Ministers should own up their statements when the heat turns on

The Minister of Cabinet Affairs seems a man wary of bad times ahead, after he allegedly confessed last week that the President’s office runs a special projects account.

Martin Elia Lomuro, who appeared before lawmakers for questioning recently, over the alleged abuse of funds meant to finance key electoral institutions, has backtracked on his earlier remarks aired before MPs.

He is now claiming journalists misquoted him out of context which is the usual way of deflating attention on the seriousness of his utterances.

Ministers have for long accused journalists for misreporting their statements, but many journalists had access to the report signed by the First Deputy Speaker Oyet Nathaniel Pierino, which detailed how money from the Bank of South Sudan was transferred to the account of the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs instead of the known account of the very Ministry. Other monies were given to the office of the President’s Advisor on National Security and a clandestine law firm 9BR Chambers based in London.

Lomuro has the right to deny anything that he believes he never said, but the seriousness of the details in the report should warrant probe into the alleged siphoning of funds meant for key electoral mechanisms.

Parliament needs to show face when it matters most because all government institutions are perceived to be full of thieves.