The Yirol County Payam education supervisors are calling for a probe into the alleged Girls Education South Sudan (GESS) scandal.

The supervisors appealed to the state government to form a committee to probe the “impact payment” and the girls’ cash transfer through the programme called “Girls Education South Sudan,” which supports girls’ education in the country.

The suspended education supervisor, Mager Achiengwei Agou, claimed the committee formed by the county education director threatened him over the allegations of misuse of funds.

He said the solution was for the state or national ministry of education to create a committee to investigate the issue.

“We want the state or national government to create a committee to come and investigate this, or else they have to remove this man because this man cannot make any change. This is the only solution,” he said.

“Now, as I am talking to you, a member of the committee that he formed called me in Nyang and said that I should go for an investigation. It is not possible for the person who is charged to form a committee to investigate the person who charged him.”

For fear of getting sacked, three of the 14 Payam supervisors and deputies asked for their names to be concealed.

They claimed that “the community contribution, which was meant for supporting teachers as well as funding development in schools, was misused by the county education director.

 “We have 79 teachers and three schools that did not receive incentives. We collected about SSP4, 000,000 from schools and gave it to the county, including percentages for the state, we did not receive the quantity we were supposed to receive. “

“We came to the office and raised our complaint to the office of the county education director, but he did not accept it,” the group said.

The second supervisor said some teachers who doubled as “added teachers” were denied their payments, adding that the headteachers and the payment agents were the ones responsible for the payment.

“Actually, what you discussed with Mager is true. From the impact money, teachers were paid, we will get the right information from teachers because the payment was done by the headteachers plus the payment agents. “

 “We heard that there was something called ‘added teachers’ money” [which] was detained. For example, if you are enrolled as a new teacher this year, you will not be given the money. Although you are a present teacher, you will be considered as an added teacher. Those who were considered as added teachers were not paid.”

Asked about the girls’ payment, he said he did not know whether the headteachers paid all the girls or not.

 He stressed that the list was prepared by the headteachers, and therefore, he suspected that they might have added ghost names.

“When we come to cash transfers for girls, the payment was done in relation to the headteachers. The headteachers were given the money to go and pay the girls. I don’t know whether they have paid girls or not; it is the headteacher who can be responsible for the actions that he has been taking in the school. “

Another supervisor said, “Actually, what Mager said is true on two sides, especially on impact (payment) and community contribution fees. But the girls’ cash transfer, I don’t have good information about it.”

“On impact (payment), there was a misuse of money by the county (education) director. That money, apart from supporting teachers’ development in the schools, is supposed to be used. But I don’t know the amount because the director controlled it so that the amount would not be known. “

When asked to confirm his statement, Mager said, “All these things, my brother, I am telling you, he is an old man, I cannot just say words which are not happening; I have to tell you the fact. These things are evidence that even anyone who can come can find out there.”

The case in question

Mager Achiengwei Agou took to social media last month, claiming that the county education director had denied 81 teachers incentives totalling SSP 1,733,400.

He added that 772 girls were not paid their money as far as GESS girls’ cash transfers are concerned. According to him, each girl was paid SSP 5,600, thus making a total of SSP 4,323,200.

The learners included: 60 girls from Central Payam, 106 girls from Pagarau Payam, 100 girls from Yali Payam, 69 girls from Malek Payam, 157 girls from Tinagau Payam, 160 girls from Adior Payam, and 120 girls from Lekakudu Payam, for a total of 772 girls who are not paid.

The suspended Lekakudu Payam education supervisor also alleged that the county director also pocketed SSP 7.5 million, which was a community contribution to support teachers when salaries were delayed, as well as for funding developmental activities in the schools.

He also accused the county education director of training 12 teachers, including his daughter, instead of teachers, in a training conducted by CINA in October 2021.

He further accused the county education director of collecting food items including beans, maize, oil, and sorghum meant for schools, misusing SSP 405,000, and when he asked, he said he was suspended on December 4, 2021.

The total number of teachers is 81, with each teacher supposed to receive SSP 21,400, the total unpaid amount of teachers’ salaries said to have been misused by the county education director is 1,733,400.

CED responds

In an interview with Yirol County Director Sabino Mabor Aleng, he said that the payment of incentives and girls’ cash transfers had no problem since the beneficiaries had not complained.

He accused the supervisor he suspended, of lacking ethics and said that he did not have the proper qualifications to hold the position of a supervisor.

Mabor claimed that Mager impregnated his schoolgirl while he was the headteacher of Lekakudu primary school in 2017. He also accused him of embezzling money and stealing learning materials, and thus said Mager was suspended due to the crimes he committed.

He claimed the girl’s father went mad and the mother ran away from home, and now her whereabouts are not known. Furthermore, he cited these as the reasons for suspending Mager as well as posting what he called false information on social media.

 “I suspended him on a basis for posting false information on social media. He did not report to the investigation committee after suspension,” Mabor said.

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Correction: We made a slight correction to this story. On page 10 of our print edition, it was written that the school development fund was allegedly misused by a county education supervisor. However, the allegations of the misappropriation of this fund are labelled against the county education director mentioned in this story. We regret any inconvenience this might have caused.