Hon. Nhial Deng Nhial Did Not Embezzle Public Funds: A Response to Rebels’ Negative Propaganda
For Immediate Release
June, 12, 2014
In response to an article written by a certain J. Nguen Nyol entitled “Another $227 Million Dollars Scandal Involving South Sudan’s Chief Negotiator Nhial Deng Nhial”, I would like to bring to the attention of the public that the false allegations branded against the Government Chief Negotiator in Addis Ababa were designed by the rebels’ leadership to tarnish the image of Hon. Nhial Deng Deng. The author of the article is not only a nephew of Riek Machar but also a representative of the rebels in Canada. Had he not been instructed by Riek Machar to tarnish the image of Hon. Nhial Deng, one would not waste his time responding to such a malicious article.
The article alleged that Hon. Nhial Deng misappropriated “$250 million dollars between 2008—2011” of public money by approving a dubious contract to buy trucks for the SPLA. The allegation does not auger well with the way contracts were approved back then because any contract could not be signed by a Minister unless approved by the Council of Ministers. It has to be noted that Riek Machar, who now authorized the false allegation labeled against Hon. Nhial Deng Nhial, was himself the Vice President who usually chaired the meetings of the Council of Ministers. If such a contract was signed by Nhial Deng as alleged by Nguen Nyol, with the approval of the Council of Ministers as laid out by the rules of the government business, commonsense has it that the then Vice President, who happened to be the current rebel, would be complicit in the alleged scandal. If a Council of Ministers chaired by Riek Machar approved a dubious contract alleged to have been signed by Nhial Deng back then, the people of South Sudan may question the leadership competence of the man who is now tarnishing the image of Nhial Deng.
It is a public knowledge that Riek Machar used to chair most of the meetings of the Council of Ministers at the time President Kiir was the First Vice President of Government of National Unity (GoNU). If such a scandal happened back then, one may wonder why it was not raised at that time. But the motive of the rebels is nothing other than an attempt to tarnish the image of a well-respected gentleman who is known for integrity and wisdom. Hon. Nhial Deng is one of the few former Ministers who has never been implicated in any financial scandal, let alone having any personal grudge with anybody.
The people of South Sudan are aware that Nhial Deng Nhial is not on the list of the seventy five officials named by the President in 2011 to have embezzled public funds. When President Kiir prepared the list of the government officials suspected to have embezzled public money, there was no single evidence which implicated Hon. Nhial Deng Nhial. Most of those on the list are now on the side of Riek Machar fighting President Kiir for removing them from the cabinet because of embezzling public funds. Thus, the allegation labelled against Hon. Nhial Deng by Riek Machar’s nephew is baseless and it should be deemed as a political witch-hunt.
The motive behind renegade Riek Machar’s false allegations against Hon. Nhial Deng Nhial is the failure of Nhial Deng to join his faction before he staged a coup on December, 15, 2013. When Riek Machar was mobilizing members of the SPLM Polit Bureau and National Liberation Council against the Chairman of the SPLM Party, he thought that Nhial Deng would join him along with the rest of “Garang’s boys” to unseat President Kiir from the chairmanship of the SPLM.
However, being a visionary leader, Hon. Nhial Deng rejected to join Riek Machar in the 2013 SPLM infighting because of his treacherous history of 1991 and his constant tribal politics of destruction. Cde Nhial Deng realized in 2013 that Riek Machar was not in fact a democrat but a power-hungry warmonger who was bent to return the people of South Sudan to 1991 factional war. As he envisioned, indeed Riek Machar returned the people of South Sudan to 1991 factional war when he staged a coup on December, 15, 2013.
In conclusion, South Sudan public should be made aware that Hon. Nhial Deng Nhial has a clean bill of health when it comes to corruption because has never been implicated in any financial scandal. If Riek Machar is honest to himself, he should disown those who joined his rebellion while their names appeared on the list of seventy five officials suspected to have embezzled public funds.
Contrary to the allegations labelled against Nhial Deng, the people of South Sudan are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Riek Machar is a leader of corruption lords who rebelled against the government after their removal from ministerial positions. A rebellion of corruption lords cannot defeat the people of South Sudan who yearn for development and economic prosperity. The people of South Sudan cannot be hoodwinked by George Orwell’s pigs who looted and raped the public funds from 2005 to 2013.
For Contact:
Gen. Gordon Buay
Member of Other Armed Groups Integration Committee
Former Spokesman of SSLM/A
Juba, South Sudan
Email: gordonbuay@hotmail.com
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