The Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) said it is disturbed by viral social media posts and articles published by some media houses alleging that a statue of a woman erected on its premises that fell and broke is that of Speaker Jemma Nunu Kumba.
On Friday, the statue of a woman perceived to be Speaker Kumba which was erected in April during the reopening of the TNLA after recess, collapsed and some media houses ran stories about and posted pictures of the collapsed statue on their social media handles, angering the House’s leadership.
Addressing a press conference after a meeting on Saturday, the TNLA’s Chairperson of the Specialized Committee on Information, Oliver Mori Benjamin, denied that the statue is the likeness of Speaker Kumba and demanded that the media houses that alleged so must apologize.
“The statute does not belong to and is not of the Right Honorable Speaker, nor did she authorize the making of this statute in parliament. You will recall that our side hall adjacent to the main building was constructed and was officially inaugurated by President Salva Kiir and on that day, there was an artist who thought of beautification of the compound and around the new hall which was to be inaugurated,” he explained. “So, the artist decided to make a statute as a sample of a hardworking woman in the Republic of South Sudan but not the Right Honorable Speaker. That was what the artist did and placed near the new hall which was constructed later.”
Mori added: “The leadership of parliament is however dismayed by the story made up by Eye Radio. First of all, one of their staff came into parliament without even taking permission, sneaked in, and went and took photos of this statute, which was pushed down. Who pushed it? Nobody is identified to have done it and maybe it was a car which was reversing and knocked it down.”
He said Eye Radio went and wrote a false story associating the statue with the speaker and that the House demanded an official apology.
Mori warned journalists covering the parliament against taking pictures outside the plenary, saying it is strictly prohibited.
“You will recall that in our previous conferences, we said all journalists when they are coming to the parliament, should carry their identity cards to prove that they have been licensed to cover events in parliament,” he stated. “If you remember, photographs to be taken in the parliament are only within the plenary, inside there. Nobody, no journalist is authorized to come and start taking photos within the compound of the parliament without authorization, but still Eye Radio went ahead to do that.”
Mori warned that in the event Eye Radio does not apologize, they will drag the media house to court.