South Sudan News Agency

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 19, 2012 (SSNA) -- JUBA, South Sudan 19^th February–In response to revenue losses associated with the shutting down of South Sudan oil production, the Council of Ministers on February 17, approved an initial set of austerity measures aimed at immediately reducing government expenditures. Measures approved by the Council, include:

1. Non-salary spending to be cut by an average of 50%

2. A minimal reduction to block transfers (unconditional monthly grants) to States

The measures will be effective upon signing of the president. The Council of Ministers also mandated that the salaries of all public employees be protected. In the coming weeks and months, the Council will regularly review the country’s priorities in order to meet proposed targets. The cutbacks are effective immediately and will ensure that the necessary funds are available for the continued operation of the government and security forces.

“These are swift and deep cuts, but no layoffs of civil servants, organised forces personal, and SPLA. Everyone’s paycheck is being maintained.” said Hon. Kosti Manibe, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning.

At the same time, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning is intensifying efforts to increase collection of non-oil revenue through enforcement of the Tax Act, 2009. Through increased compliance with the existing Business Profits Tax, Excise Tax, and Personal Income Tax, the Ministry aims to triple non-oil revenue collection within six months.

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Lou Nuer in Australia Have Declared Their Support to the White Army

February 15, 2012 (SSNA) -- After talking to Lou Nuer chiefs in South Sudan to grasp the gravity of insecurity posed by armed Murle militia, the executive leadership of Lou Nuer community in Australia called an emergency meeting which was attended by hundred members of the community. The agenda of the meeting was the insecurity in Jonglei State and lack of functioning government to protect innocent Lou Nuer civilians who have been repeatedly massacred by Murle with impunity.

After carefully examining the situation in Jonglei and state of political affairs in South Sudan, the Lou Nuer community unanimously agreed to support the Nuer White Army under the leadership of Bor Doang to protect innocent women and children from armed Murle youth whose criminal activities have been buttressed by thousands of Murle soldiers who deserted the SPLA army to fight the Nuer and Dinka communities. The participants of the meeting noted that since 2006, more than 1400 Lou Nuer have been massacred by Murle with impunity. The first genocide against the Nuer occurred in Nyandit Payam in 2009 when Murle massacred more than 350 women, elderly and children in one day. In 2010, more than 370 Lou Nuer were also killed in different villages. The August, 2011 massacre of 720 Lou Nuer in Uror County was the worst ethnic cleansing ever experienced by Nuer for the last three hundred years.

The meeting noted that the recent upsurge of hostilities between Lou and Murle was a result of repeated recent attacks by the Murle Community on Lou Nuer people in which hundreds of Lou men, women and children were killed or wounded, children and women abducted and thousands herds of cattle robbed. The Lou were left in desperate situation with no other option left to them except to retaliate in order to bring back their abducted women and children and stolen cattle since the State Government proved unable and helpless to maintain law and order throughout the state.

The participants of the meeting also noted that Murle have massacred hundreds of innocent Dinka civilians and abducted hundreds of kids for the last two years. The mass killings of Dinka civilians in Duk Padiet, Pawiel, Jale and Mar were deplorable and resembled crimes against humanity committed in Darfur. Murle also have been attacking Jikany of Ethiopia, South Sudan and displaced thousands of Ethiopian Nuer who abandoned places like Bilpam due to Murle’s incessant cattle rustling. It was also reported that Murle went as far as stealing the cattle of South Sudanese refugees deep inside Gambella region of Ethiopia. In short, Murle have been a threat to peace in the Horn of Africa and must be confronted by all forces of the region.

All Lou Nuer who attended the meeting unanimously rejected the government of South Sudan’s plan to disarm everybody in Jonglei State. The participants stated that disarmament must target Murle first because thousands of Murle soldiers of the SPLA deserted the army and are now killing Nuer and Dinka civilians as insurgents. In a state where thousands of Murle deserted the army with an intention of massacring people, disarming Nuer and Dinkas White Army does not make any sense because it is a license to Murle to commit more genocides and mass killings.

When the same regime of Salva Kiir disarmed Lou Nuer in 2006 without disarming Murle, the mistake led to death of more 1400 Lou Nuer. Prior to disarmament, Lou Nuer and Dinka civilians were responsible for their security because they were able to fight Murle. After 2006 disarmament, Nuer and Dinka became vulnerable to Murle armed criminals and lost thousands of people because they didn’t have guns to defend themselves. Now that Nuer and Dinka are able to defend themselves, any person talking about disarming them is worse than Murle criminals who are killing them.

The participants unanimously passed a resolution calling for the Nuer White Army to resist disarmament by all means possible because the regime in Juba cannot provide security. First, Salva Kiir must kill or apprehend Murle soldiers who left the army to kill Nuer and Dinka. Second, the Nuer and Dinka need a period of two years to see whether the SPLA army can provide security before they accept any disarmament.

All the Lou Nuer in the meeting concluded that the regime in Juba cannot be trusted to provide security of Lou Nuer if the White Army is disarmed. Believing the regime of Salva Kiir to provide security is akin to believing Omer Bashir to provide security to Dinka Ngok in Abyei. If Dinka Ngok could not be expected to surrender their security to the words of Omer Bashir, believing Salva Kiir’s regime to provide Lou Nuer security is suicidal.

The participants mandated the executive leadership under the guidance of Mr. Maduk Muon Kuny to talk to White Army to continue protecting civilians from Murle criminals. All Lou Nuer promised to support the leadership of the White Army morally, socially and politically in order to effectively defend the Nuer from external threat. The executive leadership is also mandated to convey to the leadership of the White Army the position of Lou Nuer in rejecting Juba’s proposed disarmament that will expose civilians to more killings. The community urged the executive leadership under Mr. Maduk Muon Kuny to inform UNMISS that any involuntary disarmament carried out by the regime of Salva Kiir will lead to civil war and more insecurity in Jonglei State. Disarmament cannot be carried out unless the regime in Juba apprehends thousands of Murle soldiers who deserted the SPLA. Any attempt of disarmament directed against the Nuer and Dinka White Army prior to the apprehension of Murle soldiers who deserted the SPLA is a declaration of war and must be resisted by all means.

For questions:

February 13, 2012 (SSNA) -- Jonglei Peace Initiative (JPI), formed by concerned citizens of Jonglei state living in Diaspora, aims at bringing a comprehensive and lasting peace among the warring communities in the state. Formed in 2009, the initiative's core vision is to provide grass-root peace-building and education, encourage peaceful coexistence among all the Jonglei citizens, and work with the national and state governments to formulate policies and modalities for a sustainable peace and security.

Having learned with regret the continued killing among the tribes, we want to take this opportunity to pass our sincere and heartfelt condolences to the families of those who have lost their loved ones while urging for calm and restraint as we, with the help of church and community leaders, both at home and in Diaspora, look for a solution.

Having gained its independence exactly seven months ago today, the Republic of South Sudan, otherwise known as the world's 193rd country, has had its share of challenges particularly in the area of security. While the government has a responsibility to provide services, not the least of which security, citizens, too, have a role to play when the government is short-handed. This is the mindset of the JPI.

Jonglei state is currently engulfed in an endless cycle of intertribal violence, and as such, we regret the massive lost of lives and properties. The recent deterioration of security compels the JPI leadership to release this press appealing to all communities to stop the violence and help us help you pursue peaceful means.

All the stakeholders, including the governments, state and national, need to understand that further escalation will result in continued hardship, extermination of livelihoods, personal liberty, and denial of basic services delivery to all citizens in Jonglei state. As a result, we need to contain the current crisis with a consistent personal and collective efforts   characterized by unparallel unity and tolerance among the citizens of the state.

Furthermore, this crisis needs major contribution from other stakeholders such as the UN, UNMISS and the US government in order to bring these communities together. With your help and support, we are confident we can change the course of the situation.

JPI members believe that peace is the only viable option, and for this, we are appealing to individual and community leaders of Lou-Nuer, Dinka (Bor), Murle and Anyuak to establish working groups on peacebuilding, dialogue and reconciliation from Juba to Bor as we are doing here and we will serve as facilitators.

However, this cannot happen unless we all refrain from releasing intimidating and inciting press releases to the media or dissuade those who do it on our behalves. These press releases are not conducive to peace initiative, reconciliation and cooperation among our communities.

We believe that if a conducive environment is created, the coalition of community leaders, youth, spiritual leaders (Sudan Council of Churches and others), chiefs, and elders under the JPI can appeal to the youth to immediately cease further attacks and the status quo can be changed by bringing everyone together for a dialogue.

We are also appealing to the South Sudan Government to intervene in the conflict by deploying enough army contingents to prevent retaliatory plans. We further urge the members of the Jonglei legislative to be proactive by calling for cessation of hostilities among communities and organizing dialogue and reconciliation starting with you. The MPs' participation in the call for cessation of hostilities will add a healthy and peaceful environment for peace and reconciliation since these MPs represent each constituency at the state and national levels.

In conclusion, the JPI is committed to finding sustainable peace if all the stakeholders assume active role in our initiative. We are very optimistic that peace is still possible and can be achieved in our state. There is never a better time than now. With your help and support, we will bring peace to our state.

Signed:

February 12, 2012 (SSNA) -- The leaders of Lou Nuer community in Canada and USA called extraordinary meeting on Saturday, Feb, 11, 2012 to discuss the ongoing conflict between Murle and the rest of communities in South Sudan. It came to the attention of Lou Nuer, Jikany Nuer, Gawaar Nuer and Dinka Bor residing in the USA and Canada that organization such as Human Rights Watch has difficulty diagnosing the problem of ethnic conflict between Murle and their neighbors.

There are facts that were misrepresented by Human Rights Watch’s representatives in South Sudan regarding the problem of Murle tribe in South Sudan. Insecurity caused by Murle’s lust for abducting kids and cattle rustling is not affecting only Lou Nuer clan but also other Nuer clans, Dinka of Jonglei, Anyuak of South Sudan and Ethiopia and Nuer clan of Ethiopia. We are obligated to inform Human Rights Watch that Murle’s raids geographically affect people in South Sudan and Ethiopia. The Nuer of east bank of White Nile are affected while the Dinka of entire Jonglei State are also affected. The east bank clans of Nuer affected are Lou, Jikany, Gawaar, Lak and Thieng clans. Jikany of Ethiopia who reside in Gambella region of Western Ethiopia are also victims together with Anyuak tribe who also reside in both countries.

We have observed that there are international organizations which have problems understanding the conflict and its root causes. Due to lack of proper research and knowledge of the area, organization like Human Rights Watch jumped to meaningless conclusions in how to address the problem of Murle. We have realized that Human Rights Watch is confusing the already confused government of South Sudan in how to address the problem of insecurity between Murle and the rest of tribes of South Sudan. The solutions Human Rights Watch proposed are not applicable to the insecurity facing women, children, elderly and youth of Murle, Nuer, Anyuak and Dinka tribes of Jonglei and Upper Nile states.

The problem of not addressing the ongoing ethnic conflict rests with the dysfunctional government of Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit which is run by tribal bigots and Neanderthals who would never take a lead to contain the situation to the satisfaction of all tribes of South Sudan. Murle are part of South Sudan society and the problem they pose is not new. There are many traditional mechanisms which were used in the past to resolve ethnic clashes between Murle and their neighbors. However, those mechanism have been largely ignored by Salva Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar Puot Nyuon (Teny-Dhurgon is the name of his grandfather’s witchcraft).

We want to advise Human Rights Watch that Western concept of justice is not a solution to African ethnic conflict which reached to such a level. The Western concept of prosecuting the perpetrators, in relation to Jonglei’s crisis, should be considered as a joke of the 21^stC because there is no government in the world which can prosecute an entire tribe. No Nuer, Dinka, Murle and Anyuak civilian who can say s/he is not part of the conflict. Each person is supporting his/her tribe in this conflict. The Murle, by tribal association, support their youth fighting Nuer and Dinka in the name of “defending Murle people”. The same thing is true with other tribes fighting Murle.

We want to inform Human Rights Watch that the concept of “perpetrators of crime” does not apply to ethnic conflict in Africa. When two tribes fight in Africa, every member of each tribe has a tribal obligation to support their tribe whether the cause is right or wrong. The Nuer, Dinka and Murle who support their youths in the ongoing conflict are fulfilling their tribal duties because they have tribal obligations to do so. In such an environment, Western concept of persecuting “perpetrators” would be seen as an idea from a different planet which has no relation with what is happening between Murle and the rest of communities in South Sudan.

What the Human Rights Watch should do is to support traditional Truth and Reconciliation Committee composed of elders, youth, politicians and women organizations which should rely on mechanisms used since the time immemorial to resolve tribal fights in South Sudan. The attack the Nuer and Dinka launched against Murle on December, 2011 is not something unusual. The raid the Nuer launched against Murle in 1944 killed over six thousands Murle in one week. Afterwards, Nuer and Murle used traditional mechanisms of conflict resolutions which included sacrificing bulls and appealing to traditional beliefs to cement permanent peace. A peace which was signed in 1944 lasted for over forty years until the outbreak of second civil war in Sudan in 1983.

The world may be disturbed with the ongoing conflict in Jonglei state because it is covered by the media compared to 1944. However, the Western World should not impose solutions which are not applicable to African societies. If the Murle realized that confronting Nuer, Anyuak and Dinka would be impossible, they would accept traditional mechanisms of conflict resolution as they did in the past. For over two hundred years, Murle always accept peace only when they are faced with formidable military might of Nuer and Dinka. It is when Murle realize that they cannot win the war that they settle with their neighbors for permanent peace.

The Lou Nuer community in USA and Canada, together with Dinka and other Nuer clans in the Diaspora, support the Nuer and Dinka White Army to protect their communities from Murle’s abductions and cattle rustling. If the Human Rights Watch wants to prosecute people in South Sudan, they should find a way to indict Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit and Gen. Riek Machar Puot Nyuon who permitted members of the SPLA army to join Murle, Nuer and Dinka youth in the tribal conflict. It is the involvement of politicians in Juba that would worsen the situation, not those members of Murle, Nuer and Dinka communities who are exercising their tribal duties to support their tribes. Human Rights Watch, if at all it has a legal capacity, should bring a legal case before International Criminal Court (ICC) against Salva Kiir Mayardit and Riek Machar Puot Nyuon for indirectly aiding and abetting members of the SPLA army to commit war crimes and ethnic cleansing.

What should alarm the world is the involvement of armed SPLA soldiers in the fight in order to support their tribes. In normal circumstances, members of armed state agents are not considered traditionally to have a tribal obligation to support their tribe. When the British Colonial government was ruling South Sudan, a traditional practice was established that there is no member of armed force that should join their tribe when they fight another tribe. There were serious punishments against police officers, soldiers and prison officers who joined tribal wars while still in active duty.

However, there is no precedent set by British colonial administration which would indict members of a tribe who exercised their tribal duties to support their kith and kin. Human Rights Watch should not call for the prosecution of Murle, Dinka and Nuer civilians supporting their kith and kin in this conflict. What the international community should do is to call for the punishment of members of the SPLA who deserted the army to join tribal wars. The British Colonial power realized that in Africa, there is a strong feeling of tribal obligation to support one’s tribe. But armed agents of the state were exempted from protection of “tribal immunity” which protects civilians who support their tribe at the time of war.

In conclusion, the Lou Nuer in USA and Canada declared their support to Nuer and Dinka White Army that is exercising its duty to protect communities from Murle cattle rustlers and child abductors. There is no real government in South Sudan that could provide security as organizations like Human Rights Watch would want us to believe. Therefore, the Nuer and Dinka White Army should exercise the duty to protect their communities until a functional government is found in South Sudan.

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“We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear... That old law about "an eye for an eye" leaves everybody blind... The time is always right to do the right thing... Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

February 11, 2012 (SSNA) -- South Sudan welcomed a newfound freedom when it gained its independence from Sudan on July 9, 2011. Nonetheless, that freedom has been overshadowed by a vicious conflict among its tribes, particularly in Jonglei, the country’s largest state. This conflict calls for immediate action from all the stakeholders in order to bring about lasting peace. However, this goal cannot be realized unless all the concerned citizens condemn, in the strongest terms, the Internet prophets of doom and confusion, who want to use the conflict and the lives of the innocent to fulfill their personal and political ambitions. The Lou Nuer Community in the Diaspora and South Sudan, the most affected community, has been a victim of these Internet prophets of doom. For several months now, the community has been quietly mourning the loss of their loved ones as the result of SPLA contingent from the Murle community defecting and turning their guns against innocent children and women to avenge a raid carried out by the Lou Nuer Civilians who were trying to retrieve their cattle and children taken earlier by the Murle tribesmen.

During this bereavement period, the community was shock to learn that several Internet addicts and propagandists – the Internet prophets of doom and confusion, were involved in a campaign to tarnish the name of our community for personal and political reasons. This was shocking for two reasons: first the Nuer tradition does not permit individuals to use the name of the dead for personal or political gain; second, the Lou Nuer civilians who were looking after their abducted children did not form any army and had no intention of doing so, but they were referenced as such (white army) in an obvious attempt to create a false impression that there are two armies in South Sudan. We want to let the readers know that Lou Nuer civilians only recognizes one army in South Sudan, and that is the national army (SPLA) whom they are still asking and expecting to provide security for their families and properties.

The misinformation did not end there. The self-proclaimed Internet representatives of our community then went as far as claiming to be the representative of the Lou Nuer “white army” in the Diaspora. Again, the Lou Nuer community has no “white army” or any organized group that works to undermine the South Sudan national government. We will never form any unlawful organization against a government of which we are integral part and parcel. Despites these unfortunate allegations, Lou Nuer, being the patient community that it is, continued to ignore these liars, but things continued to get worse. On January 12, 2012, the self-proclaimed Internet representatives of our community claimed that our community has raised $45, 000.00 to allegedly fund the killing of the Murle ethnic group. This was the last straw. To make thing even interesting, just yester day (2/5/12), our fictitious Internet representatives further claimed that the Lou Nuer civilians are planning a major offensive, code named Savannah Storm, to take place on March 1, 2012. Need we say that this is another lie?

On January 15, 2012, Lou Nuer Community in the Diaspora called an emergency phone conference attended by over 80 people to deliberate on these series of unfortunate lies and misinformation, among other issues affecting the community both at home and in the Diaspora. The community realized while the past cannot be undone, we know that the future can be controlled and this press release is about setting the record straight while spelling out what direction this community will take to deal with these individuals and anyone who tries to use the unfortunate situation that our community is going through to fulfill personal or political ambitions. Anyone interested in the Lou Nuer community affairs must use this press release a reference because anything else is fabrication and bogus.

• The Lou Nuer Community, in that emergency conference, formed three specialized committees. One of these committees is the Lou Nuer Media Group that is responsible for anything that goes in and out in the name of the Lou Nuer Community in the Diaspora. This is to simplify things for all the stakeholders. Put another way, anything that does not bear the name of the Lou Nuer Media Group does not represent the Lou Nuer. This does not get any simpler for all.

• We want to tell the world at large and South Sudan in particular that we want peace in Jonglei and in South Sudan. We are proud to say that the Lou Nuer civilians have shown great confident in us and have listened to us when we asked them for calm and restrain. They promised us that they will only fight in self defense and will not attack anyone while South Sudan government is working on providing security for their families. For this, the community will work closely with the government to provide a lasting peace in the state of Jonglei as we have formed Peace Committee compose of elders and church leaders to work with other peace initiatives and collaborate with other others in South Sudan to bring lasting peace to our state.

• We have a sustained communication with Lou Nuer civilians and will be the only authority to speak on their behalves. We therefore caution the self-proclaimed Internet representatives of our community to find themselves new hobbies because the game is over. If they choose to continue the lies and misinformation because we do not regulate the Internet, those who choose to listen to them will do it at their own peril.

• We denounce the killings in our counties by the SPLA defectors, and we are urging the South Sudan government and UNMISS to extend to other communities in Jonglei they are providing the Murle communities.

• We are also cautioning the government of the South Sudan that, while disarmament will be one the solutions for peace in Jonglei and the whole country, poor planning could result in mass killings and exacerbates the situation rather than fixing it. A such, we are asking the government of South Sudan to disarm Murle first once the appropriate time comes. Disarming the Murle first will reduce unnecessary and sudden attacks as we had witnessed when the Lou Nuer community was disarmed in 2006, and essentially emboldening the Murle community to slaughter them with no deterrence. The lack of deterrence or security protection from the government forced our youth to search for guns in order to protect the families and properties in absent of the national government. We are asking the government to involve our community at all levels to provide good and practical recommendations leading to a peaceful disarmament. We cannot emphasize the importance of this step enough!

• Furthermore, the Lou Nuer community realized that the culture of violence that has engulfed our state requires a neutral third party to act as a mediator. The open negotiation in a mediation process usually leads to a fair agreement which caters for the needs of the groups involved in the peace process. We feel this way because the Lou Nuer community has participated in peace negotiation on many occasions but the Murle community rejected our call for peace process while we were the victims of their inappropriate actions (i.e. kidnapping of our children, stealing of our community’s cattle and a sustained killing of individual travelers between villages).

• We are calling on the national and the state government to organize a comprehensive conference in Jonglei or elsewhere for citizens of Jonglei world-wide to dialogue on the insecurity issue and move forward together as brothers and sisters that share many things in the State. This conference will serve as a mechanism to bring the warring parties together. We feel that mediation is the best way to create an atmosphere of trust and healing. Therefore, we in Diaspora and in partnership with other Jonglei communities would like to suggest an inclusive dialogue (conference) between the tribal communities to address this issue face to face. This conference should be facilitate by the national army and UNMISS forces.

• We are calling on the national and the state government to help us bring to Jonglei

09/02/2012

February 11, 2012 (SSNA) -- On behalf of the South Sudanese citizens, the leadership of South Sudan, and on my own behalf, I wish to take this opportunity to thank all the sons and daughters of this new born nation, and congratulate them all for a job well done in ensuring our independence as a new nation. I would also extend my warm appreciation to the leadership of our president, Gen Salva Kiir Mayardit for leading us through the hardships and delivering us to our new country. My appearance today before you all is in the sole interest of all citizens of this country, the Republic of South Sudan to whom I remain loyal.

As you all know, I was the first minister of Finance and Economic Planning for the Government of South Sudan, a position I held through the era of struggle, up until 2007, when I was removed from office, due to false allegations of corruption that were made against me. Today marks my first public appearance in reference to this matter, as I have never spoken out since my removal from office. The reason why I have never publicly stood up and countered the allegations, was for reasons of patriotism. I did not want to spoil the process that was leading us, as the people known as the “Southern Sudanese”, to the independence of South Sudan, and the subsequent declaration of the Republic of South Sudan as a united nation.

I was accused recently in the newspapers, and by some Parliamentarians of not going to Parliament to answer questions about the irregularities in the 2006 report produced by the Auditor General.  The reason why I was not present at that meeting was because I was told that my presence was not required, as I had already written and submitted a report to the Public Accounts Committee. 

As I have noted, there have been constant attempts being made by some few individuals within the current governing body to discredit and defame me as a significant figure amongst the founding members of this nation. These accusations all range from my time in office after the signing of the CPA and the formation of the Government of National Unity, and continue to this date.

It is unfortunate that I have now been pushed to the point where it is necessary for me to stand up and take this opportunity to list out some, if only a few, of the transgressions made by a few against the Public interest of the People of South Sudan, for, as I mentioned earlier, time and circumstance had now allowed me to speak out, and let the whole country know how public funds were, and are being mishandled and misused.

1. In 2006, I was accused of misusing and stealing public funds. This was propagated by some few individuals within the government that led to a caucus sitting of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) as an intervention. The latter, in response to this matter, resolved with their own clear findingsm that transparency and accountability had existed within what was then, my Ministry.

In my own opinion, this was the beginning of my downfall. The government of the period of 2005-06, had a great influx of cash, and I being the Minister of Finance at that time, had strict operative values, that could not allow public money to be rotating anyhow amongst corrupt individuals. This was the beginning of my accusations, by a manipulation of opinion, both Government and Public, and used as a way for me to be removed from office, in order to allow a certain few unscrupulous and corrupt individuals within the governing system, easy access to public money, without the fear of question by me.

2. In the same year of 2006, I was again accused on matters regarding a grant of $ 60, 000, 000 (Sixty million US dollars) given to GOSS/SPLM by the president of Sudan, Omar el Bashir. These accusations were made by the SPLM Secretary General, Pagan Amum, and Luka Biong, the treasurer of the SPLM, stating that I had stolen the above figures but clearly, this amount was paid to the account of GOSS in the Bank of Sudan with Issac Makur and Silvano Jal Malith as signatories to the account. My involvement in this could be in reference to the approvals I made, having been given instructions from above, which led to the expenditure of $30, 000,000, of which I hold copies of the originals, of all documents of the above expenditures, and can fully account for them. The other $30,000,000 was placed in the hands of SPLM SG, Pagan Amum, as it was paid by the Ministry of Finance directly into his account as once again I had been instructed from above. That transfer was done on 22 December 2006 and I believe that he, Pagan Amum is the one who should account, and he can clearly tell the public how he spent those funds, as I am not accountable for his expenditures.

3. Leading to my removal as the Minister of Finance, I was accused of purchasing vehicles from the Cardinal Company at a price twice the actual amount. These vehicles were purchased following the written instructions from the Vice President of GOSS, Dr. Riak Machar Teny, that I should purchase the vehicles from Cardinal Company for various Ministries. In turn, I directed the undersecretary of Finance to proceed with the transaction, after involving the Procurement Department in accordance with the proper procurement procedures that were to be followed in my absence due to my visit to Malaysia and Singapore on official business for the Government of Southern Sudan. Despite all my precautions and procedures that I put in place to be followed, I was then held responsible for these purchases, while my directives to the undersecretary clearly indicated procurement procedures had to be followed in accordance with the laid down procedures. As a result, I was removed from my office and my duties as Minister of Finance were abruptly terminated, and immediately thereafter, I was accused and arrested for corruption. I was later investigated and tried, but there was no evidence of wrong doing, and the case was dismissed by the province Judge Malek Mathiang in Juba on the 30th September 2009.

This has all led up to this, which I hope is the final accusation,  and which is the driving factor of holding this press conference today, so that you, the members of the Press are fully briefed and can inform the public at large that there are more facts to this accusation that have never been spoken about or disclosed. These accusations have been directly made by an individual who has turned to the media to show grievances of his dismissal as the Governor of Bank of South Sudan. For instance, I was tasked by the Auditor General to explain why there was a discrepancy of US$ 7 million between the amount transferred out to the account in Geneva and the amount returned to the account of GOSS in the Central Bank of Khartoum?  I replied that the Central Bank of Khartoum should be the ones to account for that as they were the agents of the transactions.

In conclusion, however, I do acknowledge and commend the Auditor General for having tabled the audit reports for the year 2005-2006 before the national assembly, however, I do not believe that there was sufficient attention given to the discovery of the true facts and 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 professional manner, they will find the missing links, as they are there, but not yet discovered. In light of the current oil crisis, and the austerity measures proposed to be undertaken by the Government of South Sudan, I strongly recommend that proper investigations be carried out to determine actual truths to the matter at hand.

These false allegations that have been made against me, have caused me and my family to endure a great amount of personal suffering, public suspicion and abuse, and is widely reported on the internet that I have stolen money from the Government of Southern Sudan. This is a personal attack against my integrity, and indirectly reflects on the integrity of my family, who have suffered in silence, while protesting my innocence.  I let it be known, that for the sake of this Nation, and from the time I was appointed as the guardian of the Nations finances, I guarded them well, and I thank the late Dr John Garang Mabior and his Excellency Salva Kiir Mayardit for having entrusted me with the guardianship of the Nations finances up to the CPA in 2005 and beyond, up to my removal from office in 2007.  I take this opportunity to inform you, the members of the Press, the people of South Sudan, and the International community, that I am not afraid of the Court, and will welcome a full and thorough investigation, conducted with full transparency, that will disclose the full facts and truth behind the discrepancies and missing funds, and I can assure you that I will once again be exonerated, but this time the true corrupt individuals will be exposed by a proper investigation of the facts. This Nation must stand proud.  We fought a war and won it. We had our referendum and won it 98% and won, and with that we won our Independence.  We must now fight and win our financial war, both here at home and with Khartoum.

Corruption should not be condoned, and that is in accordance with the wishes of his Excellency the President.

February 10, 2012 (SSNA) -- We have been informing the government of the Republic of South Sudan since 2006 to change Arop Deng Kuol at the post of head of mission to Ethiopia. But yet nothing change, why?

We, the South Sudanese community in Ethiopia, have approved the recent outcome of the new Ministerial arrangement as it appears to have met the “The principle of general will.” We are of the opinion that South Sudan will not assume a state of political chaos if the state and its officials begin to understand and implement basic democratic values such as rule of law, justice and equality, fairness and impartiality in areas of service provisions and employment.

We also suggest that the government of the new state should be responsive to the needs and interest of the citizens as the powers of the state officials are derived from consents of the citizens through election.

In this letter, we, South Sudanese communities in Ethiopia, once again request the government of the Republic of South Sudan not to appoint, again, Mr. Arop Deng as an Ambassador of South Sudan in Ethiopia. We have a lot of grievances against him, which we presented many times for the government of the Republic of South Sudan. This is our seventh letter in this regard. We have a number of reasons and we thought that it would not sound good if we protest at the newest Embassy against Arop Deng Kuol to tell the Government of the Republic of South Sudan not to appoint again Arop Deng as an Ambassador to Ethiopia.

Some of the main reasons are listed below as follows:

1. Arop Deng Kuol has a strong relation with North Sudanese Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that our government does not know. This is revealed by his failure to negotiate with North Sudanese ambassador to Ethiopia over the inclusion of the people of South Sudan to be part of the previous year’s election simply because he was bribed.

“His departure to Hawassa during the voting on the referendum day to meet North Sudanese Ambassador to Ethiopia to design techniques that could impede the referendum process in Ethiopia was also a part of his cooperation with the North. As he was recommended by three Northern ambassadors, also our government does not know this. We discovered that during the referendum when he refused to facilitate transportation of people of South Sudan in Ethiopia from and to the referendum center”.

2. Arop Deng Kuol always takes, South Sudanese people’s money by force, for example, he took money of the students, South Sudanese community and Referendum task force in Ethiopia.

3. Arop Deng uses his Ethiopian wife, Miss. Genet as a killing weapon against people of South Sudan in Ethiopia. This is true when a conflict occurred between him and South Sudanese community in Ethiopia over the money, he forcefully took the money which was sent by the referendum task force in Juba to facilitate referendum activities in Ethiopia -for mobilizing people of South Sudan in Ethiopia that he was to torture the people of south Sudan with Ethiopian federal police confirmed to have blood link with his wife, Genet.

4. He behaves more as a business man than a government representative. He has business entities in and outside Addis Ababa which have deprived   him of his time not to deal with government affairs. Hence, he is believed to be brokering agent between some officials in Juba and the business people in Addis Ababa, and he is dealing less with the Government business than his personal activities.

5. Arop Deng, acting ultra virus and within narrow reasonableness, he has targeted some of the South Sudanese community members for telling him that it is not a good thing to take people’s money without reasons. Beyond the power given to him by the government, he said that he has withdrawn those group members’ “citizenship right” which we believe he has   right, duty, responsibility and /or authority.

6. Arop Deng uses propaganda that there are no South Sudanese communities in Ethiopia. Those that are here are Ethiopians, not South Sudanese. We came here because of war, need for education and perhaps medical treatment. We were not sold to Ethiopians.

7. He, too, does not have the necessary educational background or qualification to be our good ambassador to the great nation of Ethiopia and Africa Union at large.

8. During the referendum, Arop Deng was seen to have voted for unity with the north.

9. Arop Deng behaves more of his own boss so much that he always rejects to work with other government officials appointed by the ministry of foreign affairs of the government of the Republic of south Sudan. This is because he makes the embassy of the republic of Sudan in Ethiopia as his own and called Abyei  private business limited company in which he recruit and select its staff as he likes.

Our question in this regard is:

This will be the last request amongst the seven letters. If this request is turned down, our action is in our hand to get rid of and we hope so the government will not be bribed by him.

We believe this letter will be treated with special considerations.

Press release

Dear all,

February 9, 2012 (SSNA) -- Today marks a very special and memorable day in our history: the first anniversary of Fangak Massacre, which occurred on the 9th February 2011 in Phom el zeraf, Fangak County. At the outset, I would like to ask each one of us from Fangak to observe a movement of silence in memory of those innocent children, women and the elderly who lost their lives on this day and also those who lost their loved ones. We cannot afford to forget mentioning those who lost their lives in action; defending motherland from the external destructive forces, for without their selfless sacrifices, it would have been a different story altogether today. We also remember those who had had to loss parts of their limbs and left vulnerable by this callous and merciless attack on our territory by the enemies. It was on this day that more than 300 people were killed in one day – the highest number to be recorded killed in Fangak history by the external aggressors since time immemorial, not even during the British time. We’ll forever remember the two mass-graves for the civilians killed.

It should be recalled and remembered in our history today that 9th February was like September 11th terrorist attack on United States of America in 2001. Obviously, this attack on our territory has left many scars and wounds still unhealed in our hearts, and physically, as some of the victims are still undergoing medical treatment. We also remember them in their hospital beds and pray for quick recovery and God’s healing on them. We may not be with them physically but we are with them in spirit and through whatever little support that we may provide or might have provided. We may have to just forgive those irresponsible leaders at the central SPLA high Command, whose ineptness (or conspiracy) to respond swiftly to the earlier calls by Fangak political leadership to put in place measures in order to abate civilians being slaughtered by the rebels, led to the attack.

It goes without revisiting the historical records that it was in the aftermath of February 9th that this Union came into existence. February 9th had united the people of Fangak from all walks of life like the US September 11th attack by Al Qaeda terrorist network. It was out of this basic fact that the youth from all their political colours and ranks gathered the courage to come together and informed the whole world that our civil population was being exterminated by the rebels and their associates/accomplices. Within months or so, the response was undesirable; the enemies who carried out the act were uprooted from their base or hideouts in the bush and eventually paid the ultimate price for their action. Nine (9) months later, the leader of that rebel movement who orchestrated this massacre; and whose forces under his direct command, killed these innocent civilians, was no more on earth. His killing was like that of Osama Bin Laden, the former leader of the world most feared terrorist network called “Al Qaeda”.

Also on this occasion of the first anniversary of Fangak massacre, I want to highlight the simmering or heightening tension between the people of Fangak County and the people of Atar in Pigi County, brought about by the unfortunate killing of one of the local head chiefs from Atar by unknown gunmen in Phom. The incidence happened on Saturday the 4th February, 2012 in the evening. In the first place, I would like to convey my sincere, heartfelt condolences to the family of the deceased and the entire Atar people. We would like to condemn this, in the strongest terms possible, the assassination of this head chief along with one of his sub-chiefs. This act was perpetuated by the enemies of peace and people who want to cause animosity between the two sisterly people (people of Fangak on one hand and the people of Atar on the other). We want to assure the people of Atar that this was never carried out by anyone from Fangak County but definitely external agents or actors as many may know or understand it. We urge the politicians from within Atar and without to refrain from inciting violence that could cause unspeakable suffering and unnecessary loss of lives on both sides. Anything that brings the river transport system to a standstill is a cause for concern as it sends out a wrong message that we are at war with each other; the innocent civilian passengers from Fangak County should not be targeted for this, for they were never part of this assassination plot.

In conclusion, I would like to end this message on this occasion of the first anniversary of Fangak massacre by thanking all our Diaspora members from Fangak County as well as the greater Fangak, who shouldered the financial burden (in the midst of world’s financial meltdown) to raise money in order to support the victims of the 9th February attack on our civil population. We thank you for this and many good things you’d done for our community here in the republic of South Sudan. We also want to acknowledge and appreciate the financial contributions and or in other forms, by the great Naath community, both in South Sudan and in the Diaspora. You stood with us at the darkest hour of our lifetime since Dhuoryian!

We cannot also afford to forget thanking our political leaders on this occasion; who had had to swallow the pain of humiliation by those in the top echelon of power at the central level. They took the great risk of travelling down to the area to see the scale of the disaster and assure the people that they were there to represent them and to make their voices heard by other concerned South Sudanese in other parts of the country, and the world at large. I also want to pay tribute and thanks to all our youth from Fangak for their courageous stance in making their case heard by the international community through media houses, and for forming this union. Let’s continue with the spirit of sacrifice and unity of purpose as stipulated in our constitution.

Long live our fallen heroes and heroines!

Long live Fangak Youth Union!

Long live the people of Fangak County!

Long live the people of South Sudan!

Thank you all and may God continue to bless you!!