Prosecution or Persecution: Dr. Josephine Lagu exposes her political
victimization
BY: Dr. Josephine Lagu Yanga, PhD;
APR. 30/2011, SSN;
The ruling by the Justice John Wuol Makec, Chief Justice of Supreme Court of
South Sudan dated 18th February 2011, is a disgrace to the new to
be nation of South Sudan, and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.
In his verdict and I quote” I therefore hold the accused guilty for the
commission of criminal breach of trust in her capacity as a public servant,
under section 351 of the Penal Code, 2008” But I order the remission of the
case papers to the High Court Judge to pass appropriate sentence and orders
under the stated section of the Law” This irrational and emotive judgment
was based on the initial allegations which the prosecutors failed to
establish in the High Court during the trial which lasted for about 7 months
between October 2009 and April 2010. The Supreme Court overturned the
verdict of the High Court as well as that of the Court of Appeal which both
found me NOT Guilty. There is a difference between finding someone guilty in
Court of law and the desire to punish regardless based on personal or group
vendetta.
This is nothing but a miscarriage of Justice which was premeditated all
along. I will challenge the decision of the Supreme Court to a higher level
if necessary because this biased and politically motivated judgment violates
my constitutional and fundamental human rights, in addition to demonstrating
a flagrant inter-institutional abuse of power first within the executive and
second between the ministry of legal Affairs and the Judiciary which shows
that the judiciary is not independent.
Objectives of the Conviction
After nearly 2 years the desire to release the long mediated conviction is
in my view motivated by the followings:
1. Deterring me from being reinstated or allocated another assignment in the
coming government of the Republic of South Sudan;
2. Avoiding payment of damages by the government owed to me for defamation
and other collateral damages;
3. Using me as a scapegoat to protect the prosecution of the real culprits
hiding in high places in the various organs of the government of South Sudan
including the former ministry of Education, Science & Technology who have
looted thousands and millions of public funds but are at large;
4. An attempt to vindicate my accuser the former minister Job Dhoruai who
last elections and had to run to Juba for his life so that they he can be
accommodated in the new government;
5. To play down the recent suspension and investigation by Anti-Corruption
Commission of one two of my accusers, the Director General in the ministry
of Higher Education Atem Kur and Santo Malek nephew of Dhoruai over opening
and operation of a parallel Bank Account in the Ivory Banking Juba where
student funds have been channeled for years without accountability;
6. To cause bad blood between the President Salva Kiir Mayardit and my
father Rtd. Gen. Joseph Lagu, whose appointment as special Presidential
Advisor is not welcomed by some circles within the establishment.
7. To deny me and my family the joy to celebrate the independence of South
Sudan which our family in particular paid dearly for.
What was this Case all about?
In brief in June 2009, the then Minister of Education Job Dharuai Malao
pressurized and sent me to Kampala against my will and advice of others, to
supervise payment of tuition fees of students studying in Uganda and Kenya.
I was not given any briefing on previous missions by either the Atem Kur the
Director General for the program or indeed the minister. Neither was I given
any framework for operation. It is important to note that by then I was in
post for only 8 months and this was my first assignment to deal with payment
of student’s tuition fees. I used my judgment to select a team of three
based on their expertise and experience relevant to the task: Anthony Sebit
as the program director; Samuel Okot as internal auditor; late Samuel
Kayanga, director of research; and Felix Clive Ochieng IT specialist in the
ministry who had assisted with design of survey questionnaire and its
administration. Samuel Kayanga was dropped by the Minister from the team on
the grounds that most of my team members were Equatorians which was not
true.
At the request of Hon. Nartision Loluke, Chair of the then Education
Committee, we were to be joined by three members of South Sudan Legislative
Assembly who would monitor the disbursement of the funds. It is to be noted
that both the Assembly and the Anti-Corruption Commission was already
investigating the ministry for alleged mismanagement of funds. Most southern
students regardless of which universities they were studying in needed
government subsidy and hence the involvement of the Government of South
Sudan(GoSS), in forms of bursaries and scholarships especially for students
studying abroad. But the popular opinion in the streets of Juba and among
education stakeholders was that the financial support earmarked for
supporting students was being abused by officials in the ministry of
Education, Science & Technology. So we welcomed intervention of the SSLA to
join us in East Africa to monitor disbursement of the funds. A sum total of
$323,060 was made available for the mission which we transferred through the
Account of Felix who was a member of the team as opposed to carrying the
funds cash which was the popular practice in the ministry. However before
the funds could arrive Uganda, the minister decided to terminate my mission
and recalled me and members of my team back to Juba, claiming that the order
to recall me was coming from the Office of the President! This was a very
difficult decision but I decided to return as ordered.
Institutional Weakness
When I joined the ministry of Education, Science & Technology, it was: a)
Being investigated by the South Sudan Legislative Assembly, Education
Committee; b) Being investigated by the South Sudan Anti-Corruption
Commission;
c) It had not opened any Bank account to facilitate transfer of students’
funds in Khartoum, Uganda, Kenya, Egypt even the Juba campus where students
were regularly being paid their monies;
d) There were no guidelines regulating the formation of teams traveling to
disburse funds; e) There was no standard criteria for allocation of
scholarships;
f) There was one centralized directorate of Administration and Finance and
the Undersecretary of the ministry was the overall Accounting Officer of the
ministry;
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