GOSS Legal Affairs Ministry Accused of Overpaying Staff

August 14, 2008 (JUBA) — The Ministry of Legal Affairs and Constitutional Development in the Government of Southern Sudan is accused of overpaying its staff, violating the rule that the salary scale for all civil servants in the Government of Southern Sudan should be the same.

The Minister of Labor and Public Service, Awut Deng, revealed this allegation in an address to the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.

Mrs. Deng said senior government officials at the Ministry of Legal Affairs and Constitutional Development are receiving salaries six times higher than salaries that their colleagues at other ministries receive.

[Awut Deng]: “The legal counsels paid themselves additional allowances without referring the matter to the Ministry of Labor. In fact, we did not even know that such a thing was happening in the Ministry of Legal Affairs. I would call on the honorable members to look critically as I compare the salary of legal officers who are paying themselves now and what is in unified salary structure which the other ministries and public institutions are paying to their staff now. The undersecretary in grade one legal affairs gets SDG (Sudanese pounds) 18,640. Others get SDG 2,500. Counsel General in grade two gets SDG 15,550; others get SDG 2,375.”

Speaker of the Assembly James Wani Igga described the revelation as “shocking” and said the assembly will investigate the Minister of Legal Affairs and the Minister of Finance to see what roles they might have played in the apparent discrepancies.

[James Wani Igga]: “Indeed the information is both shocking and surprising. We will continue to deliberate on this, but the bottom line, honorable members, is that this presentation of the honorable minister at the end of the day will have to go under serious scrutiny by our Committee of Public Service, plus that of finance.”

Morobo County Assembly Representative Dr. Jimmy Wongo moved to summon Minister of Legal Affairs Michael Makuei Lueth to appear before the committee to explain the high salaries being paid to his staff. Mr. Makuei is expected to appear before the Assembly on Monday next week.

In another potential corruption scandal, Government of Southern Sudan Presidential Advisor Rebecca Nyandeng is accusing Vice President Riek Machar and Legal Affairs Minister Michael Makuei of ordering her to give licenses to bogus companies in exchange for a commission from oil companies in southern Sudan.

Madame Nyandeng, formerly Minister of Roads and Transport before she was appointed GOSS Presidential Advisor on Human Rights and Gender Issues, is the widow of the late Dr. John Garang.