S. Sudan president suspends top aides over financial scam
June 27, 2015 (JUBA)-South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir has issued administrative orders suspending two of his aides, hardly a month after a security officer was arrested.
The officials are due to appear before of a panel investigators to answers questions regarding what they know about alleged forgery, which led to the loss of hundreds of millions of US dollars in the name of the president.
Many officials in the office of the president said unspecified amount of public resources have been lost through scandalous dealing.
The suspension is connected to recent arrest of security officer, John Agou Wuoi, who was accused and arrested for using the seal and signature of the President to request payments in his name.
Security sources and presidential officials privy to the processes have told Sudan Tribune that preliminary investigations discovered several names involved in the scam.
The South Sudanese presidential spokesperson, Ateny Wek Ateny confirmed the suspension, but said the decision was meant to facilitate the investigations.
“It is true that they have been suspended. It is the case of security officer, Mr. John Agou, who was found in possession of documents identical to the republican seals letterhead of the president, which implicated them. This is only to allow for investigation to take place”, he said,
The presidential said aides there are some sort of negligence on the side of the suspended officials. Ateny explained that John Agou was with working with the two suspended officials in the office of the president and was found possessing seals and headed papers identical to the official seal and signature of the President.
Agou is reported to have mentioned a number of senior government officials believed to have played a role in the scandal. He was apprehended when he requested payment of $ 1 million to be cashed directly from the country’s Central Bank.
He impersonated president Kiir as the author of the directive for payment. Security found hundreds of similar documents cashed in the name of the president in the Central Bank.
This is not the first time for the two officials to be suspended. They were suspended in 2012 when money disappeared at the presidency in alleged burglary, which eyewitnesses described ‘as mouse hole’ in the wall of the office where money got stolen? The office door was locked and intact, but the money was missing.
Subsequently, the president issued a televised order suspending Mayen, Luol and Nhomot Agoth. In a surprise move, the president reinstated the two suspended officials quietly and dismissed Agoth in the same manner.
Meanwhile, Kiir has appointed Bol Wek as acting chief of staff in place of Mayen and Rizik Dominic to act as executive director, a position earlier held by Luol in the presidency.
(ST)