The Eastern Equatoria State Legislative Assembly officially opened for business on Monday after a long recess occasioned by the renovation of the parliamentary premises.
Several lawmakers, especially those from opposition parties, blamed the state government for what they referred to as a deliberate delay in reopening the parliament under the pretext of a lack of a budget and the renovation of parliament since October last year.
Governor Louis Lobong Lojore, while opening the parliament, congratulated the new speaker, Charles Odwar Ukech, on his new assignment and urged the legislators to discuss issues affecting the communities as they witnessed during their long recess.
“I believe you made ample interactions with your communities and were able to learn many challenges affecting them and probably handled some of these challenges in your constituencies. This is the right time for you to present those challenges you found in your respective constituencies to this assembly for discussion to find better solutions,” he said. “I am aware that the entire country has scarce resources and I believe you too are very much aware of this reality. We must enlighten our citizens of the truth and ask them to work very hard to overcome economic challenges by cultivating our lands to produce enough food for ourselves and surplus for the market.”
Lobong added: “There is a need to be patient and maximize the usage of the available resources so we must plan and work together to collect our local revenue to be able to run the government and provide services to our people.”
Meanwhile, Speaker Charles Udwar Ukech acknowledged that the current economic crisis has contributed to the acute suffering of citizens, including lawmakers, and appealed to the state government to provide mobility to the remaining members of the assembly business committee as well as some allowance from the meager resources.
“I need to acknowledge the cordial relationship and unity among all the members of parliament irrespective of their party affiliations which has characterized the past period. This unity has been the strength of the state assembly where our vision is one parliament for one people of Eastern Equatoria State,” he said. “Despite some diverse opinions and challenges, we always forge as united institutions. As we move forward, let us carry with us the spirit of unity and cooperation that has brought us this far. The challenges ahead are still substantial, but with the same level of dedication and commitment that has been displayed by all parties involved, I am confident that we will continue to achieve great things for our people and our beloved state.”
For his part, Zacharia Ngoletiang Naburio, a member of parliament representing Kapoeta Jie, hailed the reopening of parliament and said it is time to voice the concerns of the people at the grassroots.
“Our number one issue is schools, followed by health services, telecommunication networks, and roads. Right now, even that water that was installed is not enough and only two boreholes are working yet the people need more water,” he said. “Another issue is that there is a lot of starvation this year because people cultivated but there is no food, so, I ask organizations to take services to Lopet and Kasengor payams to help the Jie Community.”
A legislator who represents Torit County, Angelina Quintino, said much work is needed to deliver effective services even though the whole world is facing economic challenges.
“As members of parliament, this is an opportunity for us to discuss issues of our communities and to tell them the truth about the current crisis and to urge them to be patient and work hard because we know it is a general issue,” she stated. “We could be blaming the government’s top leaders yet it is a general issue.”