Opposition members of the national transitional legislative assembly (TNLA) have confirmed gathering about 190 signatures in the house to strengthen their bid to impeach Speaker Jemma Nunu Kumba.
Juol Nhomngek, member of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in opposition (SPLM-IO) representing Cueibet County, said their campaign to oust the Speaker whom they allege to have misappropriated 12 million South Sudanese Pounds without properly accounting for it has gained strength.
“The motion has undergone several stages, we have almost reached but we have to update, we are now looking to see the content of those who signed from the beginning,” he told The Dawn in Juba on Friday.
Nhomngek disclosed that they hope to table the motion towards the end of April.
“We have just given it up to the end of this month or before that, this needs us to go to each member so that they reaffirm their position,” he said.
When quizzed by this newspaper to adduce evidence on the Speaker’s misconduct, Nhomngek said they are relying on photos taken at parliament when money was being carted to the Speaker’s motorcade.
“The argument of two -third majority is not there, the photos are there,” Nhomngek said.
John Agany Deng, the Spokesperson of the TNLA defended Speaker Jemma Nunu Kumba amid the looming threat of impeaching her.
“I believe these MPs who are beating a drum (impeachment) are uninformed and they don’t even know their duties. Why do you complain about something you don’t even know? The Speaker can’t use money randomly without regulatory financial mechanisms,” he said in an earlier interview about the matter.
Agany said the SPLM being the majority party in the 550- strong TNLA, will use it’s numerical strength to avert any threats to impeach the Speaker who belongs to the party.
“The nonsense of that type can never be executed without us the members of the SPLM to approve it,” he said.
The SPLM has 332 MPs and SPLM-IO with 128 and other parties 90 MPs. For the impeachment to succeed, the SPLM-IO MPs will require bipartisan support from the SPLM members to arrive to the requisite 360 signatures needed to oust the Speaker.
In March, SPLM-IO MPs led by Nhomngek accused Jemma Nunu Kumba of abuse of office when they alleged that she diverted 12 million South Sudanese pounds on the pretext of providing it to MPs in the East African Legislative Assembly.
However, the Speaker’s office countered the opposition, saying the money was meant to facilitate MPs representing in the Pan African legislative assembly.
“The MPs who questioned the money were just making noise without evidence to back up their claims,” the Speaker’s office said.
