Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The Speaker of the National Legislative Assembly informed the house that the Minister of Higher Education admitted a mistake was made during the selection process for the Indian government scholarship.
Addressing lawmakers during a parliamentary sitting on Wednesday, August 6, Speaker Jemma Nunu Kumba said the minister publicly acknowledged irregularities in the selection process.
The admission followed a public outcry over alleged tribal favouritism and the lack of female representation among selected candidates.
The recent Indian scholarships offered to South Sudanese students became controversial, with members of the public and lawmakers accusing the Ministry of Higher Education of lacking transparency in the selection.
According to the Speaker, the ministry has agreed to review the process to ensure students from diverse backgrounds are considered in future selections.
“They [the ministry] admitted their mistake, but they assured us it won’t happen again. We’ve agreed to wait and see if anything changes; next time, he must be present. He should appreciate that I even called him to explain. As far as we are concerned, this matter is now closed. We will summon the minister here,” she said.
Her remarks came in response to a request by a lawmaker for the Minister of Higher Education to be summoned to explain why the scholarship slots were not fairly distributed across the ten states and three administrative areas.
Stephen Bol Ley, an opposition SPLM-IO MP representing Mayom County in Unity State, had accused the ministry of tribal bias in selecting candidates for the Indian scholarships.
“A shortlist was released for the scholarship to India, but if you examine it closely, you will see that diversity was not considered, there is no female representation. Therefore, I urge this august House to summon the Minister of Higher Education to provide clarification on the matter,” he said.
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