By Bida Elly David
National parliament has placed cabinet ministers on red alert due to their avoidance of parliamentary questioning sessions on public concerns.
Rt. Hon. Nathaniel Oyet Pierino, the first deputy speaker at the Reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly (R-TNLA), said most ministers have repeatedly failed to comply with parliamentary invitations.
“They are supposed to be here so that the lawmakers ask questions to them directly and we get the answers instead of through the bureaucracy of motions,” said Oyet.
However, the first deputy speaker did not go further to disclose the names of those ministers who repeatedly turned down parliamentary summons.
But in August, the national parliament summoned five ministers and the governor of Central Equatoria State to clarify the reasons behind the rise in the number of street children across South Sudan.
Only two ministers; the Minister of Gender Child and Social Welfare and Minister of Transport appeared. The Minister of National Security, Minister of Defense, and Minister of Interior and the governor of Central Equatoria State did not show up.
Oyet underscored that questioning sessions for the national ministers on the floor of parliament shorten bureaucratic procedures that consume time.
“Question time shortens all these; for almost so many weeks we have not been able to have question time, and that is unacceptable,” he added.
The honorable member reiterated the need for members of the executive to speedily turn up before the house whenever needed to make decisions on matters of public concern.
“The ministers should come, or else one day we shall table a motion to discuss what to do with whoever doesn’t want to come and attend parliamentary sittings,” Oyet echoed.
Mary Nawai, the minister of parliamentary affairs who doubles as a representative of government business in the parliament, apologized on behalf of the executive.
She said the absence of the ministers sometimes was due to a number of office commitments requiring their presence.
Nawai stated that preparation for the veteran convention to kick off in 2024 is one of the tasks that keep the executives busy as they brainstorm.
“The executive passed a memo presented by the minister of defense and veteran affairs concerning the World Federation veteran conference to be hosted by South Sudan in 2024,” she said.
The minister noted that the executive is working towards pushing the country to gain full global recognition.
“We have been recognized worldwide, which is why we have now been selected to host international conferences,” she noted.
The motion up to date remains undiscussed due to the absence of the summoned executive alongside the governor.