The Speaker of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) has denied attempting to swindle SSP 12 million out of the parliamentary chest.
Last month, SPLM-IO legislator Juol Nhomngek Daniel accused the speaker of trying to smuggle SSP 12 million off the parliamentary grounds.
Speaker Jemma Nunu Kumba on Thursday, while addressing parliamentary staff, said the SSP 12 million in question was meant for air tickets and allowances of lawmakers in the Pan African Parliament.
“This money was for the members of the Pan African Parliament, for their (air) tickets. So, it was just taken out of context because, first of all, what does the speaker have to do with money of administration,” Nunu said. “You can go to the administration and they will tell you exactly what the money was used for because I know I approved the travel of the MPs and it is the administration that processed the tickets and the allowances for the MPs to travel. So you can go to the administration and confirm this information.”
Earlier this month, John Agany Deng, the chairperson of the specialized committee on Information at the TNLA, claimed that the now controversial SSP 12 million was used to buy air tickets for South Sudan’s members in the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA).
Several members of EALA later denied receiving any money from the TNLA.
However, in her defense, Speaker Kumba claims that Nhomngek is accusing her of graft because he is an opposition lawmaker.
“Sometimes, I do not want to talk about those things because they are baseless. The honourable member you are talking about is from the opposition, and I think that is the background he is coming from,” she said.
The speaker also accused the media of being unprofessional in its coverage of parliament.
“You, the media, have been publishing these allegations without even coming to confirm from the parliament what the truth is. He (Nhomngek) goes to Eye Radio, he goes to City Review and puts these allegations on the paper, and you go ahead and publicize them,” Kumba charged. “It is also a bit inappropriate for you to publish defamatory information about the speaker, and then you come now and ask whether it is true or not. What difference will it make?”
“I think you need to correct that so that this thing can come to an end,” she added.
The speaker also revealed that parliament is in the process of constructing a temporary hall that will accommodate both the national parliamentarians and the Council of States members.
“We have extended the hall to take 540 people, but it still will not accommodate the two houses. At the gate where you entered, there is ongoing construction, and we are putting up another big hall, another big tent like Freedom Hall there,” Kumba said. “We do not have to commute to Freedom Hall all the time so that our sittings are not affected when there are other functions like the Governors’ Forum and other national events. We shall have our own so that we concentrate on our work.”
“Sometimes we can go for two weeks without sitting because Freedom Hall is occupied by other government functions, so give us another two, three months and you will be very impressed,” she added.