Governor of Yei River State Major General Matata Frank Alikana has been suspended following a documentary by Kenyan investigative journalist John Allan Namu that exposed the lavish lifestyles of leaders of South Sudan.
In a letter seen by Kenyans.co.ke, South Sudan's Vice-President-designate Dr Riek Machar relieved the General of his duties and constituted a committee to carry out an investigation into the matter.
"Following the programs titled 'Part III: The axe forgets. The Tree Remembers' produced by a Kenyan investigative journalist, I Riek Machar Teny- Dhurgon, Chairman and Commander-in-Chief hereby suspend you from your duties as Governor of Yei River State and constitute an Investigation Committee to investigate your involvement in the aforesaid program," Dr Machar stated in the letter dated 21st October 2018.
The Governor also had his immunity lifted to appear before the investigation committee and answer to allegations of benefiting from the illegal trade of Teak wood and the plunder of resources from the country.
His deputy was assigned to act in the Governor's capacity until the final report of the committee is presented to Dr. Machar.
In the Story, Allan Namu posed as a businessman who was interested in importing Teak wood from South Sudan.
While undercover, the journalist captured one of the officials on tape asking for a bribe worth thousands of dollars.
He also discovered bank accounts of other prominent leaders from the nation plagued with conflict containing more money than their salaries can account for.
Since the documentary titled: The Profiteers ran, there have been a couple of developments some official and others unconfirmed by some of the subjects widely implicated in the plunder of South Sudan both as captured in the documentary as well as chronicled by other bodies including the UN.
"There have been public responses to issues raised in the documentary by both sides of South Sudan's political and military divide - the government and the rebel groups - through the news media," a post by AFUncensored read.
Here is the video:
