Africa-Press – South-Sudan. A fiery exchange erupted in South Sudan’s parliament on Tuesday as lawmakers debated a reported multi-billion-dollar loan agreement with a UAE company.
Oyet Nathaniel Peiriano, the first deputy speaker and deputy chair of the main opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO), pressed cabinet affairs minister, Martin Elia Lomuro, for clarification on the alleged deal.
Earlier this month, a UN Panel of Experts report claimed a company linked to the UAE ruling family agreed to lend South Sudan $12.9 billion in exchange for oil.
The deal, allegedly reached on the sidelines of the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, would see South Sudan repay the loan with oil priced below market value over twenty years.
Oyet demanded transparency, arguing parliamentary approval is necessary for such loans to ensure accountability.
“We are not against the government bailing itself out,” Peiriano said. “But we need the right procedures. If you want to contract loans, come to the parliament to approve it.”
Lomuro dismissed the reports as “social media allegations” and warned that discussing them could lead to legal repercussions.
“This is a house of the people,” Lomuro stated. “You cannot bring information on social media and reveal it here. Social media information is unverifiable, illegal, and can cost somebody a court case.”
Oyet countered by citing former finance minister Bak Barnaba’s public statements about the deal.
Lomuro then denied any cabinet knowledge of the loan agreement, suggesting it may have been an individual action by the former minister.
“A loan is processed through a cabinet,” Lomuro said. “I have no memo; I have no resolution talking about a loan. If the former minister talked about a loan, that is individual basis. Otherwise, there is no loan, there is no resolution, and there is no memo about the loan.”
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