Keji Janefer
Africa-Press – South-Sudan. A national parliamentary committee has faulted House Speaker Jemma Nunu Kumba for violating its charter.
The committee on agriculture and food security accused Kumba of approving the establishment of a regional and global parliamentary alliance on food security and nutrition behind its back.
The deputy chair of the parliamentary specialised committee on agriculture, Albino Akol Atak, brought up the issue during a Monday meeting as they expressed their displeasure over the move.
According to the information obtained by City Review, the speaker authorised some lawmakers to establish a parliamentary caucus on food security and nutrition by May 2022. The committee claims that they had already developed programs and that the speaker’s action was out of order.
“We decided, first to put the leadership in place before we could go ahead in the middle. One MP who is not a member of the committee took it upon himself to find his way to the Speaker and wrote a letter to the Speaker and unfortunately gave him a go-ahead,” Atak claimed.
“When we got that information as a committee, we immediately sought a meeting with the speaker. Unfortunately, we were blocked [from meeting her]. This is why I said I wanted to bring this notice while the Speaker is here,’’ said our source who sought to remain anonymous.
He said the approval for the establishment of the alliance breached the committee’s mandate.
The committee’s chairperson, Augustino Mathok is said to have been irked by speaker’s clandestine action.
According to the information the committee received last week, the deputy chair stated that the confusion escalated and that the MP went even further to organise the launch of the alliance without the committee’s knowledge.
‘‘There is no way we can give a mandate to a committee and take it away from it and give it to individual members. “Refusing to meet us is also a denial and delaying what we are supposed to do,” Atak protested.
“One day here the Speaker told us that her office would be ready to receive any member now. I’m part of the leadership, and I’m denied access for almost four months without seeing the speaker.”
According to Atak, the speaker’s approval should be regarded as personal and not on account of the powers of the office she holds.
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