Lona Sadia, the minister of finance in South Sudan’s Yei River State, has resigned after she was impeached by the state parliament last month.
Members of the state legislative assembly accused Sadia of corruption and mismanagement of public funds. Sadia was, among others, also faulted for failing to answer accountability and expenditure questions when summoned by MPs.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Monday, Sadia said she has resigned from her position as finance minister and tendered her resignation letter to the state governor.
The former minister expressed willingness to serve the government in other capacities. Sadia dismissed all accusations leveled against her, accusing the state lawmakers of putting their personal interests above the citizens.
“As the ministry of finance, we have all documented receipts when it comes to expenditure, but parliamentarians are working on fake reports against me to assassinate my character,” she said.
The former finance minister has threatened legal action against the legislators whom she accused of tarnishing her name over corruption claims.
“I am now out of the ministry, I have stepped down and I have resigned. The next step for me is to take a legal step against the MPs for tarnishing my name because I read the report they gave the governor. There was nothing like corruption by me,” she stressed.
Daniel Lokoroto, the head of the parliamentary committee for finance, said Sadia’s resignation was a demand from MPs.
The legislator underscored that the state legislative assembly would continue to play its oversight mandate of promoting transparency and accountability.
“Let’s use our resources in a transparent manner and I urge whoever is holding a public office to ensure parliament has a responsibility to provide information because denying information to the parliament is a violation of the constitution,” Lokoroto said.
“Parliament will continue to ask questions if there is no transparency for the sake of our people,” he added.