Senior officers and administrative staff of the SPLA 4th Division have been investigated and funds for widows of soldiers killed in battle have been found missing, according to an internal report obtained by Radio Tamazuj from SPLA Sector One headquarters.

The SPLA 4th Division was originally based in Rubkona in Unity State. Its commanding officer and many of its men defected in December 2013 and the remaining pro-government elements suffered heavy casualties in subsequent fighting. The division was reduced in size and the surviving remnants were transferred last year to SPLA Sector One in Western Bahr al Ghazal State.

Bilpham General Headquarters initiated an investigation into administrative officers of the remnants of the SPLA 4th Division earlier this year. An eight-member investigation committee headed by an SPLA brigadier-general produced a report on “lost” salaries for the months January and February 2015. The summary findings report is dated 27 April.

The report concludes that the families of a total of 285 'martyrs' did not receive their salaries after funds were diverted for other purposes or went missing. A total amount of 322,515 SSP was used for other documented purposes while another 381,822 SSP was the “total of lost amount without directive from any command.”

Also the report disclosed that Lt Col. Bol Madut Mangok, a former battalion commander within the division, in February ordered the finance staff to 'demote' martyrs with ranks from sergeant to lance corporal to a lower rank so that the army would have to pay less to their surviving dependents.

The report names six officers and men whom the SPLA sector commander had already ordered to be investigated: Lt Col Lino Dut Awech, Lt Col Bol Madut Mangok, Captain Tong Machol Dut, 2nd Lt Dut Akook Ngor, Sgt Majok Malueth Majok and Sgt Mayor Maker Mading. These include a current and former battalion commander, a military intelligence officer, the former chief of finance of Division 4, paymaster and bookkeeper.

The investigation committee recommended that a further three soldiers be arrested “for investigation,” naming them as Capt. Kot Adut Chiran (Administration), Sgt Monylang Tor Deng (Military Intelligence) and Sgt Makur Malual (Controller).

According to another administrative document dated 8 January 2015, the total parade of “martyrs” in Mapel from the 4th Infantry Division was 779 – though the investigation findings revised this to 708. SPLA failed to pay salaries to the families of at least 285 of these 'martyrs', according to the investigation summary findings.

The documents obtained by Radio Tamazuj point to some of the administrative challenges facing army units that have suffered massive casualties since the start of the civil war. A letter from an SPLA finance official addressed to the Deputy Chief of Staff for Administration Lt Gen Malual Ayom Door reveals that the “Mapel force 4th Infantry Division” had more than twice as many soldiers on the “martyrs” payroll as on combat parade.

“The combat forces have the parade of (371) officers, NCOs and men... the martyrs parade is (779) officers, NCOs and men... the wounded heroes parade was 749 officers, old age NCOs and men,” reads the document dated 9 January 2015.

Even if these figures are somewhat inflated, they nonetheless suggest that the army faces massive financial demands from families of soldiers killed in battle. Some of the dependents at Mapel have been vocal and even violent in demanding help from SPLA, according to one document.

The Summary Report notes that one of the purposes of forming the investigation committee was “to end the violence that [was] caused by the families of the Martyrs” – implying unrest among military families based at the Mapel barracks.

File photo: SPLA Officers on Independence Day, 2011