“People should not be worried because government is committed to fighting corruption at all levels and has demonstrated its will by taking prompt action in every case that has come to light”, he said.
Last year, president Kiir wrote to 75 both former and current senior government officials asking them to return $4 billion in missing public finds.
But although corruption allegations have continued to tarnish the new nation’s image, no South Sudanese official has ever been prosecuted, despite millions of dollars going unaccounted for since the south-ruling party – the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) – gained control of the South as part of a 2005 peace deal.
The recent formation of the investigation committee marks Kiir’s first ever move against senior officials accused of financial malpractice.
(ST)