Frequent changes of finance ministers in South Sudan have paralyzed the procurement of official vehicles for members of parliament, leaving lawmakers exposed to rising violent attacks as they are forced to use public transport, a senior parliamentary official said Tuesday.
The issue was thrust into the spotlight after an MP, Okello Odontor Lawiri, was severely injured in a knife attack by armed assailants while returning home from a bus ride.
The incident has ignited urgent concerns over the safety of legislators who lack both official cars and personal security.
John Junub Otto, a lawmaker who raised the case in the Transitional National Legislative Assembly, said the attack occurred Saturday after Lawiri disembarked from public transport and was waiting for a motorcycle taxi. Three armed men on a motorcycle who had been following the bus assaulted him.
“He was beaten and is in a medical condition. They were using a knife and injured him in his back and head,” Otto said. “So, right now, he’s in the hospital. This is a result of using public transport, because he has no car to be used.”
Second Deputy Speaker Parmena Awerial Aluong confirmed the government’s failure to provide vehicles to the chamber’s 650 members, directly blaming the high turnover within the Ministry of Finance for stalling the process.
“We fought on this issue last time, for all the 650 MPs to be given [cars]. But you have seen the changes of ministers every now and then. So that one is not constant,” Awerial said. “When you get a new minister, the new minister will say, ‘Okay, we will work on it.’” He added that a proposal had been presented to the president, but the country’s financial crisis has prevented its fulfillment.
President Salva Kiir Mayardit on Monday dismissed finance minister Athian Diing Athian, marking the eighth change in the position since 2020.
Deputy Speaker Awerial also linked the broader threat against MPs to the South Sudan’s severe economic crisis, stating that attackers target lawmakers under the mistaken belief that they are wealthy.
“Concerning the security of the MPs, this is because of the economic situation,” he said. “It’s correct that when they (gangs) see MPs going they thought you have money. Yet all of us are suffering.”
He sought to dispel that perception, noting the widespread financial hardship. “They don’t know that even us will stand in line in the bank to get 100 or 50 thousand [South Sudanese Pounds],” Awerial said.
The attack on Lawiri is not an isolated event. In October, MP Nyayang Johnson Lok Riek reported that lawmakers are routinely harassed by security personnel who accuse them of being the cause of the national crisis.