The Transitional National Legislative Assembly has given a green light to the members of the public who wish to attend parliamentary sessions.
Oliver Mori Benjamin, the chairperson of the standing specialized information committee, clarified that by law, every South Sudanese is allowed to attend parliamentary deliberations.
This unexpected move comes barely a month after Ter Manyang Gatwech, the Executive Director of the Center for Peace and Advocacy (CPA), was briefly detained by National Security Service (NSS) agents deployed at the TNLA for not being invited to attend the passing of the controversial National Security Service Amendment Bill 2024.
When asked by journalists on Friday how the security of citizens will be guaranteed in parliament, Mori further assured the public of maximum security.
“By law, parliament sessions are open to the public,” he stated.
Mori said citizens willing to attend the sessions will sit with the media in the area designated for the latter.
The TNLA spokesperson said the incident that led to the arrest of the civil society activist earlier last month was triggered by the fact that in the past, many people were arrested by the security personnel going with weapons into the parliament premises.
Mori said these incidents made the House beef up security at the gate, noting that whoever goes to parliament will first be checked thoroughly.
“The incident you referred to was when our gate was not fixed, but now the gate is fixed and it is compulsory for anyone coming to attend the session to first finish the security check at the gate,” he asserted.