Warrap state parliament regrets sacking of education minister
April 29, 2015 (JUBA) – Leaders in Warrap state parliament on Wednesday expressed regret for the decision of governor Nyandeng Malek in which she issued a gubernatorial order sacking her education minister Atem Atem.
The acting head of parliamentary committee for information, communications and public relations, Ariech Mayar Ariech, told Sudan Tribune on Wednesday that the leadership of the house regretted the decision of the governor to sack education minister for providing information required from the ministry about issues related to its activities.
“The decision taken by the governor to sack the minister for responding to the queries asked by the parliament is regrettable, because it will send a bad signal. Such act gives a negative impression to the public and it will also discourage the other ministers to cooperate on important matters,” he said.
The former education minister also confirmed his dismissal and claimed he was sacked because he had provided information required by the state parliament inquiring failure to transfer educational grants amounting to 325,573 South Sudanese pounds (SSP) from the national ministry of education and meant for counties.
Atem said he did not want to continue to be seen in the counties as having been the one who had set on the decision to know what had happened to the transfers from the national government to the counties.
“The county authorities, especially the education departments have been asking what [happened] to the transfers from the national government. They have clear information and track records of what has been transferred to the state but which has not been going to them,” he added.
“So they have been asking until they started to develop an impression that I may have been involved in the plot to block transfer, which is not what I can do. I cannot sit on what belongs to someone else. I am not type of such people.”
His sacking came after the house had summoned the finance minister over multiple matters. Finance minister Andrea Aguer Ariik, according to a resolution of the house, has been given two weeks to appear before the house to provide answers inquiring how the 2014 and 2015 annual budget had been spent.
Ariech, the acting head of parliamentary committee for information, communications and public relations, further revealed to Sudan tribune on Monday that the house had summoned finance minister. The legislator said there were multiple issues requiring explanations and clarifications from the minister since they were issues that were “very important” to the citizens of Warrap state.
Some of the issues requiring the minister to provide explanations, he said, were about projects being undertaken in the state capital, Kuacjok, without the knowledge of the house while the source of funding remained unclear to the public and the assembly.
Other issues expected to be addressed by the summon of the minister, he said, included explanations to what the ministry of finance was doing with the pension funds and queries about lack of no promotion and retirement policy in the state, yet employees continued to pay 10% cut from their salaries each month as part of their contribution towards the pension.
The minister will also be providing answers to questions asking circumstances under which educational grant transfers amounting to 325,573 SSP disappeared.
He will also explain on the fate of 1,878,233 SSP from the national ministry of education and health meant for counties but were not transferred since the budget was approved.
The issue of the companies which received letters of credit worth 3 million US dollars to purchase and transport food items to the state to stabilise the rising consumer prices is one of the top of multiple issues also expected to be answered by the minister during appearance before the house.
The boisterous hearing is expected to be punctuated by heated exchanges among lawmakers keen to know how the budget has been spent and what has been achieved.
The house last year passed a budget amounting to 26,430,580 SSP, allocating 12,643,016 SSP to health and 34,687,548 for education with the projections of 73.348,145 to the counties, but transfers have not been done accordingly.
(ST)