An official has contradicted the Northern Bahr al Ghazal State government spokesman who said last week that the state purchased 25 vehicles for 3 million dollars. In question is how much the government paid per vehicle and who managed the contract.
State Minister of Information Wek Kuch last week announced the arrival of 25 of the vehicles to South Sudan after purchase in an unspecified Arab country. He pointed to the arrival of the vehicles as a proof that funds used for purchase of the vehicles had not disappeared.
The state government spokesman said, “We have received these cars in the terms of 3 million US dollars.” If true, that means the average contract price per vehicle was $120,000, significantly higher than the market price for such vehicles.
According to an MP in the state parliament, the delivery consisted of 10 RAV-4 vehicles, 14 Toyota 5-doors and one V-8 vehicle.
Another senior state official revealed to Radio Tamazuj on Monday that there had been problems in the contracting process that had even led to the removal of the government secretary-general. But he did not disclose the total amount spent in purchasing the vehicles.
“The plan was to purchase 25 vehicles but the first contractor raised the prices, so we decided to change and look for the new one and this was why the secretary of the state government had to go,” he said.
The official said 25 vehicles are already in the country and 24 of them have been received in Aweil town, capital of the state while one has remained in Juba due to technical issues requiring attention before the car can be brought to the state.
Meanwhile, an official at the state ministry of finance admitted only that 1.2 million dollars was borrowed from the Central Bank to help the state purchase the vehicles.
“The source of this money or funds rather is the central bank of the republic of South Sudan. We approached the administration of the central bank and it accepted to give us 1.2 million dollars so that it enables us to purchase these vehicles because we have realized key officials in various departments have difficulties with mobility,” he said.
The source, who was involved in the purchase of the vehicles, explained that the central bank would be recovering the loan from the regular grant transfers made to the state from the national government.
Last week, press secretary Angelo Wol Mawein reportedly told press in Aweil that citizens have a right to know about the deal and for the public to see documents related to the purchase of the vehicles, defending Caretaker Governor Kuel Aguer as a leader who values transparency.
File photo: State Legislative Assembly in Aweil