Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chol. |Courtesy.

The Minister of Petroleum called on the newly appointed finance minister to stop people from turning the ministry into a cashier office and direct them to relevant spending agencies.

Puot Kang Chol made the remarks on Tuesday at the reception ceremony of Finance Minister Awow Daniel Chuang.

He said the Ministry of Finance has become a cashier office where everybody including ministers demands payment and travel expenses.

Minister Kang urged the new minister of finance, to send the money to spending agencies and hold the agencies accountable during financial audits.

“Engineer Awow, if there is a way to try to change one thing in the Ministry of Finance, the ministry has been turned into a cashier office where everybody comes and gets paid,” Kany said.

“When you are travelling, you have to come and look for the minister because if you don’t get him, you will not even be given what you deserve.”

“The Ministry of Finance should not be turned into a cashier office. It is a Ministry that is planning for our lives. Let the money go to spending agencies so that you will be able to hold them accountable when the time comes for audit.”

The Ministry of Finance and Planning is responsible for maintaining control over public spending, setting the direction of South Sudan’s fiscal policy, and working to achieve strong, equitable, and sustainable economic growth.

Former Minister of Finance and Planning Dr Bak Barnaba Chol said last year that he encountered the same issue.

Dr Bak said some government delegations travelling outside the country for official missions often request what he termed an ‘exaggerated’ amount of money.