Minister Awut Deng: A New Iron Lady on a fake war on corruption

DEC. 1/2008(SSN), Juba has a new Iron Lady. Madam Awut Deng, the Minister of  Labour in the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) deserves to be mentioned in the Forbes list of the most powerful women on earth.

Alongside Angela Merkel of Germany, Wu Yi of China, Ho Ching of Singapore and Condoleezza Rice of the United States, Madam Awut has the honor to share the list with these truly eminent women but for all the wrong reasons.
She behaves and speaks like the Prime Minister of the Government of Southern Sudan. And she really proves it every single day that she is not only the GoSS premier but also one who is ruling Juba with an Iron fist.
A grade-8 basic school dropout, Madam Awut has of late been embarking on what is, in her view, a Public Service Reform. The chief objective of this program is to purge the public service of any corrupt practices. Her stated objective looks good but they are far from being genuine.
In fact, her surge and purge program could benefit from the track record expertise and knowledge of hundreds of Southern Sudanese whose educational and career credentials are no match to Madam Awut’s. But her refusal to accept the obvious has now plunged her into unnecessary confrontations with the Ministries of Interior, Legal Affairs and now the Parliament of Southern Sudan. This is in addition to her many unprovoked animosities with many senior GoSS officials including undersecretaries.
Typical of her whimsical decisions, Awut recently recommended the suspension of General Alfred Akuoch, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife Conservation and Tourism. This recommendation underscores the magnitude of the administrative disaster that Awut has brought to the GOSS Cabinet. It shows that she is not aware of her limitations as she has no mandate to recommend the suspension of an undersecretary.
Moreover, it shows that she has no political sensibility. If she knew any politics, she would have discreetly avoided being a party to the suspension of the only serving undersecretary from the Shiluk (Chollo) community, especially at a time when there is no single Shiluk in GoSS Cabinet.
In the course of her fights with the ministries and the parliament, Awut Deng has demonstrated remarkable arrogance towards her colleagues, seniors and subordinates alike. This must not be allowed to continue. Her latest battle on salaries with the representatives of the people of Southern Sudan shows that Awut must be suffering from an illusion that she is above the institutions of Southern Sudan.
There are two factors underlying her behavior which the people of Southern Sudan deserve to know:

1-Awut’s claim that she is reforming the Public Service is simply false. If this call was genuine, she would have sought an informed opinion on the matter. And in due process, she would have been told that public service regulations are never applied unvaryingly on all institutions. For example, some of these institutions such as the Parliament, the Armed Forces, the Police, the Judiciary and the Legal Affairs are established by their own laws. Therefore, they are not subject to public service regulations. Awut’s “innovative ideas” that salaries of the honorable members of the Assembly of Southern Sudan be cut, or that committees must be formed to supervise salaries of the police personnel are simply ridiculous. These ideas are as stupid as her other idea that undersecretaries of the various ministries must rotate positions within the system! Tomorrow, Awut may come up with another idea that her ministry should supervise payment of the SPLA salaries.

2-Awut should not have been in this position in the first place.. She neither has the qualification nor the ability to handle this important job. Her failure to understand that she has no mandate to tamper with salaries of the Assembly and the Police shows that she is unfit for the job. Yet she brags publicly that she discusses these ideas with the President, and on many occasions, her listeners would be bored to death with her never-ending references of “the president told me”; “I discussed it with the President”; “I know what the president wants,”  etc etc
All these phrases are part of an attempt to convince her interlocutors that she alone owns the heart and mind of the President! Ah, Mama Awut! We expect a bit of shame. Extramarital relations are secret things that should never be confused with public affairs.
Finally, we agree with Mama Awut that there is an urgent need to shake up our entire system. But certainly not the way she does. Nevertheless, since Awut claims to have the ears, mind and heart of the President, she would be well-advised to take up serious issues of governance that affect the people of Southern Sudan such as corruption.
Mama Awut, corruption is walking among us gigantically like an elephant. We can see it and so do you. So please let us stop whipping the shadow while leaving the elephant.
If you really care about corruption, then you must investigate:
- why and how renovation of government houses cost 700 million dollars. There is no house in the whole world that is renovated for half a million dollars. Please show us where this money has gone.
-why and how GoSS spending on cars alone reached 230 million dollars during the last three years.
-why and how a GoSS Minister was allowed to take  up to 20 million dollars from Public Money and divide it among members of his sub-tribe and clan.
- why and how land grapping is encroaching to include even plots of senior colleagues in the government while the government looks on.
- why are some officials still in hotels even when living conditions in Juba have improved.
These are just few examples that you can do to save money on behalf of the people of Southern Sudan.
In conclusion, you owe us an explanation as to why your Review Committee included your would-be son in-law Dr. Lomumba Stanislaus. Isn’t this corruption? And why are you paying this committee double digits per diem plus expensive hotel accommodations?
FROM:
Martin Damkaar, Maker Ajok, Ladule Laku, and Nyanut Baak; JUBA

Source SSN (http://www.southsudannation.com/min%20awut%20deng%20iron%20lady4.htm)