South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Simon Deng
The fate of critical peace mechanisms such as the National Constitutional Amendment Committee (NCAC) hangs in balance following the diversion of funds meant to operationalize them to ghost projects.
This came after an audit report by the Specialized Parliamentary Committee on Finance found that the money amounting to 10 million U.S dollars equivalent to SSP 15.3 billion, allocated to the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs led by Martin Elia Lomuro was instead used to pay for unbudgeted services.
The report says that the money which was meant to be paid to the NCAC, National Constitutional Review Commission (NCRC), and the National Human Rights Council (NHRC) and the Judicial Review Commission (JRC) were instead diverted to pay for peace activities involving the armed opposition National Salvation Front (NAS) led by Thomas Cirilo Swaka (1.05 million USD), and Tut Gatluak Manime, the Presidential Advisor on National Security (2 million USD) to facilitate implementation Phase II of the Security Arrangement and unspecified amount to 9BR Chambers a London based law firm.
The MPs during questioning of the Minister for Cabinet Affairs late Thursday in Juba, found out that the money was initially transferred by the Central Bank on the request of the Ministry of Finance to the account of the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs, instead of the Ministry’s account.
Oyet Nathaniel Pierino, the First Deputy Speaker of the TNLA, told journalists at the hearing within parliament that the audit report unearthed discrepancies and suspected corruption in the payments made by the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs on 8th April 2024.
“TNLA hereby, directs the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs to pay in full all allocations due to the beneficiary institutions, and peace implementation mechanisms as requested by the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and paid by the Ministry of Finance and Planning,” he said.
Pierino revealed that the request letter for funds by the Minister of Cabinet Affairs to the Ministry of Finance dated 2nd April 2024, did not include budget for peace activities involving NAS, security arrangements and 9BR Chambers.
The Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Martin Elia Lomuro while responding to the audit findings caimed that his ministry received 10 million dollars for the purpose of implementation of critical provisions of the peace agreement, the roadmap and “special projects”.
“We have come to clarify issues that are circulated in some areas, I have shown to the committee how the funds were used, the President assigned the senior special presidential envoy for special programs to work with me to see how payment can be made,” Lomuro said.
He admitted that due to financial challenges the amount required by some of the peace institutions was reduced to nearly half, adding that some of the peace institutions benefited from the partial payments.
While reacting to Lomuro’s response, the First Deputy Speaker Pierino said that the Ministry of Finance should have instead paid the money directly to the spending agencies instead of paying through the third party.
“The Ministry of Finance and Planning should pay directly every spending agency through official account rather than a third party institution. This shall ensure proper auditing and accountability by spending agencies as per the constitution and relevant laws,” he said.
Parliament summoned earlier this week Martin Elia Lomuro, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Awow Daniel Chuang, the Minister of Finance and Planning, Ruben Madol Arol, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, and James Alic Garang, the Governor of the Bank of South Sudan on the matter.
