File: Steven Wondu, the Auditor-General Courtesy

The National Audit Chamber report found irregularities in the construction of the Juba-Rumbek highway estimated to cost the country $700 million dollars.

Ambassador Steven Wondu, the Auditor-General tabled the report at the Revitalized Transitional National Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, October 25.

In the comprehensive 40-page report, the Auditor-General revealed that the construction of the Juba-Rumbek highway did not adhere to public procurement procedures.

Ambassador Wondu pointed out that the construction of the highway experienced delays due to payment delays from the government.

He also revealed that the South Sudan Road Authority, which is legally mandated to oversee such projects, was not involved in the construction process.

According to Wondu, it was expected that the 396-kilometer highway would be completed within a four-year timeframe.

However, as of 2022, only 63 km have been completed so far, indicating a major delay in the project’s progress.

“The auditor observed the following; that there was non-compliance with section 28 of South Sudan Public Procurement and Disposal of Assert Act 2019,” Wondu said during a parliamentary session on Wednesday.

“The contractor for the Juba-Rumbek construction was not procured through open competitive tendering but through single sourcing…

“…It was, therefore, not possible for the auditor to confirm whether the contract was awarded to the most competent contractors on issues of efficiency and the most reasonable contract prices on the issues of economics,” he said.

Ambassador Wondu says there was a delay in the construction of the Juba-Rumbek highway.

“There was a delay in the Juba- Rumbek construction, as the construction was started on 12^th Nov 2020 and was expected to be completed on 11^th of July 2023,” Wondu said.

“As of February 2023, 26 months which 82% of the allocated time has elapsed and 63 kilometres out of 396 of the work has been done leaving 333 kilometres of the work is not done,” he said.

“The delay we are told was attributed to a delay in making advance payment and non-payment of interim payment certificate.”

The Auditor General Wondu says the auditor found there were unclear financial arrangements in financing the construction of the highway.

“There were unclear financial arrangements, the financing of the construction of the road was a bilateral agreement between the government of South Sudan and the government of China,” Wondun said.

“As of the time of the audit in February 2023, the Ministry of Finance has not given the National Audit Chamber a clear breakdown of how the construction of the road was being financed and paid,” he said.

“The records of the Ministry of Petroleum indicate that 21 million, 780,125 barrels of crude oil worth 1 billion, 558 million, 763,000, 802 have been shipped between 2019 and 2020, auditors couldn’t determine how much of that oil was meant for financing the construction of the Juba-Rumbek road.”

After the Auditor General submitted the performance audit report on the construction of the Juba-Rumbek Road, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Oyet Nathaniel referred the report to the relevant committees in Parliament.

It includes Finance and Economic Planning, Public Accounts, Roads and Bridges, Government Assurance, Environment, Legislation and Justice, and others.

Nathaniel directed these committees to study the report and submit it to the Parliament after two weeks.

The Juba-Rumbek which connects Juba and Bahr El-Ghazal region is designed as an asphalt concrete surface of 10 meters wide, 2 ways, and 2 lines on each side.

The Ministry of Road and Bridges contracted Changdong High-Speed Nile Investment and Development Company to construct the road at an initial cost of $711 million dollars.