Luate Satimon Joel, the Executive Director of Integrity South Sudan said the audit would establish what was achieved and those that were missed by the outgoing committee

By James Chatim

A local civil society organization, Integrity South Sudan, says there is need for a comprehensive audit to be conducted on the previous National Transitional Committee (NTC), which was headed by former Presidential security Advisor, Tut Gatluak Manime.

Luate Satimon Joel, the Executive Director of Integrity South Sudan said the audit would establish what was achieved and those that were missed by the outgoing committee, as well as gauge individual tasks.

In an interview with The City Review yesterday, Satimon stated that the new committee should use the shortcomings of the previous committee and utilize it to make progress for the implementation of the revitalized Agreement on the Resolution on the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) pending tasks.

 “At the end of the day, any institution or any other person who is tasked to or given responsibility to implement some of the policies, is audited. So, we are calling for the audit of the previous committee because they were given responsibility, a task to implement. The audit will be able to establish how much they have achieved or how much they have implemented according to the task that was given to them,” Satimon said.

“I think it is time for the new committee to use the shortcomings of the previous committee and utilize it so that they can make progress. Because the former committee was given a huge task for the implementation of the R-ARCSS, but there was so much slowdown in implementation. And so, it is a very important task now for them to use the shortcoming of the former committee as a stepping stone, to see where the weaknesses were so that they can be able to implement on the tasks that are given to them,” he explained.

The organization released a statement on Monday welcome the reconstitution of the National Transitional Committee (NTC), stating that the decision was necessary for ensuring effective and accountable implementation of R-ARCSS.

“The Integrity South Sudan emphasizes the critical need for thorough and independent audit of the previous NTCs activities. Concerns have been raised regarding the previous committee’s performance, including allegations of mismanagement of funds, lack of transparency, and slow progress in implementing key provisions of the R-ARCSS,” it said in a statement, adding:

“A comprehensive audit will help to: account for all resources; determine how funds allocated to the previous NTC were utilized and ensure that these resources were used efficiently. Identify areas for improvement; identify any shortcomings and areas for improvement in the implementation of the R-ARCSS, strengthen accountability and hold accountable any individuals found to have misused public funds or engage in any form of misconduct.”    

The organization urged the government to expedite the audit process and make the findings public, to enhance transparency and accountability, and build public trust in the implementation of the R-ARCSS.        

“I think it is time for the new committee to use the shortcomings of the previous committee and utilize it so that they can make progress,” Luate Satimon Joel, the Executive Director of Integrity South Sudan.