Africa-Press – South-Sudan. A lawmaker is seeking answers from the economic cluster led by Vice President Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel, over the government’s failure to honor its pledge to pay civil servants’ salaries on the 24th of every month. The legislator stated that the ongoing delay has caused significant hardship for families.
Speaking during a parliamentary sitting on Monday, Machok Majong Jong, an SPLM MP representing Kuach in Warrap State, demanded that the Vice President appear before the House to answer questions about the state of the economy.
He accused the cluster of not honouring its pledge in April to ensure salaries are paid regularly.
Last month, Lawmaker Machok submitted a motion to summon Vice President Mel, who chairs the economic cluster.
“On the 26th of August, I submitted my motion about the challenges facing our country. The motion seeks to summon the Vice President, who is responsible for the economic cluster, to appear before this House for questioning.
“He [VP Bol Mel] is the chairperson of the economic cluster, yet the country is facing serious economic difficulties. There is no money in the banks, and he lied to the people of South Sudan by promising that salaries would be paid on the 24th of every month. But up to now, nothing has happened,” he said.
The MP also raised concerns about alleged mismanagement of oil revenues, including the allocation of crude cargoes.
“There is a lot of mismanagement of oil revenue. The Minister of Finance, and even the allocation of cargoes. I have the classified documents with me, I’m not talking from just out of the blue, I have concrete information from the uptakers, and even from upstream, from the Minister of Petroleum,” he added.
For his part, Parmena Awerial Aluong, the Deputy Speaker for Administration and Finance, who chaired the sitting, said the MP has the right to raise the motion.
However, he stated that only Speaker Jemma Nunu Kumba can respond to the matter.
“Hon. Machok raised this as information, and I would like to answer him that the information that you raised and presented to ABC (Assembly Business Committee), you will be served with the resolution of the ABC when the Rt. Hon. Speaker comes,” he said.
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