The suspended Secretary-General of the National Examination Council, Lul Ruei Dhol, has won the court case against his colleague who had accused him of jointly embezzling examination funds last year.

Last year, the Controller of Accounts at the ministry of Education – Abraham Mayom Gol – implicated Ruei in the misappropriation of 3.5 million pounds.
As a result, the minister of general education, Deng Deng Hoc, suspended both men in a ministerial order to allow for an investigation.

But then, Lul Ruei accused Abraham Mayom of defamation and dragged him to court for falsely accusing him of receiving 22,616 dollars from a Ugandan company that had just supplied the ministry with examination materials – an act the minister said constituted a kickback.

However, Ruei maintained that Mayom had defamed him because the statement was for public consumption.

“Last time, Eye Radio interviewed Mayom and he expressed you [I] have taken the money with you [me] and the minister also sent the copy of my suspension,” he said.

Earlier this week, the Juba County Court in the case presided over by Judge Abugasim Saddig found Mayom guilty of section 289 of the Penal Code, 2008.

It states that whoever, by words either spoken or reproduced by any mechanical means…concerning any person, intending to harm or knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm the reputation of such person, is said…to defame that person.

The court has handed Abraham Mayom 2-month prison term and a fine of 5,000 pounds.

“My name is out. I believed in  myself before the law. I believed I did not take the money before the law and God,” Mr Ruei said.