South Sudan’s parliament will hold a procedural sitting on Tuesday morning to arrange the installation of a new speaker and deputy speaker, the assembly’s spokesperson said, despite objections from the incumbent.
Spokesperson Oliver Mori Benjamin said lawmakers had been invited to attend the April 7 sitting to inaugurate new leadership to replace Jemma Nunu Kumba and her deputy Permena Awerial Aluong.
“All members are requested to report to parliament at 9 a.m. sharp, and the sitting will start at 10 o’clock. Any member who comes later than that time will not be allowed to enter,” Benjamin told reporters in Juba on Monday.
The planned session follows Kumba’s rejection of efforts to remove her, saying a recent meeting of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) that endorsed her ouster did not follow due process.
In a statement on Sunday, Kumba said only three preselected lawmakers were allowed to support a petition for her removal at the meeting, attended by President Salva Kiir, with no formal debate or vote. She added she was not given a chance to respond.
Kumba, appointed speaker in August 2021, said she would continue to perform her constitutional duties pending formal directives.
The dispute stems from a March 31 SPLM parliamentary caucus meeting where lawmakers said they had voted overwhelmingly to remove her, citing poor management and corruption allegations. Kiir, who chairs the party, attended the meeting.
Parliament last week postponed an extraordinary sitting pending the appointment of new leadership, but no presidential decree removing Kumba has been issued.
The SPLM leadership has quietly withdrawn its support for the speaker and deputy speaker of parliament, according to a directive issued by party leader Salva Kiir.
The April 2 order, seen by Radio Tamazuj, revokes the nomination of Speaker Jemma Nunu Kumba and Deputy Speaker Permena Awerial Aluong.
The directive cites provisions of the 2018 peace agreement and the SPLM constitution, as well as a resolution adopted by the party’s parliamentary caucus on March 31 in Juba.
Kiir instructed the SPLM chief whip to notify the assembly’s clerk to begin procedures to vacate the two positions, in line with parliamentary regulations.
Several SPLM lawmakers told Radio Tamazuj that Joseph Ngere Paciko is expected to take over as speaker, with Madam Abuk Payiti Ayik as deputy speaker for finance and administration. The appointments are expected to be endorsed at Tuesday’s sitting.
South Sudan has a bicameral legislature comprising the TNLA as the lower house and the Council of States as the upper chamber. Under the 2018 peace deal, the SPLM holds a majority in the assembly, which includes opposition representatives.
The TNLA speaker has three deputies: the first for parliamentary affairs (SPLM-IO), the second for administration and finance (SPLM), and the third for members’ welfare (Other Political Parties).