The speaker of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA), Jemma Nunu Kumba,
over alleged fraud, has threatened a politician from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) with legal action.
At a press conference held at the parliament in Juba on Friday, John Agany Deng, the
chairperson of the specialized committee on Information at the TNLA stated that Juol
Nhomngek Daniel, who had earlier in the week accused the speaker of attempting to
misappropriate SSP 12 million, was getting ready to defend himself in court.
“The Honorable Juol Nhomngek must present the accusations in order for them to be
supported; otherwise, he would be required to attend a court hearing regarding the charge he has made against Speaker Jemma Nunu Kumba.”
Nhomngek stated earlier this week that security personnel had slapped him as he attempted to stop the speaker from smuggling SSP 12 million out of the legislature.
In defense of the speaker, Agany asserted that the funds were intended to pay for South
Sudanese legislators travel to the regional East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA).
“On February 25 there was a complaint made against the speaker regarding SSP 12,495,000 which was administratively assigned to benefit the EALA members,” he stated. “EALA compensates our members, as you are aware, but it doesn’t stop us from assisting them when they arrive for breaks.” The SSP 12 million that the speaker is believed to have stolen was used to fund and provide them (EALA members) with flight tickets.
Agany claimed that Nhomngek has already implicated the speaker. He stated, “Hon. Juol Ngomngek and his associate must be well reminded that whatever allegation they pass against anyone in this house including the speaker will be attended to in a court of law and the speaker is entitled to self-defense in any court of law. “He has previously leveled similar accusations.
He has been making all of these claims for the past three to six months, and an ad hoc committee was established to look into them. He was found guilty of making false accusations against the speaker, who forgave him as a mother, after the investigation. He may be taking a chance by hoping for another pardon, in my opinion. He has also been the subject of a three-week probe by another committee, the speaker continued.
