The Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) lawmakers have called for the establishment of a Debt Management Department in the Ministry of Finance and Planning to ensure government loans are used for development.
The demand came up during a discussion of a report from the Transitional States Forum, which focuses on enhancing the capacity of the transitional states to manage and alleviate debt distress.
The Development Institute of the African Development Bank group in June this year conducted a debt management forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, aimed at addressing the emerging public debt management challenges in Africa’s transitional states.
Cueibet County SPLM IO lawmaker Juol Nhomngek said it was unfortunate that Parliament was discussing debt management, yet none of the members knew how much the country owed.
Nhomngek accused some ministers of borrowing money from outside without seeking the approval of Parliament.
“There are several issues we need to note about this report. First of all, we are not clear on the total debt that we have borrowed. What money do we have and from which country did we borrow?” He asked.
We have never received any presentation on the borrowing since we came here in 2021, he said, adding that they had seen some ministers borrow money without the parliamentary approval, money that the country could repay for the next 50 years.
Nhomngek said it was very clear that whatever the money, borrowed or not borrowed, should be acquired under Article 175 or 177. The source of national government must be put on budget.
A Western Equatoria State MP under the SPLM ticket, Vosca Matine, acknowledge that since the independence in 2011, no Finance Minister had ever briefed TNLA on the loans.
Matine pointed out that it was a global practice that for any government to borrow loans, it must pass through the Parliament.
“I am asking my colleagues; do we know how many debts we have in this country?” she posed.
Matine noted that other East African countries like Uganda and Rwanda, have commissions for debt management to enable accountability.