By Simon Deng Machar,
Sep 28, 2021 — In recent days, President Salva Kiir Mayardit has introduced several changes within his government and his office aimed at improving service delivery to the people of South Sudan. These changes are also aimed at shaping the legacy of President Salva Kiir Mayardit. As much as these changes are welcome by South Sudanese, it is also clear that President Salva Kiir Mayardit needs to look deeper into the affairs of his own office. The Office of the President or the Presidency as envisaged in the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCISS) is a symbol of national unity and pride for the people of South Sudan. The President represents the will of the people and he shall exercise these powers vested in the Office of the President to serve the people of South Sudan equally, fairly and without fear or favour.
As such, recruitment and appointment of individuals to the Office of the President ought to meet the highest standards of academic qualifications, political and social experience as well as moral aptitude. However, it appears that President Salva Kiir Mayardit is not getting a team of qualified individuals to help him deliver services to the people of South Sudan who overwhelmingly voted for him in the 2010 elections. In November 2018 during the swearing in of the current Director General of South Sudan Customs Service, President Salva Kiir is quoted as having said, “I did not get people who can work; I got people who know how to eat. Everyone takes and puts the money in his own pocket; that’s why we have this crisis”.
True to his words, President Salva Kiir Mayardit found himself in the same situation that he lamented about three years ago. Take for example the appointment of James Deng Wal as Executive Director in the Office of the President. He replaced the longest serving Executive Director in the Office of the President Rizik Dominic Samuel who had been accused of serious corruption scandals, providing financial support to Gen. Paul Malong Awan as well as espionage and high treason against President Salva Kiir Mayardit.
Since his appointment as Executive Director in the Office of the President in August 2019, James Deng Wal has not contributed in any meaningful way to improve the administration and management of the Office of the President. Instead, he has failed miserably in providing the necessary support and assistance to the President of the Republic of South Sudan to effectively serve the people of South Sudan. As per the current structure of the Office of the President, the Executive Director in the Office of the President is both a political and technical position. The Executive Director is in charge of operations which include efficient function of the State House, clarifying of assignments and responsibilities of staff, facilitation of vertical and horizontal coordination within and outside the Office of the President with other arms of the government. He is also the principal advisor to the President on all-purpose policy and political matters. He also oversees the development and over administration strategy of the Presidency. The Executive Director also acts as emissary of the President meaning that he serves as his alter ego, a legislative negotiator and the spokesperson of the President on sensitive matters. In summary, the Executive Director is responsible for directing, managing and overseeing all policy development, daily operations and activities for the President. He coordinates and communicates between the Office of the President and other government institutions.
From the above description of the roles and responsibilities of the Executive Director in the Office of the President, it is abundantly clear that James Deng Wal is not the right person to serve our President as Executive Director.
Incompetent and Inept
James Deng Wal is a primary school dropout who served as a mere cashier in the Ministry of Finance and Planning prior to his secondment as a cashier in the Office of the President in 2013. He was seconded to the Office of the President in March 2013 following the alleged theft of funds when the Office of the President was broken into. James Deng Wal does not have a single academic qualification that would enable him to effectively and efficiently administer the complex and often politically sensitive matters of the Office of the President. James Deng Wal and his predecessor Rizik Dominic Samuel are the only two individuals to have served as Executive Director in the Office of the President without academic qualifications necessary for the position. The late Martin Majut Yak who served as the first Executive Director as well as his successor Ustaz Yel Luol Koor had academic qualifications and in-depth understanding of social, economic and political dynamics of the Office of the President. These two individuals are bright, well-educated, experienced and systematic in the affairs of the government. James Deng Wal is nothing short of laughing stock to the whole Presidency.
Reliable sources within the Office of the President say James Deng Wal is relying on advice from Ateny Wek Ateny to make decisions regarding the Executive Office of the President. This is a serious matter that needs to be put to an end with immediate effect. Ateny Wek Ateny cannot be trusted to advise on matters of the State. He was once a staunch critic of President Salva Kiir Mayardit and his government. If James Deng Wal is not competent as it is the case now, he should resign to salvage his image or be fired with immediate effect.
Corruption and bribery
James Deng Wal is one of the individuals named in a report published on Sudan Tribune in March 2017 as having received over USD 4 million in stolen funds from the so-called Crisis Management Committee (CMC) headed then by the current Vice President in charge of Economic Cluster, Dr. James Wani Igga. James Deng Wal has turned the Office of the President into a corruption den. As Executive Director in the Office of the President, James Deng Wal has used his position to enrich himself. To do this, he has been making huge payment requests to the Ministry of Finance & Planning then later cashing out at the Bank of South Sudan. For example, last week alone, the Office of the President under the directives of James Deng Wal withdrew about USD 5 million from the Bank of South Sudan. This was the whole amount in US dollars that was collected as non-oil revenues by the National Revenue Authority (NRA) for the month of August. One wonders why the Office of the President would withdraw such a huge amount from the Bank of South Sudan at the times when President Salva Kiir Mayardit is not travelling out of South Sudan for any official duties. It is also difficult to understand why the Office of the President would be withdrawing these huge sums of money in cash at the time when millions of South Sudanese are languishing in extreme poverty, squalid living conditions and hunger as a result of the economic crisis. A senior staff in the Office of the President who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of his life, said James Deng Wal has been making these requests to the Ministry of Finance and Planning without the knowledge and approval of the Minister in the Office of the President or the President himself. “James Deng Wal has perfected the art of using the name of the President to enrich himself”, he added. According to this staff, “other offices of the Vice Presidents and a senior advisor have not yet been given establishment money yet James Deng Wal is withdrawing millions of US dollars every week from the Bank of South Sudan in the name of the Presidency”. He added that it is individuals like James Deng Wal who are responsible for emptying the foreign reserve at the Bank of South Sudan. “It is our hope that one day they will be held accountable for the suffering that they have put the people of South Sudan”.
James Deng Wal has presided over rampant theft and plunder of public resources under the disguise of the Office of the President. He is colluding with unscrupulous businessmen and sanctioned individuals such as Kur Ajing Ater and Benjamin Bol Mel to steal public money. According to well-placed sources within the Office of the President, James Deng Wal has been taking bribes running into millions of US dollars from these businessmen on “behalf of the President and his family”. Our investigation however revealed that James Deng Wal has been using the name of the President and his family to enrich himself. He has been channeling all these bribes to one of the local banks that we will reveal in the next article.
Lack Political and Social Capital
James Deng Wal does not understand the political dynamics of the SPLM as the ruling party. He does not have necessary understanding of the party to be able to determine policy priorities, build and spend political capital on behalf of the President and deploy necessary legislative, administrative and rhetorical means to achieve the Party’s and President policies. A senior Member of the SPLM Political Bureau lamented how they are being treated as beggars whenever they visit the Office of the President to consult the President on matters of the party. “This guy called James Deng Wal is a very confused fellow. He doesn’t even know who the senior members of the SPLM party are. He thinks we are just some individuals who are coming to the Office of the President to beg for money”, said the senior SPLM party member. “We did not sacrifice our lives to liberate this country only to be humiliated by the likes of James Deng Wal who did not even throw stones at the enemy during the liberation struggle”, he added. The senior member of SPLM Politburo who is also Minister in the Revitalized Transitional Government said that individuals such as James Deng Wal pose a serious political liability to President Salva Kiir Mayardit. “They have quickly forgotten that elections are due in 2023. It is us members of the SPLM who will convince our constituents to vote for President Salva Kiir Mayardit. How are we expected to convince our constituents when we are being treated with a lot of disrespect when we go to the Office of the President even when we are there to brief the President about political matters from our constituents?”
Financial support to Paul Malong Awan
James Deng Wal continues to provide financial support to General Paul Malong Awan just like his predecessor Rizik Dominic Samuel. James Deng Wal after all hails from Northern Bahr El Ghazal region just like Paul Malong Awan. Sensitive documents in our positions indicated that James Deng Wal has used his position to ensure that cash money is delivered to Paul Malong Awan in cash in Nairobi.
Leaking Private Information about the President
James Deng Wal and his village mate, the current Press Secretary in the Office of the President Ateny Wek Ateny have been leaking sensitive documents and private information about the health of the President to the media and certain members of diplomatic corps in Juba. In early August this year, President Salva Kiir Mayardit was forced to address the media to deny rumours that had been circulating for weeks that President Salva Kiir Mayardit was “seriously sick and that arrangements had been made to evacuate him to Cairo, London or Frankfurt for urgent medical treatment”. Sources within the media and diplomatic corps who didn’t want their identities revealed for security reasons said James Deng Wal and Ateny Wek Ateny have been providing them with information regarding the health and other private matters regarding the President and his family. Another senior official in the Office of the President said that Ateny Wek Ateny has been bragging that “he will never be relieved from his position because he has dirt on the President”. “Ateny has been secretly recording private conversations of the President and he intends to use these recordings to blackmail the President should the President decide to fire him. Ateny is currently writing a book about his time in the Office of the President”, said the well-placed source within the Office of the President. He added that Ateny confided in him that “the book will be more explosive than all books written about President Donald Trump’s in the White House”.
James Deng Wal has also been bragging that his appointment was influenced by the First Lady Mary Ayen Mayardit. According to him, “he cannot just be relieved without the authorization from the First Lady. I have been giving a lot of money to the First Lady to ensure that she fights for me to be maintained in my position as Executive Director in the Office of the President ”. This is a clear case of delusion and getting drunk with power. President Salva Kiir Mayardit is the man of the house as well as President of South Sudan. He doesn’t need to consult anyone, much less the First Lady on political and state appointments.
Undermining the Minister of Presidential Affairs
Since his appointment as Minister for Presidential Affairs, Nhial Deng Nhial has tried to introduce reforms aimed at making the office of the President accountable and answerable to the people of South Sudan through timely, fair and transparent service delivery. However, James Deng Wal and his advisor Ateny Wek Ateny and a handful of individuals who have made Office of the President their personal property are vigorously resisting these reforms. These individuals are not giving the new Minister a room to deliver on his mandate. James Deng Wal and Ateny Wek Ateny have formed a cartel within the Office of the President to further their personal interests and greed through bribery, fraud, coercive behaviour, blackmail, threats and outright intimidation. They are now bragging that they will convince the President to fire Nhial Deng Deng if he does accept to “work with them”. A senior official in the Office of the President who declined to be named said, “Hon. Nhial Deng is trying to introduce a new structure to capture the new realities of the Presidency as envisioned in the Revitalized Peace Agreement but Deng Wal and Ateny Wek are fiercely resisting these new structures. They have now ganged up to ensure that this structure does not succeed”.
Tarnishing Image of the Office of the President
James Deng Wal and his advisor Ateny Wek Ateny have turned Office of the President into a mini-brothel where sexual favours are the order of the day especially for female staff in the Office of the President. The female staff affected by this immoral behavior being exhibited by James Deng Wal and Ateny Wek are Rita Lotua, Veronica Athian and Atong Amos Agook who was recently recruited to take minutes during the meetings being attended by the President. Ateny Wek Ateny with the backing of James Deng Wal has been demanding sexual favours from female staff in the Office of the President as well as outside the office. Those who refuse to give in to sexual advances from Deng Wal and Ateny Wek are threatened, intimidated and blackmailed with dismissal from the Office of the President or arrest. A source with inside information regarding this matter said, “the three female staff in the Office of the President are at serious loggerheads due to behavior of Ateny Wek Ateny and James Deng Wal. These ladies are even practicing witchcraft to win the attention of James Deng Wal or Ateny Wek which means that they have abandoned their duties to serve the Office of the President”. James Deng Wal was recently accused by disgruntled “Concerned Youth of Awan Muorkuau” of having an affair with a lady Sandra Ajak Michael who is a student at the University of Juba and an intern in the Office of the President.
Recently, Michae Wetnhialic – one the most vocal critic of Ateny Wek Ateny – wrote scathing piece against him for “threatening people that he (Ateny Wek) is a blood-related to President Salva Kiir Mayardit through one of his countless wives whom he claimed to be from the President’s clan”. Ateny Wek Ateny was caught on CCTV in one of the top hotels in Juba assaulting one of the ladies that he impregnated but refused to accept that the baby was his. Ateny Wek Ateny was also accused of impregnating the wife of the former Executive Director in the Office of the President, Yel Luol Koor while he was in prison in 2016. Yel Luol Koor is a first cousin to President Salva Kiir Mayardit. One wonders how Ateny Wek Ateny continues to serve in the Office of the President despite the embarrassment against the President through his promiscuous behaviour.
Way Forward
The Presidency is the apex of the system of government in the Republic of South Sudan. The Presidency is the Executive wing of the government with a key role in executive management and coordination of government activities to deliver much needed services to the citizens. In order for this to happen, it is critical to employ individuals with the right academic qualifications, experience, administrative and management skills as well as moral aptitude to uphold the image and integrity of the Office of the President. James Deng Wal doesn’t possess any of the above qualities to serve as the Executive Director in the Office of the President. Together with Ateny Wek, Ateny and other staff not exposed here have failed to serve the President with dedication, commitment and loyalty expected of them. It is time to show them the door and bring in new people who will serve the President with total commitment and dedication as well as salvage the already tainted image of the Office of the President.
It is time for President Salva Kiir Mayardit to focus on his legacy as the first President of the Republic of South Sudan and the founding Father of this Nation. It is abundantly clear that James Deng Wal, Ateny Wek Ateny and others currently working in the Office of the President are not in any way helping the President to craft an enduring legacy that will be remembered and cherished by generations to come. They have to go.
Stay tuned for the next article where we will focus on Ateny Wek Ateny. We will expose how Ateny Wek Ateny is liability to the political survival of President Salva Kiir Mayardit, how he has used the Office of the President, name of the President and his family to advance his selfish interest, how he has been recording and leaking confidential information during meetings he has attended with the President, his promiscuous and womanizing behavior as well as his book that he has been secretly working on to expose all the secrets of the Office of the President.
I am a Political Commentator and Writer based in Juba, South Sudan. Reach me on dengsanto7@gmail.com.
President Salva Kiir Mayardit shaking hand with Executive Director in the Office of the President, James Deng Wal Acien (right). Photo Courtesy of South Sudan Presidential Press Unit (SSPPU).
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