The Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is demanding over USD 9million from South Sudan as membership arrears.
In a letter written by the IGAD Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu addressed to President Salva Kiir dated September 16, 2021, South Sudan’s assessed contribution for the financial year 2021 was USD 1,630,539 as per a committee of ambassadors who met on March 23, 2021.
The secretariat further confirmed that the arrears for South Sudan as of December 31, 2020, was $8,152,096.
“Therefore, The IGAD Secretariat requests for the minister’s intervention to pay the arrears of $8,152,096 and the 2021 assessed contributions of $1,630,539 totalling to USD 9,782,635 to facilitate the operations of the secretariat,” Gebeyehu stated in the letter seen by The City Review.
According to the Agreement established, Article 14 states that any member state which, without the dispensation of Assembly falls in arrears of its financial contribution to the Authority for preceding two years and shall be barred from speaking and voting at the meetings experts and policy organs of the Authority
Article 14 of the IGAD also states that the country shall be barred from presenting candidates for managerial positions at the Secretariat and where the Authority secures bank overdraft facilities to cover such contribution be liable to pay interest accruing on such overdrafts.
Last week on Friday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Mayiik Ayii during the regular Council of Ministers told the cabinet that the IGAD needs South Sudan to clear all the arrears it owes the bloc to benefit from the slots allocated to the country.
However, while addressing the press, Michael Makuei Lueth the Minister of Information who doubles as Government Spokesperson said the cabinet resolves to clear the arrears the country owes the IGAD.
“It is worth mentioning that we have been suspended from IGAD simply because we have not paid our dues and there are so many vacancies which we are supposed to occupy. About 14 of them which are supposed to be our positions, we are unable to occupy them simply because we have not paid our dues for long,” Makuei told reporters in Juba.
He also said last week that he had directed the foreign Affairs and Finance Minister to settle the outstanding dues so that the government and the people of South Sudan could benefit from those positions.
“The cabinet instead of looking at only one item out of the overall, there was a resolution passed about three weeks ago directing that the arrears of foreign affairs and all the arrears of our dues in the organizations should be paid by finance[ministry],” Makuei said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on December 10, 2021, wrote a clarification statement attributed to the national Minister of Information regarding the suspension of South Sudan from IGAD.
“Indeed the Republic of Sudan has been barred from exercising its voting rights and other benefits at the IGAD owing to nonpayment of its annual membership contributions.”
“This however does not mean suspension of membership from IGAD and the Ministry would, therefore, like to reassure the public that our country remains a full member of IGAD,” the statement read in part.
Last year, the AU sanctioned the country in a letter sent to the Minister of Foreign Affairs after it failed to pay annual membership fees for the previous three years. That led to the South Sudanese being barred from attending the Union’s summit.
The United Nations earlier this year also listed South Sudan among ten member countries that had not paid their annual contribution for two years.