South Sudan’s state-run oil company Nilepet has suspended so-called “assistance” payments after the publication of a report revealing that Managing Director Joseph Cleto Deng was secretly diverting money to friends and political allies.
Radio Tamazuj reported on 30 July that Cleto had given away tens of thousands of dollars including $12,000 to Salva Kiir’s cousin Thiik Thiik Mayardit, and $10,000 to Sultan Marko Monydeng Akook, a chief from Salva Kiir’s home area of Akon North Payam, among others.
According to copies of internal Nilepet documents obtained by Radio Tamazuj, the company director Joseph Cleto also gave dollars to party and government officials at a preferential exchange rate, besides sometimes also just outright giving away money as “assistance”, as in the cases of Marko Monydeng and Thiik Thiik.
According to a new report by the government-paid journalist Larco Lomayat, distributed via mass email, Nilepet has suspended “the assistance” until further notice. He claimed that the reason was “scarcity of hard currency in the country and the reduction of the oil prices in the international market.”
Lomayat also defended the secret payments made by Joseph Cleto Deng, saying that they were a form of “corporate social responsibility.”
“Nilepet Managing Director Comrade Joseph Cleto Deng has the right to approve and sign on financial documents and pass to junior staff for process through proper channel and procedures as he has done when doing his part of social responsibilities,” wrote Lomayat.
“Corporate Social Responsibility is a management concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and interactions with their stakeholders,” he added.
“Many people in South Sudan are feeling pretty glum about their finances and wondering how they’re going to pay their bills and take care of their families and children who are in schools in the neighboring countries as well as those who seek medical attention outside the territory of South Sudan due to the scarcity of hard currency in the country,” he said.
The government journalist went on to acknowledge that Nilepet had indeed made “assistance” payments to several organizations named by Radio Tamazuj in its earlier report, including an association of Dinka students in Khartoum.
“We should commend Comrade Joseph Cleto and the entire staff of Nilepet for putting the interest of South Sudan above personal interest and to safeguard the resources of South Sudan,” said the government journalist.