Kiir vetoes criminal investigation against ex-petroleum minister

JUBA – President Salva Kiir Mayardit has reportedly blocked a decision by the National Security Service (NSS) to investigate former Minister of Petroleum Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth for allegedly stealing millions of dollars in oil revenues between 2016 and 2017, a presidency source who claimed to have directly been informed of the matter has said.

“There has been conversation among the security apparatuses that the former minister [of petroleum] because he has stolen, based on the documents wrote to President last year by General Akol Koor, millions of dollars from the revenues that we collect from our oil,” the official who requested not to be named, said.

“But the President has told them that there are dozens of senior government officials there who have not been investigated and this will increase political rivalry between the many factions and leaders of the former ITGONU, especially those who belongs to Vice-President Taban Deng Gai,” the official added.

When contacted by Sudans Post, Ezekiel was not reachable, but officials close to him said they couldn’t comment on the matter as ‘it is a personal situation that we cannot just speak about and we don’t know anything regarding that issue.”

Several rumors have emerged in the past of the government working to investigate the former minister who is believed to have luxurious businesses in Nigeria, Dubai and many parts of the world including in Australia, but there hasn’t been official statement by the government regarding the claims.