By Bida Elly David
The Speaker of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly has said that corruption in South Sudan becomes the general issue that needs intensive eradication at all sectors saying citizens are cautioned against defining it inform of financial mismanagement by the government.
She said this during the closing ceremony of a drill on the impact of corruption in the context of South Sudan and how the anti-corruption commission should play a bigger role to overcome pilferages.
Speaking during the event, the Speaker of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly Jemma Nunu Kumba said that corruption is a complicated phenomenon which needed joint efforts from everybody.
She reiterated that the government could not deny the fact that there is corruption, saying that was one of the challenges that affected the country in various ways.
Nunu added that corruption was a global phenomenon which impeded various sectors not necessarily the government officials who would have served in the interest of the citizens across the nation.
“We do recognize that corruption is one of the major challenges that we face in our country and the government is grappling with it. And of course we can’t deny that Corruption does not take place. Not only in South Sudan but it is a general issue, all over the world and above all in Africa but that does not mean we should be part of it. It is a very complicated phenomenon that needs efforts from all of us” she said.
Nunu underscored that the parliament could not handle corruption challenges alone without joint efforts from the citizens and other stake holders due to its comprehensiveness and difficulties adding that citizens have been concerned with the cumulative corruption issues in the country saying that the parliament knew it and this phenomenon needed awareness as well as eradication to mitigate it.
“It can’t be the parliament, executive or the anti-corruption commission to handle corruption issues alone but it is an issue that requires the involvement of everybody. We in the TLNA are not unaware of the fact that the issue of public corruption is not there we all know since it is complex and varies in nature and worst of it will affect all of us” she said.
The speaker criticized people who defined corruption as stealing of money not owned by certain individual saying that it was an activity concerned with cheating in various aspects.
“Corruption is not just the state of stealing money which does not belong to you but it involves many other things. If I come to the parliament with my official car, then entered private car and leaving the compound. It will be showing that I was in the office but I was not there and that is corruption. If you are an MP coming to the parliament just to sign and leave. You don’t attend sitting that is corruption” Nunu said.
Nunu pointed out that mismanagement of revenues collected at the borders by some individual for their personal use as well as employing a wrong individual in the right place could be defined as corruption.
she called on the workshop recommendation to be replicated to some institutions.