Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The members of the National Legislature have voiced mounting frustrations over the finance ministry’s failure to present the 2025/2026 fiscal year budget to the House.
Sunday Philip Kot, a Other Political Parties (OPP) lawmaker representing Yirol East County in Lakes State, on Wednesday expressed disappointment with the delay while speaking in the House. He noted that parliament resumed operations last month and that he had expected the budget to be the top priority.
“Right honorable speaker, after the opening of the parliament, we were expecting that the priority for this August House is the tabling of the budget of fiscal year 2025/ 2026, but now we are in August, and there is no indication from the minister of finance regarding our budget, ” he charged. “According to the Parliament Conduct of Business Regulations Article 119, South Sudan’s financial year begins from the 1st June 2024 to the 30th July 2025, which has passed.”
“For this purpose, right, honorable speaker, I am asking this August House to summon the minister of finance to come and explain what is behind the delay,” Kot demanded.
However, Juol Nhomngek, an SPLM-IO member representing Cueibet County in Lake State, attributed the delay in tabling the budget to the executive’s failure to conduct council of ministers’ meetings.
According to Nhomngek, summoning the finance minister will not be meaningful since preparation of the budget always goes through several stages, including the economic cluster and the council of ministers, which discusses it before passing it to parliament.
“Before the budget comes to parliament, the minister of finance is the one to formulate the budget. After that, he will present it to the council of ministers, and then the council of ministers forwards it to the relevant cluster to study and make a report so that they know all their areas are met,” he explained. “After that, the council of ministers will now proceed for tabling.”
Nhomngek pointed out that the arrest of First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar has crippled the government, forcing the cabinet to suspend scheduled meetings, and that if the budget is brought to parliament without approval from the cabinet, it will be deemed illegal.
“Since the first vice president was arrested in March up to now, the government has not been working. Even if the budget is brought to parliament, it will be illegal,” he stressed. “The council of ministers has to sit to pass it because the budget does not belong to one office.”
The lawmaker urged President Salva Kiir to consider releasing Dr. Machar so that the government fully resumes functioning.
The civil society has also raised concerns about the delay in processing the country’s fiscal budget.
Ter Manyang, the executive director of the Center for Peace and Advocacy (CPA), earlier this month urged legislators to summon the finance minister to explain the delays and the cabinet affairs minister to shed light on the executive’s failure to conduct cabinet meetings.
“The Center for Peace and Advocacy (CPA) is calling on the Transitional National Legislature to urgently summon four key ministers over a range of pressing national issues affecting the country,” he said at the time.
He listed the four as the ministers of cabinet affairs, finance and planning, defense and veterans’ affairs, and national security.
“The Minister of Finance and Planning must appear before Parliament to explain the delay in the approval of the 2025–2026 fiscal year budget,” Manyang emphasized.
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