By Bida Elly David
Another nightmare haunts Lainya County Commissioner, as a lawmaker at the national assembly raised an urgent motion demanding his removal from office.
Emmanuel Khamis Richard enjoyed the throne of Juba city council as the acting mayor for about three months before being fired by the governor after controversies that overshadowed his term in office.
But as the Lainya man packed his luggage home and settled for commissionership, critics still demand his total exit from the limelight.
A legislator accused Khemis of presiding over a county, allegedly engulfed in insecurity and instability.
Hon. Rech Moch Tang, a lawmaker representing Nasir County, Upper Nile State, claimed that Khamis, after being relieved from the mayorship, still terrorizes citizens in his county.
“That person, as my source revealed to me, is still the commissioner of Lainya County, and he is terrorizing people,” MP Moch alleged.
The legislator claimed that the commissioner insinuated the parliament behind his removal from the seat of the mayorship.
“He was telling people that there was nothing that was done by the parliament, even though they passed the resolution,” Moch said.
The legislator, however, did not present evidence to his accusation, nor did he disclose the source the information on Khamis terrorizing civilians.
No. 1 Citizen Daily Newspaper could not also independently verify the accusations.
The MP recounted that the resolution revoking the former acting mayor for intimidating a vendor was made by the parliament, saying there is a need to axe the man off the commissionership, again.
“We recommended the governor remove him before. It is this parliament; we need to reconsider that the governor should act to remove the commissioner,” he added.
“The governor will come here, and we will deal with him according to the law,” Moch echoed.
However, the speaker of the assembly, Jemma Nunu Kumba, disagreed with Hon. Moch, despite having votes from other lawmakers.
The speaker argued the August house had done enough to advocate for the removal of the former acting mayor over his uncalled behavior but the Assembly couldn’t be involved this time.
Nunu furiously told the honorable MP that the national parliament is not mandated to encroach on state issues.
“Going down to the county may be the competence of the state legislative assembly in dealing with such issues,” she said.
Nunu further reiterated the need for comparative analysis to be carried out over the competence of the national assembly in addressing state issues.
“We need to compare the competence of the national assembly in relation to issues dealing with local government and also the constitution of the state itself,” she said.
The house speaker urged the specialized committee of legal affairs in the national parliament to look at the matter and give advice accordingly.
She called on the lawmakers to applaud Governor Emmanuel Adil for firing Khamis and appointing a woman to take care of the city council administration.
In September, the acting mayor of Juba City Council, who also doubles as the current commissioner of Lainya County, was fired in a gubernatorial order following public outcry after a video of him surfaced online that showed him slapping a female street vendor.
The national parliament was among the sounding voices that demanded his removal after 72 hours by the governor of the state, or else both faced removal from office.
It remains, however, to be seen if this second pressure to appoint Emmanuel Khamis to the position of Lainya County will be seconded by the concerned authorities and alluded to by the public.