The current Undersecretary of the Ministry of Petroleum and the Managing Director of Nile Petroleum (Nilepet) are both from the same tiny Payam of Aluak-Luak in Lakes State’s Yirol West County. Although they are backed by different cartels and syndicates; Dr. William Anyak is backed by the crude oil Cartel of President Advisor on Special Programs and SPLM Deputy Secretary General and businessman Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel while Eng. Bernard Amour is backed by the Awan (Fox) Syndicate. Below we chart their rise and rise.
On Wednesday evening, 31st January 2024, President Salva Kiir issued a seemingly mundane decree titled; ‘For the Separation of the Powers and Functions of the Minister, the Undersecretary and Director General of Petroleum Authority at the Ministry of Petroleum.’ Kiir justified the decree as a part of institutional reforms to ensure transparent, accountable, efficient, and effective provision of services in the oil sector. This seems like a genuine motive, however, upon further scrutiny and within the right context, the decree is laid bare as a move by the crude oil cartel to further tighten its grip on South Sudan’s oil sector.
Why does the president need to issue a decree to separate powers at the Ministry of Petroleum when the Petroleum Act, 2012 has already clearly defined and separated the powers of the Minister, Undersecretary, and Director General? To comprehend this fully, we must go back to 12th December 2023 when Kiir relieved the then Undersecretary of Petroleum, Mayen Wol Jong.
Although Mayen Wol Jong had previously been tarnished by the scandal in the Office of the President where millions of dollars were stolen in 2015, he has since developed a reputation as a competent administrator and skilled Undersecretary in his two tenures at the Ministry of Petroleum. Molana Mayen Wol was popular with the staff at the Ministry and the operation companies for his effective management skills, especially when handling the various crises in the oil sector.
The Undersecretary at the Ministry of Petroleum chairs the Crude Oil Marketing Committee, and it is this role that brought Molana Mayen into dispute with the head honcho of the crude oil cartel, Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel, The latter has been given the mandate to sell all of South Sudan’s oil and to subsequently construct all the major roads within the country without supervision or oversight from any government body. Essentially, Dr. Bol has been given an infinite number of blank checks, a complete carte blanche by the South Sudanese Government.
Unfortunately, Mayen Wol made the miscalculation of not dancing to the tune of Dr. Bol who promptly informed President Kiir of the undersecretary’s disobedience and proposed a more submissive individual in the form of William Anyak to be promoted to undersecretary. Thus, on 12th December 2023, a decree was read out on the state-owned SSBC relieving Mayen Wol and replacing him with Dr. William Anyak.
To further consolidate their control of the Ministry of Petroleum, the crude oil cartel launched the second phase of their diabolical plan. This demanded the empowering of the new undersecretary with complete control of the ministry. Consequently, the decree on the separation of powers was conceived by the crude oil cartel and taken to President Kiir for approval.
The decree does two things at once; it comprehensively empowers the undersecretary to be responsible for all crude oil sale awards and directs all communication with Joint Operating Companies to the undersecretary instead of the minister. The second part ensures the undersecretary is in control of all service contracts in the oil sector. This makes the Minister of Petroleum, Puot Kang Chol a ceremonial minister and Dr. William Anyak Deng a minister with the title of undersecretary.
On 14th Jan 2023, President Kiir had appointed Eng. Bernard Amour Makeny the Managing Director at the State-Owned Oil and Gas Company, Nile Petroleum Corporation. Eng. Bernard is an information technology specialist who headed the infamous Project Diamond Department at Dar Petroleum Operating Company. Project Diamond was a scheme by Petronas to increase ‘operation efficiency’ by negotiating with local service companies to provide discounts on all their contracts with DPOC. Amour was selected by Petronas to head the department and he proceeded to coerce locally owned companies to provide discounts of up to 40 percent on all their contracts under threat of contract termination. The companies most affected are the National Security-owned Sudd Services and Nile Petroleum subsidiaries. Sudd Services has to provide tens of millions of dollars in discounts to DPOC. Bernard Amour was awarded employee of the year by DPOC and gifted an apartment in Nairobi by Petronas. He was however shunned and dubbed ‘South Sudanese-Malaysian’ by his South Sudanese colleagues for his act of betrayal. (However, Amour would be back to take his revenge on those who shunned him after he was appointed Nile Pet boss.
Amour is backed by the Awan (Fox) syndicate and lobby group led by Kiir’s former private secretary, Akot Lual. The syndicate is a mortal enemy of the crude oil cartel which has at its helm the Presidential Advisor on Special Programs and SPLM Deputy Secretary General, Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel. The fox syndicate is envious of Dr. Bol’s vast powers and perceives themselves as close relatives of the president and believes they should be given the blank checks that Kiir has relinquished to Dr. Bol.
With Dr. William Anyak essentially a minister masquerading as undersecretary and Eng. Bernard Amour as the Managing Director of Nile Petroleum Corporation, two sons from a small payam with an estimated population of 15,000 people (2010 census), Aluak-Luak Payam in Yirol West County in Lakes State have come to hold the two most powerful positions in the South Sudan’s oil sector.
President Kiir is currently at the height of his unpopularity; he would be best advised to appoint individuals from vote-rich regions in key positions in the oil sector if he is to have any chance at the upcoming elections in 2024. Ideally, a competent individual from the Melut Community which produces over 80 percent of the oil in South Sudan and is not represented at the upper echelons of the Ministry of Petroleum or the State-Owned Corporation Nile Petroleum.
With the looming shutdown of oil production in South Sudan due to pipeline issues between Pump Station 3 and Pump Station 4, the oil sector needs individuals with experience in crisis management. The Petronas divestment is another issue that needs serious attention and frankly, Dr. William Anyak and Dr. Bernard Amour lack the necessary political-business management skills to steer South Sudan through these tumultuous times in 2024, as they work at the behest of rival cartels and syndicates.
Deng Nyok is an investigative journalist in Juba and can be reached at dengnyok1962@gmail.com