The Committee of Trade and Industry at the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) has vowed to compel prominent businessman Ayii Duang Ayii to obey summons by the House or face legal action.
Earlier this week, the committee summoned Duang who is the Chairman Board of Directors of South Sudan Supreme Airlines to answer queries about USD 193,248,955.90 that the Government of South Sudan has allegedly owed his company since 2013 after supplying subsidized food and fuel.
Mayen Deng Alier, the chairperson of the committee, said lawmakers wanted clarification on the relationship between South Sudan Supreme Airlines with a foreign company, Noble Enterprise Ltd, Kenya mentioned therein, however, Duang failed to respond to the summon on Tuesday.
Furthermore, the committee demands comprehensive information on all contracts awarded to South Sudan Supreme Airlines by the government through the Ministry of Trade and Industry since 2013, along with the total amounts involved.
However, Duang snubbed the parliamentary summons.
Deng said the committee has so far summoned Duang twice in vain and has the right to take legal steps to force him to appear in parliament.
“In this case, we have written Ayii (Duang) twice and he has refused. So, we have the right to name him for contempt. The next thing now is to write to him compelling him to come,” he stated. “So, he will be forced to attend to the committee, if not, we can now write to the minister of justice and other procedures will be taken.”
The legislator said the committee is empowered by Article 131 of the House’s Conduct of Business Regulations to summon Duang.
“Regulation 131, sub-regulation 1, gives the committee special powers to summon any minister. We can summon anyone holding public office or a private individual to come before the committee and provide evidence of producing documents,” Deng emphasized.
He clarified that his committee is not playing the judicial role of judging Duang but rather seeks clarifications on the issue.
“There are documents which were trending on social media over the weekend whereby he (Duang) supplied strategic food items, fuel products, medicine, and building materials at a total cost of $193 million, $248,000, and then $95.9 million and he copied a number of institutions,” he explained. “And then there were documents which indicated that some payments were made; one payment of $8 million, a payment of $2 million, and then there was a payment of $20 million and some were some checks.”
According to Deng, Duang told the representative from the parliament who delivered the summons that he would not appear before the lawmakers.
“After the first summons, he (Duang) called me and said he would not come,” he narrated. “I then sent my secretary with the second letter summoning him and he read it and told him to return it and tell his bosses that he will not come.”
Deng revealed that the businessman also indicated that he would take legal action to counter the summons, a move he said would amount to contempt of parliament.
Meanwhile, Duang called a press conference on late on Tuesday and threatened to sue parliament over the summons, saying the House has no authority to summon him.
He however confirmed that he is demanding over US$190 million from the government for a contract he had executed when war erupted in the country in December 2013.
“I did not ask for the contract. It is the government that used my planes, fuel, and food during the hard times (2013 conflict),” Duang said. “We have directed the company legal advisor to respond to the chairperson of the committee to withdraw his immunity because he spoiled the company’s reputation and he has to prove to us what he meant over what he said.”