Members of the Jonglei state legislative assembly on Wednesday passed a vote of no conference against the state finance minister over alleged incompetence after a monition raised.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj after the impeachment vote, the acting spokesperson of the state assembly Grace Mathot said they passed a vote of no conference against Finance Minister Riak Yuek for having snubbed parliament summons.
“After snubbing our summons twice, the minister showed up after our third summon only to say that he was not prepared and requested more time which we granted,” she said. “On Tuesday, when he appeared, he was unable to answer our questions like to disclose names of the signatories to the state accounts and how much money the state receives as Personal Income Tax from NGOs.”
“During the sitting, we were 74 lawmakers. Sixty-eight members voted to impeach the minister, and the rest voted against the motion. For us, we were not planning to impeach the minister because what we wanted was a solution to our civil servants’ concerns. But the problem was that the minister refused to be transparent,” she added.
Meanwhile, wany Bum, a lawmaker who voted against the motion, said the impeachment was politically motivated.
Wany, who was also suspended earlier this month from his position as the chairperson of the parliamentary committee for information, said: “What happened is the continuation of what the assembly did when I was illegally suspended as the head of the information committee.”
“The process was not procedural, and six of us from the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) decided not to vote. Again, the assembly cannot impeach a minister appointed under a peace agreement. So, I want to call on the governor not to sign any impeachment from the assembly,” he added.
The embattled minister of finance could not immediately be reached for comment.