South Sudan's ex-Minister of Roads and Bridges Rebecca Garang de Mabior says she was fired after raising concerns about payments made to Sudanese company Eyat Roads and Bridges, claiming that at least $288 million was paid to the company “without the consent of the ministry.”

Between 2006 and 2008, the Government of South Sudan (GOSS) authorized regular payments to the Sudanese company for construction of roads in the Bahr al Ghazal region without parliamentary approval, public tender or performance oversight by the GOSS Ministry of Roads and Bridges, according to investigations carried out by Radio Tamazuj.

Former roads minister Rebecca Garang was ousted by presidential order in July 2007 soon after raising concerns about the payments to Eyat. She had been appointed to the role partly out of respect for the legacy of her late husband, SPLM founder John Garang de Mabior, who had long advocated for improving South Sudan's roads.

In an interview with Radio Tamazuj, the ex-minister said she never even met with representatives of Eyat company during her time in office even though the South Sudanese government was paying the company at least five million US dollars per month.

“When we were checking our budget we found that there was some money which was going to a company in Khartoum. So we found out... that it was Eyat and then the money was directly being taken from Khartoum,” she said.

Payments to the company were made by the north Sudanese government on behalf of the South Sudanese government directly from Khartoum. These expenses were then deducted by Khartoum from the regular oil revenue transfers to Juba.

Rebecca Garang explained that she approached President Salva Kiir about the matter but he tried to downplay her concerns claiming that it was a settled issue and out of his control. “I went to the president and I asked him and he said that this company has been given 288 million from Khartoum. So I told him why is this 288 million being given to one state [i.e., Northern Bahr al Ghazal] when we have many other states?”

“That's one. Number two: 288 [million USD] has been given without the consent of the ministry. So he told me that it was done in Khartoum so that we need to call these people and meet with them. Even if we call the Eyat, it was not going to help us anything because already the deal has been made in Khartoum,” said Rebecca.

At the time, Kiir was serving in a dual role as vice president of the national government headquartered in Khartoum and president of the semi-autonomous regional government headquartered in Juba.

Rebecca Garang pointed out that 288 million US dollars “was a lot of money.” She also insisted also that she never signed any contract with Eyat as roads minister nor was there any contract in force between Eyat and the GOSS ministry during her time in office.

High politics

Rebecca Garang pointed to high-level political involvement in the Eyat deal saying that she discussed the matter with the national roads minister in Khartoum – who was then also a South Sudanese – but he claimed that the matter was also “above him.”

“I asked Kuol [Manyang] about Eyat,” she said, referring to the Sudanese roads minister, who is now South Sudan's defense minister. “And Kuol said that this thing of Eyat was above him also. He did not know anything about it. You know what, we were surprised because the budget of South Sudan of oil the 5 million was deducted every month. For what? They said it was for Eyat.”

“Eyat has been given 288 million. So Minister Kuol told me this is how he heard it, the way I heard it that's the way he heard it,” said Rebecca.

South Sudan's national audit chamber, which stopped publishing annual reports several years ago, mentions the same sum in an audit report on the 2006 fiscal year. “The Financial Statements omitted a commitment made on March 5th 2006 of US $ 288,000,000 in the form of bank guarantee for road works in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State by Eyat Roads and Bridges,” reported Auditor General Steven Wondu.

“The loan was to be charged to the account of the Government of Southern Sudan as follows,” said Wondu, listing scheduled payments of $60 million for the first 12 months, $96 million for the next 12 months and the remaining amount of $132 million in the third year.

He further noted, “The Speaker of the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly says the Assembly did not authorize this extra-budgetary appropriation.”

'They wanted to do things in their own way'

Rebecca Garang reported a lack of performance oversight of the Eyat construction projects. “With Eyat, I did not do anything with them so I don't even know how it happened and how the roads look like. I was removed immediately in July 2007.”

Asked whether any of the presidency staff had ever approached her about the Eyat deal or interfered in the affairs of her ministry she responded, “No, nobody came but I was hearing people – because I was very strict about it – and I think this was one of the issues that I was removed. Because they wanted to do things in their own way but I wanted to follow how the contracts are awarded to the contractors and then the contractors go and get their money from the ministry of finance...”

“If I'm there in the ministry, corruption will not be done. So that's why they wanted to take me so that I'm out and then they put people that they can intimidate.” However, she denied that her direct successor David Deng had anything to do with Eyat, hinting that he may have been chosen because he was percieved as a family friend – a possibly conciliatory gesture aimed at making her less 'hostile' about her removal.

For his part, Rebecca Garang's son Mabior Garang, spokesman of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in Opposition, has made similar claims about corruption in the Ministry of Roads, saying that his mother's removal allowed another construction company (ABMC) to later loot resources from the ministry.

Mabior said in a public posting on Facebook in August 2013 that his mother “was removed because if she was still a minister... Benjamin Bol Mel and ABMC would not have been able to steal all the money meant for road building.”

“She had to be removed so that the thieves could do their work,” said Mabior.

Photo: Rebecca Garang speaking in Panyagoor, Jonglei in 2012 (Sudan Tribune)

This report is published as part of a special investigative series. Anyone wanting to comment on this report or send further information should contact Radio Tamazuj here.