Darfur officials accused of embezzlement

A senior government official has accused a number of people in the Ministry of Finance of South Darfur State of protecting employees who have embezzled more than SDG1.7 million ($276,720) during the past years.

Nineteen employees stole the public money by fabricating fake jobs in the State Ministry of Agriculture for over five years, the official told Sudanese journalists this week. He requested them not to be named.

He said that the inquiry committee, formed by the director-general of the Ministry of Finance, Hussein Omar has recommended to bring the suspects to the prosecutor's office, so as to ensure that all the stolen money will be recovered, and the perpetrators will receive a punishment.

He claimed that the Ministry of Finance has not referred the file to the prosecutor so far. The senior official warned that the delay of the referral to the prosecution “might have regional or partisan reasons”.

The Finance Ministry’s director reportedly has suspended the accused employees and has frozen their payments until further notice.