CORRUPTION: Ex-finance minister’s teeth broken during fist fight in Dubai with businessman Kur Ajing over stolen crude oil money

DUBAI – South Sudan’s former minister of finance Salvatore Garang Mabiordit’s teeth have been punched and broken following a fist fight with wealthy businessman Kur Ajing during a meeting over stolen crude oil money at a Dubai hotel, two sources with direct knowledge told Sudans Post this afternoon.

The first source told Sudans Post that Kur Ajing has been given unlawful contracts in term of crude oil that he would then take to sell in Dubai since Garang was appointed finance minister, with the last shipment of the awarded crude oil benefit being in late 2019, several months before Garang’s dismissal as finance minister.

The source who is still in Dubai said the two men have regularly been travelling to Dubai to sell the crude oil shipment since Garang came to the ministry, but did not travel this year in fear of being uncovered, only to travel following Garang’s sacking that they got high time to travel to sell the shipment which he said is worth tens of millions of dollars.

“Salvatore Garang, Tutkew, Unity state governor Nguen Manytuil, and businessman Kur Ajing traveled to Dubai this week and there, was a fist fight,” the source who said he don’t want to be named told Sudans Post from the United Arab Emirates’ business capital.

“The fighting was between Kur Ajing and Salvatore Garang Mabiordit. In the past, I mean when Salvatore was appointed minister of finance, there was dealings between Tutkew, Kur Ajing, Nguen Manytuil and Salvatore to give contracts to Kur Ajing. Kur is paid by the government with huge amount of crude oil shipment and in getting this benefits, he divide them with Tutkew and Salvatore because the two guys were close to the president and convince the president to give green lights to these contracts that are not paid in return for public service delivery,” the source added.

The source said the amount of crude oil include that was given to Unity state governor to be convinced to remain silent on 5% that is authorities by law to be paid to all oil-producing states across the country, and because they  don’t want these amount to be discovered, they gave it to Kur immediately as it is piped to Port Sudan for shipment wherever he would like to sell it.

The source said in the process of allocation, when they traveled to Dubai, Nguen was given his share as well as Tutkew, and Kur tried to overlook Salvatore Mabiordit, apparently because he no longer remain influential following his removal as finance minister in September by President Salva Kiir. In the process, the source said, Salvatore tried to force Kur to give him the money and got into a fist fight at a hotel Rome resulting in Kur punching his teeth and breaking it.

“By this time, the governor of Unity state had left back to the country. When they sit to discuss the allocation of the money, Tutkew was given all his share that they had agreed to with Kur, but Kur said Salvatore won’t be given the money that he had requested and which he has been given throughout the time he was in office and here is where the fighting started,” the source said.

“Salvatore then became angry and went to try to punch Kur and instead, he was punched and his fore teeth were broken and then police were called in. The two men were arrested, but the Emirati businessman who bought the crude oil secured their release and the story ended there,” the source added.

He further said that Tutkew Gatluak was still in Dubai, as of Wednesday afternoon, after Salvatore and Kur returned in separate flights to Juba.

Kiir-Machar ‘business involvement’

The second source confirmed that story of fighting over the money, but claimed separately that President Salva Kiir has also been using the same market. That same source also claimed that President Salva Kiir had in November 2018 authorized the allocation of  hundreds of thousands of barrels to First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar, days after the opposition leader attended a peace celebration ceremony that was organized by Kiir to celebrate the 2018 revitalized peace agreement.

The source recalls: “When Dr. Riek came to Juba, Kiir thought Riek wouldn’t go to Juba and when he went to Juba on October 31, 2018, he was happy and thought Riek would return to Juba for good the following time he invite him. As result of this, he authorized that he is given an amount of crude oil that was taken and sole in the Middle East. I don’t know the amount exactly, but he was given in hundreds of thousands.”

“President Kiir has also been taking a share of oil to the middle east, so he has business involvement too.”