24 February 2016•Update: 29 February 2016
By Parach Mach
JUBA, South Sudan
The trial of 16 people, 15 of which were staff members of the president's office, in South Sudan slated for Tuesday before the high court in the capital Juba could not proceed as planned as the prosecution’s witnesses were reportedly unfit to be in court.
The hearing, which has been pushed to Thursday, deals with an alleged forgery case, which came to light last year after employees in the office of the president were arrested. They are accused of impersonation, forgery and criminal conspiracy to steal $14 million and 30.9 million South Sudanese pounds ($5 million).
Specifically, the suspects allegedly forged the president’s signature, letter heads, IDs and stamps through which they fraudulently obtained money from the sale of employment forms.
One of the suspects, John Agau Wuoi is the CEO of the Clique Technology Company, which was contracted in 2015 to supply the office of the president with printers, computers, telephones, and tablets among others, a statement issued in court read.
