South Sudan did not pay its AU membership fees – sources

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit arrives for the 30th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads of State and the Government of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia January 29, 2018. (Photo credit: REUTERS)

June 30, 2020 (SSNN) – South Sudan government has not paid its African Union membership (AU) fees as claimed by senior government officials in separate statements to the media last week, a South Sudan diplomat in Addis Ababa has said.

Last week, the African Union sanctioned South Sudan for failure to pay membership fees for over three years which the continental body said amount to over $9 million over course of three years.

A few days later, a foreign ministry official was quoted by a section of the media as saying that the government “has cleared” the money owed to the African Union and that everything had gone into normalcy regarding  South Sudan’s membership in the AU.

However, speaking to South Sudan News Now this morning, a South Sudan embassy official in Addis Ababa said the information is not true and that the money has not been paid to the Union saying communication for the said transaction has not yet been made.

“The money owed by our country to the African Union has not yet been paid. We are still sanctioned by the body and I think if we are going to take more days or months again, maybe new measures will be taken by the AU,” the official said.

A senior government official last week told South Sudan News Now that the world’s youngest country had asked China for a $12 million loan within which it would pay its membership fees.

The official said at the time that the government had not yet received any communication from the Chinese government over if they were going to pay the money.

The South Sudan embassy staffer in Addis Ababa said he do not have information regarding the loan from China and said they were waiting for a communication from the ministry of foreign affairs back home.

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