Chaos erupted in South Sudan’s Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) on Monday after a lawmaker demanded the removal of Clerk to Parliament Makuac Makuc Ngong and his deputy, saying the two have served out their tenures of office as stipulated in the House’s Conduct of Business Regulations.
Raising the issue in the Assembly, John Agany, the former chairperson of the information committee who also doubled as the parliamentary spokesperson, said according to regulations 13 and 14 of the Conduct of Business, a clerk is supposed to work for only two years, subject to renewal.
Agany however claimed the term of the current clerk has been renewed more than ten times and that he and his deputy deserved to be removed.
“My point of information goes to Article 14 of our Conduct of Business, Regulation which talks about the eligibility of the clerk. The clerk is supposed to work for only two years, eligible to be renewed. But now our present clerk has worked more than necessary, it has taken about four years without being renewed. You will say yes but for me what I know is that it is too long to stay here,” he explained. “What I would like to suggest is that the clerk must be removed today and any renewal is subject to the assembly. We believe that we are the House that evaluates the executive. And if we are not following the laws, we breach the laws, how can we ask the executive to implement the law?”
Agany added: “So, the clerk together with his deputy must be removed here and now, and I move the motion.”
However, Bishop Gabriel, a member of the National Congress Party (NCP) from Lake State, suggested that the issue awaits Speaker Jemma Nunu Kumba who was not present during the session, saying she is the only person who has the powers.
“Honorable members, to be consistent with the law, we have to wait because the procedure or the conduct of business case is that when the speaker says a thing, it becomes a law. We have to say that we wait for the speaker,” he said. “When she comes and chairs the next meeting, we will raise this issue. But now with the deputy speaker chairing, he has no right to cancel what the speaker has done. This is the law.”
Responding on the matter, TNLA Second Deputy Speaker Permino Awerial who was chairing the session on Monday, said the issue was raised earlier in another session that was convened by Speaker Kumba and that it should wait for the substantive speaker.
“There is nobody here preventing the clerk from being removed but we want the procedures to be in order of how the clerk can be removed or appointed. And that is what was raised by Agany so we cannot support anything like that. This issue was raised last week to the speaker who is the right person to make the procedures that you need,” he stated. “It is not the way that we do things. The procedures have to be followed according to the procedures of the law. I cannot just say that let the clerk go. Is it what you want? Where do you get such a system without a written thing? There must be something documented.”