Minister speaks out on compensation of Ugandan traders in South Sudan

(newvision.co.ug)

The foreign affairs ministry has told Parliament it has no knowledge of the beneficiaries from the South Sudanese Government's compensation to Ugandan traders. 

“We don’t know who was paid, we are in the dark, it is the Ministry of Finance which knows. Sometimes, we may not be able to understand the general beneficiaries and we are equally concerned,” foreign affairs minister Gen. Jeje Odongo said. 

He made the remarks on Monday while appearing before the parliamentary committee on trade. The committee is currently investigating the controversial compensation of the Ugandan traders. 

Background

In May 2019, the 10^th Parliament approved sh900b to compensate 33 companies which supplied goods and services to the Government of South Sudan between 2008 and 2010. 

However, reports indicate that only 10 companies have so far been compensated, leaving out the majority of the claimants. 

The terms of compensation followed a mutual agreement between Uganda and South Sudan, which allowed the Uganda Treasury to clear the debt and treat it as a loan to the Government of South Sudan. 

The Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries only covered 10 companies that have since been paid over sh40 billion while the smaller traders missed out. 

According to Jeje Odongo, the ministry, which is supposed to be playing the coordinating role between the governments of South Sudan and Uganda for the compensation of the affected traders, is working in the dark.