By William Madouk
Assembly business committee (ABC) has referred a controversial transfer of 10 million US Dollars peace fund saga to a Specialized Committee.
National Legislative Assembly spokesperson, Oliver Mori said that the ABC deliberated on the matter, in an extraordinary meeting before referring it to the committee.
“The assembly business committee meeting No.8/2024, held in the blue room under Rt. Speaker, Jemma Nunu Kumba. The motion which was raised by Oyet Nathaniel Pierieno was thoroughly discussed,” Mori told No.1 Citizen Daily Newspaper.
According to Hon. Mori, the ABC resolved to refer the matter to the relevant committee in the parliament. “The Legislation and justice committee,” he added.
On ABC agenda, there were seven other items which include; anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing Act, 2012; UN treaty against Transnational organized crimes; and two motion of killing at Midan Jamus and counterfeiting SSP just to mention but a few.
The assembly business committee (ABC), is where the speaker, deputy speakers, and leaders of specialized committees meet to address issues bedeviling the assembly.
Early this month, MPs summoned top government officials to clarify transfer of SSP 15,322,000,000, that was intended to benefit several key institutions in the government.
They include; the National Constitutional Review Commission, the National Constitutional Amendment Committee, the National Human Rights Council, and the Judicial Reform Committee. on the transfer of funds amounting to millions of dollars.
Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Dr. Elia Lomuro, was badly grilled by the lawmakers.
This came after Oyet Nathaniel, the First Deputy Speaker of the National Parliament raised the motion, saying despite the funds being transferred, the amount allocated to each institution and the detailed expenditures remain unclear.
He added that the Ministry of Finance had allocated $30,000,000 to the relevant mechanisms, out of which the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs received $10,000,000.
On contrary, the Minister Lomuro in rebuttal denied the claim that $10 million been transferred to his docket.
“Let us be sincere, this document is totally untrue, I never requested the sum of $10,000,000 from the Central Bank because this document will reach the hands of the public,” he said.
He challenged the lawmakers, stating that the document presented was “totally untrue” and that he had never requested such an amount from the Central Bank, as the document would eventually reach the public domain.
Lomuro urged the lawmakers not to believe the unverified document, warning that the document would circulate to the public with different results.
Following the inquiry, the Parliament recommended that the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs pay all allocations due to the beneficiaries and peace implementation mechanisms.
MPs further recommended that the Ministry of Finance pay every spending agency directly through an official account rather than through a third-party institution.