Northern Bahr el-Ghazal State lawmakers are demanding urgent resumption of parliament to address issues including corruption in the Finance ministry, health and floods.
The State Transitional Legislative Assembly went on recess in April and was planned to resume in July. However, in late June, President Salva Kiir appointed Simon Uber Mawut as Governor, replacing Tong Akeen Ngor.
The new governor reportedly requested the legislators to give him time before the assembly could resume.
Several legislators, who talked to Radio Tamazuj, sought immediate resumption of their duties to deliberate major concerns, saying the House had been closed for almost three sessions.
Teresa Achol said their role is to discuss issues affecting the people, asserting that there were corruption charges in the State Finance ministry.
“The role of parliament is to discuss many issues and our absence from work has contributed to the loss of many things. We are the ones to monitor the Executive and the community and provide solutions. For instance, some officials have misappropriated huge amounts of public funds and if the assembly were open, it would combat corruption,” she said.
Another MP, who preferred anonymity for administrative reasons, said that malaria and floods in Aweil North County needed urgent deliberations.
“Malaria is still affecting the community with some households migrating to the highlands, and some schools closed down as the children also shifted to the highlands for the final exams.
“The situation is bad because we were supposed to reopen parliament on July 22, but when the new Governor arrived on July 19, he went silent,” he said.
The representative of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) Angok Achuol Barjok, stated that the holiday period expired in July.
“The holiday has already ended yet parliament remains closed. We were supposed to come back in July because we want to address issues affecting the communities. It is not good for the people’s House to remain closed for a long time,” Barjok said.
The State Assembly Spokesman Garang Kuol Mabior confirmed that the House would convene to find a way forward.
“One of the agendas is the preparation for the Assembly reopening and we also want to request furniture for the new administrative bodies,” he said.
The Executive Director for the Christian Restore Hope (CRH), Aguer Kawac Akok, urged the State Government to ensure parliament resumed business.
“We need the assembly to resume its duties as soon as possible. It is good for leaders to respect time and this means that the parliamentarians would have come back to their normal duties after three months,” Kawac warned.