South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Awan Achiek
The Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) on Monday held a sitting in camera to grill eleven ministers including the Commissioner General of National Revenue Authority over the prevailing hunger and economic crisis in the country.
Those summoned include, the Minister of Finance, Petroleum, Agriculture and Food Security, Trade and Industry, Mining, Livestock and Fisheries, Environment and Forestry, and Water Resources and Irrigation, Land, Housing and Urban Development, and Wildlife Conservation and Tourism together with the Minister of Investment.
Oliver Mori Benjamin, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee for Information and Communication said the sitting ‘in-camera’ allows MPs to take part in plenary without record of the sitting being made public.
“There is going to be sitting number 34 of 2024 for the National Legislative Assembly, but it is going to be in camera as for the conduct of business and the constitution which allows the parliament to have sittings in camera,” Mori told journalists on Monday in Juba.
Mori promised to brief the public on the outcome of the sitting on Tuesday.
“So, for the interest of our public and our journalists, we have agreed that tomorrow at 9 o’clock, let them come, then we will brief them on the outcome of the sitting in camera. It means only members of parliament will be the ones present in the hall. Even hall attendants are not going to be there,” he said.
Mori said the ministers are expected to answer queries on the prevailing hunger situation and the bad economic situation.
The ministers were served with summonses on August 6, 2024.
They were expected to appear before the house on August 14 to provide the policy responses of their respective ministries on how to address the prevailing hunger, and the dire economic situation, but most of them failed to respect the summonses.
