Jemma Nunu Kumba, Speaker of the Reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly, addresses the parliament on Wednesday [Photo: Courtesy]JUBA – The Speaker of the Reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly, Jemma Nunu Kumba, has appealed to the Ministry of Finance and Planning to prioritise the payment of medical allowance to ensure the welfare of parliamentarians after the August House resumed sitting Wednesday following months of recess.
Nunu told the house that lawmakers have gone for two years without wages or medical allowances and related benefits, including transport allowances.
“In effect, some of the honourable MPs were unable to travel to their respective constituencies during the recess because their funds for that purpose were not disbursed,” Nunu said.
“I therefore appeal for the inclusion of the medical funds for the honourable Members of Parliament in the top list of the priorities of the Ministry of Finance. Healthy MPs mean a healthy parliament,” she added.
The South Sudan parliamentarians have been criticised for self-aggrandisement and neglect of their constituencies, where citizens are grappling with poor service delivery.
The 500 lawmakers reportedly pocket $30,000 yearly each in medical allowance alone. In January 2022, the legislators proposed an 800,000 SSP monthly salary increment, an equivalence of $2000 at the time.
Kumba also highlighted multiple challenges, such as insecurity and economic crisis, which she said have mostly affected people at the grassroots.
“The effects of the aforementioned challenges were widespread but felt most acutely at the grassroots, where a majority of our people live,” she said.
“Delays in payment of government salaries and inadequate delivery of basic public services greatly exacerbated the situation. The national legislators were themselves not spared,” Nunu added.
Nunu noted that, while the parliament carried out the majority of its necessary responsibilities for the year, the August House only received 40% of its budget, forcing MPs to put some operations on hold.
“You will see in our annual report, copies of which are provided before you, that a good number of activities had to be shelved due to a lack of funds. In effect, as reflected in the financial annual report, the National Legislature received only about 40% of its allocated budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year,” she lamented.
She stated that this represented broad fiscal restrictions across many public sector institutions, which had major implications for service delivery, particularly at the community level.
Besides, Nunu declared that despite its shortcomings, the August House manoeuvred through and had 52 sittings, Council of States 12 sittings, a joint house sitting 10, and 17 office orders.
She also stated that the national parliament enacted one regulation, approved and ratified three conventions, and passed 73 resolutions. Meanwhile, the Council of States passed nine resolutions and the TNLA four, including capacity building for MPs in both houses.
However, the speaker praised the president for directing the vice president of the economic cluster to ensure that civil servants’ salaries are paid on schedule.
“From the onset, I can unreservedly affirm and confirm that, despite the difficult circumstances our country has gone through, the Transitional National Legislature has largely delivered on its constitutional mandate, representing the will of the South Sudanese people, specifically in its role on the implementation of the Revitalized Peace Agreement on the resolution of the conflict in the Republic of South Sudan, as the TNL was able to pass and ratify all related laws,” she said.
