By William Madouk
The fate of South Sudan National Bureau of Standards Council (SSNBS-C) remains uncertain, as its newly appointed members have yet to be sworn in.
In early March, President Salva Kiir reshuffled the leadership of the bureau, appointing Dr. Kuorwel Kuai Kuorwel as the new chairperson of the SSNBS Council and Gloria Nyoka Joseph as the executive director.
However, nearly three months later, the council remains “inactive” as the members have not taken the oath of office, and no official date has been set for the swearing-in ceremony.
The ball is now in the court of the Minister of Trade and Industry, William Anyuon Kuol, to explain the delay.
“The council is not active because until the moment we did not take an oath of the office,” said one of the council members who chose to remain anonymous.
During the welcoming ceremony for executive director, Nyoka, the minister had promised that the council members would be sworn in within two weeks.
He stated that once sworn in, the council would convene to discuss agendas, formulate policies, and present them to the Minister of Trade for further approval.
Previously, decisions regarding the Bureau of Standards were made by the Ministry of Trade, but with the formation of the council, this practice is likely to change.
The chairperson of the SSNBS Council, Dr. Kuorwel Kuai, had earlier stated that the council would be the governing body, responsible for overseeing the policy and daily operations of the bureau.
“My role with the Council, we are the governing body – that means the policy of the Bureau and what the Bureau is doing on a daily basis is to be supervised by us,” Kuorwel added.
“The Council is now going to be helping (SSNBS executive director) to make sure that they take the decision,” he noted.
“So, in case I want to ask the Minister (of Trade) to take our policy to the next level, then the Council will be in a position now to inform the Minister.”
Efforts by the No.1 Citizen Newspaper to get comments from the Minister of Trade and the council chairperson remained unsuccessful at the time of publication.
The SSNBS is a statutory body established under the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Co-operatives, governed by the National Standards Council.
The Executive Director is responsible for the bureau’s day-to-day operations.