Reveal list most corrupt officials, ex-minister dares S. Sudan speaker
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February 09, 2012 (JUBA) - A former minister for Finance and Economic
Planning in South Sudan has requested the national assembly speaker
make public a list, supposedly handed to President Salva Kiir on a
visit to the US, allegedly detailing the “most corrupt” officials in
the Juba government.
JPEG - 68.3 kb
Arthur Akuein Chol, South Sudan former Finance minister addressing the
media in Juba, February 09, 2012 (ST)
Arthur Akuein Chol told journalists in Juba, the South Sudan capital,
that the onus is now on the speaker, James Wani Igga, to disclose the
names of the 13 senior officials allegedly holding large sums of money
in foreign bank accounts.
The speaker, according to Chol, reportedly told lawmakers that the
officials named are alleged to have stolen millions of dollars and
hidden it in banks outside the country - one of the poorest in world.
“Go and ask the speaker who told MPs of the 13 most corrupt officials.
He has the list and it’s high time he made them known to the public,”
he said.
“Those implicated should tell the public how they obtained all that money.”
2005-2007 AUDIT
Chol, who served as finance minister from 2005-2007, also lauded last
year’s auditor general’s report, which was presented in the national
assembly. The document revealed how billions of dollars, mainly from
oil revenues, went unaccounted for during the first two years of the
interim period.
During the 2005-2006 financial years, for instance, over $1 billion is
unaccounted for in transfers of oil revenues from the Government of
National Unity - the power and wealth sharing partnership in Khartoum
created by 2005 peace deal - to the autonomous Government of South
Sudan (GoSS) in Juba.
In addition, the auditor general’s report further indicated that for
two consecutive years, there was no financial reporting of what
happened to non-oil revenues that were collected in taxes by the
national government or South Sudan’s 10 states.
The ex-finance minister, who looked composed during the press briefing
commended the auditor general’s report, but said “sufficient
attention” was not given to these discoveries.
He remarked, “I am of the opinion that the auditor general should
instruct his auditors to do a full audit and discovery on the national
bank, and I am sure if they do this in a diligent and transparent
manner, they will find the missing links [which] are there, but not
yet discovered.”
Chol said that in 2006 some individuals from within South Sudan’s
ruling party accused him of stealing public funds. An investigation by
the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) caucus found him to be
innocent, he said.
According to the former minister, he was only involved in making
approvals after instructions were issued from “above” concerning
government spending.
OIL DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Chol, a holder of masters in economics from Switzerland, expressed
concern over the ongoing oil crisis following the nationwide shutdown
oil production as part of a dispute with Khartoum over transit fees.
According to Chol, while serving as finance minister, he advised the
government to concentrate more on collecting taxes from customs to
avoid over-dependency on oil revenues, which constitutes 98% of South
Sudan’s budget.
“My advice was largely ignored,” he said. “Now see where the country
is headed in light of the current oil crisis,” he said, urging the
southern government amicably resolve the ongoing dispute with the
Khartoum regime.
So far African Union led negotiations have failed to bring the two
sides together. Juba wants to pay around $1 per barrel exported
through northern pipelines and refineries, whereas Khartoum wants to
be paid over $32 per a barrel.
North Sudan also claims the South owes $1 billion in unpaid fees and
began to appropriate southern crude as payment in kind, triggering
Juba’s decisive move.
(ST)
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