Suppliers on NTC’s neck to settle arrears

A group of more than 20 suppliers who were contracted to supply goods to the cantonment sites and training centres in Juba on Tuesday marched to the office of the Chairperson of National Transitional Committee (NTC) and Presidential Advisor for Security Affairs, Tut Gatluak, to demand their dues.

Some of the businessmen told The City Review that they have become frequent visitors at the National Transitional Committee (NTC) office after failing to get their payments for three years.  Others said they had been pushing for the payment for two years now but nothing was forthcoming.

According to the traders, the  NTC officials who entered contracts with them have now turned their backs on them to the extent of denying that they never had any formal engagement to supply anything.

Some complained that the officials keep tossing them around, sending them to different offices to meet officials who are otherwise not privy to their agreements.  

Piol Kong Aymel, a businessman said he supplied food and non-food items for NTC to be taken to the training centres but his payment is yet to be honoured.

Aymel accused the Head of Secretariat of NTC, Stephen Wiw, of signing his contract with him only to disown him and send him to another person when he approached him for payment.

According to Aymel, he could not understand why he would be sent to another office yet the secretariat was the one that signed the contract.

“It is a shame for the government to fail to pay us, nationals.  [We had] little money that we have used to supply food items to our brothers in the cantonment areas and yet they pay foreigners who have supplied the food items,” he said

Frequent visits

He added, “ we have reached to an extent of going to his office to demand our money but we only meet people who we do not know telling us that our money will be paid. For all these years that we have been demanding  (our money), Tut Gatluak has never met with them the (suppliers),’’ he protested.

Another supplier, William Mayor,  explained that he supplied food items to Yei at Kileder, Kapwter, Achwer cantonment areas and in Juba as well but his case also remains the same old story.

Mayor said that some of them brought this food from different countries such as Uganda to feed the forces and in the name of lasting peace in the country.

“When we went to Tut’s office to demand our money, we are never been told the truth about where our money [is]. Now, most of the suppliers have been jailed in Juba because we have been borrowing money from people,’’ he lamented.

Some of the suppliers are already facing a risk of arrest for failing to honour their financial obligations to their sources of goods.

Agweng Kur Agwot said he has already served a seven-month jail sentence that stemmed from his failure to pay his suppliers.  He is demanding for $1.6 million for the goods he supplied to Rajaf, Leek, and Owiny Kibul training centre.

 “I am a businessman, I supplied ministry and I have been demanding the [payment] for almost two years. The people [that] I took the food items from and I supplied to the cantonment areas want to arrest me. So today I came out to come and demand and there is no change. I am really suffering in my country,” Agwot explained.

Angelo Moses said he borrowed a lot of food and non-food items from Uganda and suffered transporting the goods day and night with the issues of insecurity because he was looking for money to take care of his family yet all this went in vain.

 “I have many problems: I sold all my property so that I could supply the government with food items to the cantonment areas but it is now three years of empty promises. I am unable to feed my children now or even buy for them Christmas clothes,” Moses said.

Efforts to reach the National Transitional Committee’s office through the Head of the Secretariat, Stephen Wiw, proved futile. Mr Wiw’s phone call went unanswered.