South Sudan pays part of membership arrears owed to IGAD

JUBA, JUNE 8, 2023 (SUDANS POST) – South Sudan’s acting minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation said on Wednesday announced that the country has cleared part of the membership arrears the country owes to the regional bloc Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

Speaking to reporters at Juba International Airport following arrival from Norway, Deng Dau said President Salva Kiir Mayardit had ordered the government to pay $4 million, about 44 percent of the amount, to the regional bloc.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the President for clearing the arrears and paying contributions and fees to IGAD,” he said.

“His excellency directed the ministry of finance and planning, and he has paid $4 million. This is very good news; we are talking about protecting the image of South Sudan.

“We have been called names, but I want to thank His Excellency for this particular move for clearing these payments, which are 50 percent of the outstanding contribution to IGAD. I have talked to the Executive Committee of IGAD, and they have confirmed that they have received it,” he added.

South Sudan was in late 2021 suspended from the regional bloc, which mediated the country’s revitalized peace agreement that ended a five-year-old deadly conflict in 2020, for failing to pay membership arrears amounting to at least $9 million.

This is not the first time the country has been suspended from regional or international organization over membership arrears.

In 2020, South Sudan was also prevented from participating in AU meetings for failure to clear its membership arrears amounting to $9 million.

In January this year, the country lost its voting rights at the United Nations for also failing to pay membership arrears.