South Sudan MP warns over plot to impeach assembly speaker
April 13, 2023 (JUBA) – The information committee chairperson in South Sudan’s Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA), John Agany on Wednesday warned opposition MPs against plot to impeach the speaker.
A group of opposition lawmakers on Tuesday threatened to impeach Jemma Nunu Kumba after the TNLA speaker recently made a trip to India.
The speaker’s trip, according to the lawmakers, was an expensive venture given that ordinary South Sudanese are currently languishing in poverty.
But speaking to reporters after a parliamentary sitting on Wednesday, Agany said the opposition lawmakers had no right to impeach the speaker.
“Let me remind those ignorant MPs, let me use that language because they are really ignorant about the law and they should know that in some parts of the world, South Sudan does not exist and it is we to sell the good image of the country and to go to them and tell them South Sudan exists and we are here,” he explained.
Agany, who also doubles as the TNLA spokesperson, said the speaker has a budget that is meant to facilitate all the regional and international travels.
“By the way, the speaker cannot use any money belonging to MPs for traveling and there are records and budgeting activities that are done administratively for the speaker to go around,” he stressed.
Added the lawmaker, “If they have substantial material, let them put in writing and present it in the house as a motion, and then it will be handled.”
Agany challenged the lawmakers, saying the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) party which nominated the speaker could remove her.
“In this house, the members representing SPLM are 303 and Nunu Kumba is a member of this group. That nonsense (impeachment) can never be executed without us the members of the SPLM to approve it. Please regard it as nonsense and do not go talking about it,” he stressed.
Security around the parliamentary building was unusually tight, with a hybrid of plain cloth security personnel and uniformed police and security forces. Security organs cordoned off a street adjacent to its main entrance, restricting the movement to unauthorized persons intending to access parliamentary premises.
Meanwhile Juol Nhomngek Daniel, a Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In Opposition (SPLM-IO) lawmaker representing Cueibet County in Lakes State confirmed that there was a move to impeach the speaker.
“Yes, there was a move but it has not yet been finalized and some people leaked the information. The next is collecting the necessary 350 signatures which are needed which were done from the beginning because it has been going on like that,” Nhomngek told Sudan Tribune.
“It will happen although the time will not be specific. These are issues of politics and sometimes when you make it open, it can easily be killed,” he added.
According to the September 2018 peace agreement, the speaker can only be removed by the party that appointed him or her. However, the conduct of business regulation of the National Assembly gives MPs the power to impeach.
(ST)