South Sudan's Minister of Petroleum, Puot Kang Chol/Jale Richard/Eye Radio.

The Minister of Petroleum said he is sidelined in the management of the state-owned oil company, NilePet which allegedly reports directly to the Ministry of Presidential Affairs.

Puot Kang Chol revealed that the state-owned Nile Petroleum Corporation is managed by the Presidential Affairs Minister, unless on technical matters.

He was speaking during a meeting of the National Constitutional Amendment Committee and stakeholders on Petroleum Laws in Juba on Thursday.

“It’s always difficult because the line ministry which is supposed to run the activities of Nile Pet, is the ministry of petroleum. But now, the chair is the Minister of Presidential Affairs,” Minister Kang complained.

Kang said the alleged overlapping of duties makes it challenging for him to answer inquires put forth by the cabinet.

“So you find it difficult to report to the cabinet. When I’m asked, I would say I don’t know because the management of it (Nile Pet) is from the minister of presidential affairs,

“But when it comes to practical activities the company relates to us, because they have no relation with the presidential affairs ministry,’’ Kang said.

Section 12 of the Petroleum Act 2012, provides that the Ministry of Petroleum shall be responsible for the management of the petroleum sector in accordance with the provisions of the Transitional Constitution.

However, Eye Radio could not independently verify the allegations by the Petroleum Minister.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank Governor Moses Makur Deng said the 2012 Petroleum Act was made up and imposed on the country by foreigners.

Speaking at the same event, Makur claimed foreign experts designed the instrument and made it appear as if it was made by South Sudanese.

“It was actually imposed, and we didn’t sign anything, so we left it. When people went for consultation, I came and write that it seemed to me irrelevant so it was a crooked thing,” he said.