S. Sudan President’s seal and signature “not used” to request money from the Central Bank
January 3, 2017 (JUBA) – Several of seals and stamps were found at the premises of Click Technologies Ltd by the security personnel from the General Intelligence Bureau (GIB) during searches conducted as part of inquiries into the alleged theft of huge sums of money from the office of the South Sudanese President, Salva Kiir, new details have emerged.
According to the report released by Legal Watch Associates South Sudan, Koor and Agou were tasked by the investigations committee to explain how seals and stamps from government institutions ended up at Click Technologies Ltd, owned by the latter.
“This particular seal was requested by the Executive Director in the Office of the President, Yel Luol from Click Technologies Ltd. The seal was made bearing writing for the “Office of the President’’. When the seal was delivered to the Executive Director, the Executive Director rejected it because they only need the seal with writing ‘’The President’’ and not the one for the “Office of the President”, said Agou in his statement before the High Court.
He further added, “The Company made the correct seal and delivered it to the Office of the President and took back the incorrect seal with intention to destroy it. That’s how the seal ended up being found in the premises of Click Technologies Ltd”.
However, when asked to also explain how the seal for the army chief of general staff ended up at his Click Technologies Ltd, Agou, who owns the company, claimed the seal was requested by the personal assistant of the chief of general staff, identified as Captain Dut Yai.
“The seal was produced by Click Technologies Ltd with the writings “The Republic of South Sudan – Office of the Chief of General Staff-SPLA/SPLM” and also bearing the “Coat of Arms for the Republic of South Sudan”. When the seal was ready, the company called Capt. Dut Yai to pick it and he picked it up. A few days later, he came back and said that the seal has some errors and that he need a new seal bearing “Coat of Arms of SPLA” and writings, “The Republic of South Sudan – Chief of General staff-SPLA”, Agou told the court.
“The correct seal was made and delivered to him and the company took back the incorrect seal with intention of destroying it. This is how the security personnel ended up impounded it at the premises of Click Technologies Ltd,” he added.
Testimonies contained in court documents Sudan Tribune obtained further showed that the scanned signature of the president that was found in one of the computers impounded at the premises of Click Technologies Ltd by GIB security personnel was only used for the process of producing executive portraits of the South Sudan leader.
“The sample of the signature was provided by the Executive Director in the Office of the President and its usage on the portrait photos of H.E. the President was approved in 2012 by a committee composed of former Legal Advisor to the President, Telar Ring Deng, former Minister in the Office of the President, Emmanuel Lowilla and former Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Barnaba Marial Benjamin,” partly reads a section of testimonies contained in court documents.
“The above mentioned Seals and the Signature of the President were NOT used on any financial documents requesting for payments from the Ministry of Finance and Economic planning or the Central Bank of South Sudan, neither were they used by the anybody for any official or unofficial purpose,” it adds.
Meanwhile, auditors and investigators denied that the seals and signatures found were used for any illegal activities when asked by the defense lawyers during the trial into the alleged corruption case.
An aide to the president, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the South Sudanese leader’s signature is only used for specific functions, citing appointment of government officials, dismissal of the same government officials, correspondence with other heads of state, confirmed death sentences and grant pardons to people convicted, promote army and other organized forces officers and retired them also according to the law, among other official matters.
“But no such function was done without the knowledge of the president that was shown to the court as evidence, despite the high propaganda that was said by security personnel that the signature of the president was used to request money from the central bank by John Agou,” the official told Sudan Tribune on Tuesday.
He added, “The president does not sign cheques, and neither does he have sample signatures in any bank to use his signature to withdraw money,”
A report released by Legal Watch Associates South Sudan on the alleged corruption in the office of the South Sudanese President’s office poked holes in the process of administration of justice starting from the time of arrests detention, investigation, trial, and sentencing up to conviction.
The case involved 16 people from different institutions including the President’s office, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Bank of South Sudan and staff of Click Technologies Ltd.
(ST)