By Baraka John
The Speaker of the Western Equatoria State Transitional Legislative Assembly has called on state ministers to urgently present their ministries’ policy frameworks to the parliament to guide governance and budget planning.
Speaking on Wednesday during the swearing-in ceremony of recently appointed officials, Speaker Hon. Ann Tuna Richard urged ministers to prepare and submit clear policy plans outlining the priorities and direction of their respective ministries.
According to the speaker, although the state government usually presents a general policy statement during the official opening of the assembly, individual ministers are also required to present detailed policy frameworks for their ministries.
She said presenting the frameworks to the assembly would help lawmakers understand the government’s plans and make informed decisions during budget allocations.
Let all the ministers prepare their policy statement and come and present to the parliament, after the governor presents the policy statement during the opening of the assembly, immediately they will begin to present after the governor,”. Tuna urged. “So in the next session, I want to see into it that all the ministers present their policy framework to the parliament, so that if the budget comes to the parliament, we can know that the budget of this ministry is very small, and then we can do chopping here and there to at least add to your ministry so that you deliver service to our people”.
Meanwhile, Governor Badagbu Daniel Rimbasa echoed the speaker’s call, urging ministers to develop and submit their policy frameworks to the legislative assembly as soon as possible.
All the ministers, you have to present yourself with the, the, the policy framework to the assembly. You can also be summoned. The issue of summoned, I was told that the meaning of summon is difficult here. Once they say they are summoning somebody, you rush to me. Even if they summon you, don’t come to me here. Because the name summons, it’s a language for the parliament,” Rimbasa appealed. “Summon means calling. So this is how we must understand it.
He added, “You go to the assembly because they also have the oversight of government, and we must work independently but interconnected, so that the executive cannot work without the assembly and without the head of legal administration. So the three wings of government must be working now together. When you don’t work with the three, that means we are already in trouble”.
On Wednesday, the government of Western Equatoria state swore in several new officials, including ministers, advisers, and county commissioners, who were sworn into office during the ceremony as part of efforts to strengthen governance and service delivery in Western Equatoria State.