August 26th 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – South Sudan’s former minister of petroleum Amb. Ezekiel Lol Gatkouth has fled the country and an aide linked to him has been arrested by the country’s National Security Service (NSS), sources with knowledge have said.
Gatkouth was dismissed by Kiir as petroleum minister in June after hesitating to return to the country following an official visit to Russia.
Kiir later on opened investigation into oil pre-sales which were done under Gatkuoth. Following his dismissal, a government official told the Nyamilepedia in June that Gatkuoth had been barred from leaving the country and that his passport was confiscated.
Speaking to Nyamilepedia on Sunday, a government official at the oil ministry said the government has arrested an aide allied to Gatkuoth and that the former minister fled the country without the knowledge of the government.
The official did not however identify the arrested official.
“One of his aides has been arrested,” the official said. “The government is still looking for him but we have information that he left the country.”
The official however did not say why the government was looking for him as it is not known whether an arrest warrant has been issued against the Gatkuoth who was formerly a top SPLM-IO diplomat.
