South Sudan\u2019s parliament is facing questions over its independence after President Salva Kiir appointed Joseph Ngere Paciko as the new Speaker of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly, with Abuk Payiti Ayik as Deputy Speaker.<\/p>\n
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Rajab Mohandis, a Human Rights Activist in South Sudan, told local media; \u201cThe assembly is not independent. Most members are appointed by presidential decree and can be removed at any time. This means decisions often reflect political convenience rather than the interests of citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The appointments follow the dismissal of former Speaker Dr Jemma Nunu Kumba and her Deputy, Permena Awerial Aluong, after Kiir\u2019s ruling Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Movement (SPLM) accused them of mismanaging parliamentary funds, a charge Kumba has denied.<\/p>\n
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Mohandis described the reshuffle as part of a broader pattern in South Sudan\u2019s politics. \u201cCorruption is often cited as the reason for removal, but these moves are mostly about consolidating support within the ruling party. Positions are easily replaced at the President\u2019s discretion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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He added that lobbying by groups close to the President often drives these changes. \u201cThe President gains political capital from reshuffles, not necessarily a cleaner government,\u201d Mohandis explained.<\/p>\n
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The new Speaker may enjoy support from some MPs whose concerns were addressed, but Mohandis warned that the broader institutional fragility limits the assembly\u2019s effectiveness in governance and oversight.<\/p>\n
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–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":23349,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-31116","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"South Sudan\u2019s parliament is facing questions over its independence","published_date":"2026-04-08 13:39:58","news_description":"South Sudan\u2019s parliament is facing questions over its independence","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31118,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31116\/revisions\/31118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=31116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}