Illegal Dismissal of Dr Pauline Riak
"South Sudan Legislative Assembly must maintain rejection of Kiir
illegal appointmentt of Mr Gatwech at Anti-Corruption Unit"
02 December 2011 By Isaiah Abraham
(Gurtong)-Few weeks ago the President of the Republic of South Sudan,
His Excellency Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit issued Presidential decree
RSS/PD/J/56/2011 relieving Dr. Pauline Riak as Head of the
Anti-Corruption and appointed in her place Judge Gatwech Lul of the
High Court. Dr. Pauline was appointed in that position as Chairperson
of the body (Anti Corruption Commission) in 2006 and before her watch
she managed to establish the Anti-Corruption body or structure, and
policy and had made huge ground in the media educating the public
about the vice.
During her tenure however there have been scandals after scandals some
of which she had no control as she operated with no clear cut legal
powers to prosecute and with little backing or political will from the
top. She ended up groaning privately and at last went public, a
frustrating move that is believed to have landed her in trouble.
But Dr. Pauline removal contravene law governing that institution as
came in the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan
Chapter III, 143 (2) and (3) part of which says, "They {Commissioners
including the Chair}may not be removed from Office except with the
approval of the National Assembly by a two thirds majority of all
members". This statement is clear and Mr. President should not have
gone ahead and removed Dr. Pauline before Parliament gives a go ahead.
Sincerely, Dr. Pauline had done what she supposed to do there opposed
to what others would want us believe. She had traveled extensively to
many countries for relevance experiences to gain and apply in our
context in the fight against corruption. By removing her, I have a
feeling that the fight against corruption is thereafter sacrifice on
the altar of myopic and protective shells, the very situations which
have docked Kiir administration from day one. I fear now than any
other time before that we are going to lose our glorious moments of
putting in place hospitals, schools and roads. Mr. Kiir is scoring
zero there, a scenario attributed to sitting ducks, leaders who don't
see or act. I hereby seriously look forward for Parliament to keep him
at bay. He has failed and he got to let himself be helped.
Though Gatwech Lul is a lawyer with reputable background, there are no
assurances that he will deliver where Dr. Pauline failed. In fact Dr.
Pauline never failed, she was made to fail by non other than those
around the President and the president himself.
Our leader wants to be a priest, alas there are no priests that are
presidents. Managers aren't good priests. We have been calling him
Joshua and rightfully so, but Israelis arrival into the Promised Land
was an end in itself, someone was to fight Hittites, Jubisittes,
Ammonites etc. Gideon did that job perfectly. As things stand, we
have "Hittites" and "Ammonites" in the form of corruption and tribal,
enemies Kiir has shown again and again that he can't overcome them.
May be time is on the offing when we must give Joshua a marching order
in 2013 when SPLM Convention convenes. Mr. President you made as many
promises as I couldn't recall them all, and non of them has so far
been executed. Politics aside, we want services and this will only
come when GXR cars given to cronies and friends are stopped from being
procured using public funds. That is corruption and if not what is
it?!
Look, in 2008, the war on corruption was a subject matter, The case in
point is the financial scam in in the period between 2006 and 2007
related to purchase of government vehicle under former Finance
Minister Hon. Arthur Akuien Chol. There was a strong case to be
answered and someone in charged must be made to account. The legal man
then Hon. Michael Makuei arrested the Minister after his immunity was
removed by the President after heated pressure, but unfortunately
armed youth reported to be from Aweil (the very place where Minister
Akuein hails from) stormed the prison with guns and removed him. No
action was taken and someone at the top still has the guts to tell the
people of his zero tolerance to corruption, what a pity. The arrest
of Mr. Akuein was an initiative from Dr. Pauline, a signal that could
have proven that the big man at the top is serious about corruption.
Please men and women in the House, throw out Kiir nominee and let Dr.
Pauline continue at her job. Give her teeth (prosecution powers) and
stand with her to start questioning even big fish near the corridor of
power. If you allow his ways, forget about corruption fight, Gatwech
is a weak character. He never prosecuted a chicken while serving as a
High Court Judge under Khartoum.
Posted in: Opinions
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