Kumba urges lawmakers to avoid campaigns for political gains

JUBA – South Sudan’s newly-appointed Speaker of the Reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly Jemma Nunu Kumba has called upon the members of the Legislative Assembly to work together with a common goal of serving the people even if they belonged to different political parties with varying ideologies.

“We are not expected at this point in time to engage and dwell on a campaign to excel and demonstrate which of our political parties is best. We are not expected to dwell on campaigning for our respective political gains,” Nunu said after the swearing-in ceremony in Juba yesterday.

“The time for that is not now. That time will come when elections are scheduled at the end of the transitional period. As of now, we should all fully commit to the implementation of the peace agreement as a unity government,” Nunu added.

She urged the lawmakers to prove to African and the rest of the world that South Sudan is not a fail state by implementing the 2018 peace deal.

“All with such spirit shall we be able to solve the problems among us and to prove to the rest of Africa and the world at large that we are not a fail state but people capable of governing ourselves,” she said.

She stressed the need for dialogue to ensure the full implementation of the peace agreement.

“We need to engage in serious dialogue with tolerance, a spirit of compromise and respect for each other views to overcome the few contentious issues that still block the path to full implementation of the agreement,” she said.

“I urge you all to commit to an agreement and its implementation in letter and spirit. Whatever challenges in front of us shouldn’t prevent us from recommitting ourselves to this peace agreement,” she added.

She stressed the need to include youth in the decision-making process in the country as well promotion of the wellbeing of the most vulnerable groups such as women, children, and the elderly.