Category: Economy

Police on Wednesday morning fired into the air to disperse a group of protesting wounded soldiers who gathered outside the Finance Ministry premises in Juba to demand for their dues.

National government Spokesperson Michael Makuei whose office is adjacent to the Ministry of Finance, stated that there were no injuries from the police action toward the protesting soldiers.

While sited in his office, Mr. Makuei  said ” I was just surprised to hear the shooting. I am in the neighborhood of the Ministry of Finance, and when the clashes happened, they occurred right here in front of my ministry.

He who described the incident as a common occurrence added that “the wounded heroes have been doing this all the time, making demands to the Ministry of Finance instead of going to the Ministry of Defense.”

The minister advised that the wounded soldiers direct their grievance to the Directorate of Wounded Heroes and Heroines, which is responsible for them.

“Whatever they need is supposed to be brought by the directorate to the Ministry of Finance; it is not for them as individuals to come and follow up on things.”

An Eyewitness who spoke to Eye Radio via WhatsApp gave an account of how the clashes transpired:

“I was in my office just a few minutes ago when I heard a loud commotion outside. When I went to investigate, I saw a large crowd.

“Upon inquiry, I learned they were wounded soldiers or a similar group. A few minutes later, police were brought in to disperse the gathering due to overcrowding.

“As they were not allowing people to enter the Ministry of Finance, shortly after, the situation escalated, and with the police becoming forceful, and an exchange of stones ensued between them and the wounded soldiers.”

When contacted, the spokesperson of the SSPDF confirmed that the wounded soldiers had gone to the Ministry of Finance and Planning to present a petition to demand for medical allowances.

“What had happened this [Wendnesday] morning, it was that representatives from wounded heroes went up to the ministry finance to go and present a petition on the need for their medical allowance to be released,’ he said.

Major General Lul Ruai says the leadership would work to expedite the release of their medical allowances to enable them to access the necessary medical treatment.

“That was the reason, and the leadership at the ministry and government in general assured or reassured them they will work around the clock so that their medical allowances are released for them to go for medical treatment.”

General Lul said the situation is now calm as the protestors left back to their places.

A dispute has emerged within the leadership of Juba City Council as Deputy Mayor Thiik Thiik Mayardit has accused his boss and Central Equatoria Commissioner-General of Insurance Regulatory Authority of taking bribes and reversing his decision to close down UAP Insurance company.

Last December, Deputy Mayor Mayardit ordered the closure of UAP Insurance after it failed to reinstate 10 terminated staff who went on strike due to poor working conditions.

Mayor Flora Gubriel revoked the order, instructing the company to resume operations.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Deputy Mayor Thiik Thiik alleged that Latio Ramba, Commissioner-General of the Central Equatoria State Insurance Regulatory Authority took bribes from UAP Insurance.

He also claimed that Rama did not active role in addressing the concerns of laid-off South Sudanese workers and was behind Mayor Flora’s decision to rescind the closure order.

Thiik Thiik further accused Ramba of favoring the interests of South Africans and Kenyans at the expense of South Sudanese citizens and urged Governor Emmanuel Adil to dismiss him.

The deputy Mayor threatened he would release damning bribery reports concerning the UAP saga.

“The Insurance Regulatory Authority which is chaired by Latio Ramba is the one I am going to talk very bad about, because he is the one who received the bribery and lead down the people of South Sudan.

“He was the one who gave pressure to the Mayor and the Governor that the South African Embassy and government are on the neck of the people of South Sudan,” he said.

Meanwhile, Commissioner General Latio Ramba denied the accusations made by Deputy Mayor Mayardit, describing them as unfounded.

Ramba stated that the allegations are baseless and stem from ignorance.

“Those are unfounded allegations but it’s upon the leadership to see and to measure how true it is.

“But the issue of bribery I don’t know exactly how and why, you might have asked the manager,” he said.

Ramba also also refuted claims that he had traveled to Kenya to meet with Kenyans and South African officials to resolve the dispute with UAP.

Ramba said Deputy Mayor Thiik Thii Mayardit acted without consulting the Mayor and national Ministry of Labor, describing his behavior as an insubordination.

“The Insurance Authority doesn’t have any power to engage and resolved issues to do with the Labor, but it is the national ministry in coordination with state ministry of labor.

“So, the accusation is political nothing else and of course he has the behavior of subordinating his supreme including the Mayor.

“Imagine he went in the morning, and he took it personally by emotion because one of the staff dismissed was his relative. So closed down a company and this company is licensed by the laws of the Republic of South Sudan.

“So, he went to closed down the company without consulting the Mayor, without consulting myself and without event consulting the Governor or the national Ministry of Labor.”

When contacted by Eye Radio for comment on Monday and Tuesday, Mayor Flora Gabriel of the Juba City Council that she was engaged in a meeting with the state leadership over the matter.