Juba: Laws Needed So Legislature Puts Off Anti-Corruption

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 002227 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KCOR SU SUBJECT: Juba: Laws Needed So Legislature Puts Off Anti-Corruption ¶1. (SBU) Summary. On September 6, the second session of the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly (SSLA) opened with speeches by Speaker James Wani Igga and Government of Southern Sudan President Salva Kiir. While Kiir's speech officially kicked off the 200-day plan (septel),James Wani Igga focused more on the legislative agenda. The SSLA will now work to pass over 20 key laws, covering investment, business, civil service, the penal code, corruption, land tenure, and much more. The assembly will also call each minister to explain his policies and actions, with one minister called each week. Igga is expected to use procedural rules, however, to block any discussions on corruption. End Summary. -------------- Speaker Wants for Action, Hard Work -------------- ¶2. (U) During his speech, Igga called on the members to work diligently to pass urgently needed laws. Because no legislation was passed on the previous session, which focused on Kiir's policy statement and the budget, Southern Sudan is currently without any enforceable laws. Igga explained that, for example, the proposed land law could resolve the current dispute over control of Juba between the state and federal government (septel). Many lawmakers believe they will have to work overtime and extend their three-month session in order to make it through the thousands of pages of laws that the government has proposed. ¶3. (U) During his speech, the speaker also congratulated his colleagues for their work in the first session, including their primary accomplishment of raising the military's budget to 40 percent of expenditures. He said this was a just reward for the sacrifices the SPLA made during the war. Igga also applauded the efforts of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) talks to bring peace, and called on the SPLM to find a way to resolve the impasse between Khartoum and the international community over Darfur. -------------- Anti-Corruption Again Takes A Back Seat -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Several members of the SSLA privately complained to Consulate General (CG) officials that Igga would again stop any frank discussion on corruption from reaching the assembly's floor. Several MPs believe that the previous session ended abruptly in order to silence any criticism of the SPLM leaders and head off any investigation into corrupt practices. They fear that Igga will use a procedural rule, that motions submitted by the government take precedence over ones from the floor, to continue to cut off debate. When PolOff asked Igga about addressing corruption in the SSLA, Igga responded that while anti-corruption is a very important activity, the passing of laws must take priority if Southern Sudan is to develop. Igga also mentioned that GoSS motions are required to be discussed first, and that this would easily take up all the time of the assembly. ¶5. (U) Note: Previous reporting indicated that the session that opened in April 2006 was the second session. The SSLA has now decided to begin numbering from the April session, rather than the brief, earlier pre-session. End Note. POWERS