N. Bahr el Ghazal parliament to audit budget expenditure

April 26, 2015 (JUBA) – Members of South Sudan’s Northern Bahr al Ghazal state legislative assembly have formed a parliamentary committee to audit the expenditure of the annual budget.

Head of the parliamentary committee responsible for physical infrastructure from Aweil North county Angok Achuol Barjok told Sudan Tribune on Sunday that the house had reached a consensus to form a parliamentary committee after voting to decide on the mechanisms to use in order to audit how the budget was spent during its extraordinary sitting last 21 Tuesday.

Achuol said the minister of finance was initially expected to appear before the house to answer queries relating to how the 2014 and part of the 2015 annual budget was spent, but it had since been decided by majority vote that a committee would be formed to deal with the minister rather than the general house.

“There were members wanting him to appear in person and there were members wanting the committee to be formed so that it is the committee members who will go and carry out the investigation and then come back with their findings to the house so that the members deliberate on their findings,” said Achuol.

“The committee has now been formed and we work forward to starting their work,” he added.

The legislator denied that a section of the house was targeting supporters of former caretaker governor Kuel Aguer Kuel, who was recently relieved of his position by presidential decree following months of confinement to Juba after he was controversially impeached by state MPs.

“What the house is doing is part of the legislative role. The members of parliament have constitutional functions to summon anybody holding public office if there is anything they wanted to know from person, especially when it is something to do with public matter,” Achuol said.

“It does not translate to targeting. We are doing in the interest of the public. We want to know how the budget was spent,” he added.

Achuol confirmed he had been nominated to lead the five-member committee, with Hikma Ali Malek as his deputy and Zachariah Garang Lual as secretary, while Andrew Lual Buola and Kong Deng Chan will serve as members

(ST)