Businessman contracted by Tutkew to supply food to peace soldiers dies broke unable to pay medical bills

JUBA – A businessman contracted by the National Transitional Committee to supply food to the military cantonment sites is reported to have died as he couldn’t pay medical bills, the Eye Radio reports.

The man only identified by the family as James was reportedly contracted by NTC to supply food and non-food items for soldiers stationed at various training camps.

The NTC is a body charged with supervising the implementation of the 2018 revitalized peace deal.

It reportedly contracted a group of companies and businessmen in 2019.

According to the suppliers, the NTC owes them more than $160 million, out of which only 1 percent has reportedly been paid.

Now one of the suppliers has died without receiving his pay.

The family says that the deceased has been struggling to pay his medical bills.

“We are urging the government to address this issue, it’s not only James, there are many people with the same problem and now we cannot manage to enroll our children in school,” Angelo Moses, a family member, told Eye Radio.

“We have helped the government with our own money, others sold their lands, others sold their houses for the sake of peace, were we wrong? Or we did it for the sake of peace? We did it for the sake of peace,

“Why not help us and give us our money so that when one is sick, will not ask from the government but will pick from his own pocket and seek medical treatment. Now James died because there is no money.”

With the death of their colleague, the suppliers are now calling on the National Transitional Committee to pay for the food and non-food items supplied to military camps across the country.

Kasia Deng, a representative of the said suppliers says they have spent all their income on the contract with NTC.

This, he says, has crippled their businesses and made them vulnerable to debts.

“We are demanding a lot of money from the government. We did a lot of work for the government. Most of us were contracted in 2019, others were contracted in 2020,” Deng told Eye Radio.

“We have been taking food and non-food items to the cantonment sites and training centers across the country. Our concern is that we need our money.  We need to be paid because we are losing everything,

“We have lost everything actually. There are no businesses that we are running because all our capital was used in delivering food and non-food items.

“What we need is the office of the chairman of NTC to help in burial arrangements and then thereafter from next week, we should tackle our payment.”

Eye Radio was not able to reach the chairperson of National Transitional Committee Tut Gatluak for comments.