South Sudan “may arrest and prosecute” two federal Ministers who have been suspended and charged with requesting and wiring funds without proper authorisation, according to another Cabinet Minister.

On Tuesday, South-Sudanese president Salva Kiir suspended Cabinet Affairs Minister Deng Alor Kuol and Finance and Economic Planning Minister Kosti Manibe Ngai following an incident that involves disbursing $7,959,400 to Daffy Investments Group Limited which is a private foreign company whose top executive reportedly has family connections with some Juba officials. Kiir also lifted their immunity from prosecution.

The presidential order establishes a five-member investigation committee, chaired by Justice John Gatwich Lul of the anti-corruption commission. It will scrutinise the necessity and legality of the contract endorsed by Alor and Manibe as well as investigate the current location of the funds.

Sudan Tribune has reported that a cabinet minister “close to the president” believes the two ministers will be removed from their posts and tried in court if the probe finds sufficient evidence against them.

“They will definitely be dismissed from their positions and prosecuted if the investigation finds that they made the request and transfer without the knowledge of the president and the council of ministers”, the minister said.

According to the source, the two ministers “foolishly made the decision in pursuit of personal interest” without involving relevant institutions.

“They did not involve the ministry of justice which is the legal institution which examines legality of the government contracts,” he said.

Sources at the ministry of finance and economic planning claim that Manibe awarded a contract to the company for gratification. “This is not the first time. The Minister has wanted to have all the contracts of supply for things negotiated by him alone without involving the government. At one time he said that he had direct access to the Chief Executive of a company that wanted to help in revamping the structure of the ministry. He said it was he who was giving them contracts so they should show appreciation when he [Manibe] became Minister of Cabinet Affairs,” said the source.

He further claimed most of the officials at the ministry knew that Manibe was related to the company’s CEO so it was possible he used his status to transfer the money on his behalf.

“There is evidence that he solicited for gratification from one company where he was supposed to get 40% from the contract. He is actually the shareholder. He also asked for gratification from a company he wanted to help set up the electricity for independence celebration”, a source at the Ministry of Finance claimed in an interview with Sudan Tribune on Wednesday.

The sources said that they were satisfied the evidence was overwhelming enough to warrant an arrest against Manibe, who when contacted for comment, initially responded: “I am not making any comment at the moment. I am reflecting on what’s happening, what I am about to receive”.

Deng Alor Kuol said it would be “inappropriate” to comment before the investigation committee completes its findings. However he claimed “some people were trying to bring him down for no apparent reason”.

One of his aides claimed the money has already been returned, stressing that the minister had informed the president about the need for fire safety equipment to protect key government institutions with valuable information including the office of the president.

“It is not true that the president was not informed. The minister was acting on the resolution of the council of ministers which approved the purchase of fire safety equipment last year. You know that there was an incident of fire at the presidential palace and at the SPLM national secretariat”, he said.

This is not the first time that the Juba Cabinet has been rocked by financial scandal. Highly placed sources at the Ministry of Finance claimed misappropriation of additional funds by the suspended minister of finance, Kosti Manibe, alleging that Manibe paid himself a sum of 440,000 SSP to acquire household furniture. The resulting commotion in the Ministry subsequently prompted an internal reshuffle.

“The recent changes in the ministry were an attempt to cover the embezzlement of $8 million which was transferred into a private bank account in Nairobi. The person withdrew $1 million dollars just one day after receiving the money and requested to take the balance of $7 million on the second day. This raised the suspicions of the Kenyan government which notified the central bank. The discussion went to a higher level and the money was eventually returned”, the official explained.

South Sudan has been struggling to set-up functioning state institutions since gaining independence from Khartoum in July 2011 under a peace deal that ended the civil war.

The government is largely made up of former rebel commanders who dislike scrutiny and have little experience of economic management. Financial oversight is weak.

Samuel Dhong, Secretary General of the South Sudan Law Society, which promotes the rule of law, welcomed the suspensions but said it remained to be seen whether the men would be charged.

File photo: Suspended Cabinet Affairs Minister Deng Alor Kuol (left) and Finance and Economic Planning Minister Kosti Manibe Ngai