A response to the concocted allegations labelled against the Speaker of TNLA Hon. Jemma Nunu by the illiterate Governor of Western Equatoria State

By Cde Meen Gabriel Chol

On 31st August 2023, The illiterate Governor of Western Equatoria State Gen. Alfred Futiyo Karaba who doubles as militia commander of SPLA IO Sector Six, penned a malicious and misleading letter to the President of the Republic, requesting him to remove the incumbent Speaker of the NTLA Hon. Jemma Nunu Kumba from the speakership. The Former Head of Yambio Butcher Union, later turned into Militia General, falsely accused the peace loving Speaker of funding tribal conflicts in Tambura County as well as border conflicts . 

Before disputing the allegations raised against the Speaker in the letter, let us bring to the attention of our citizens that the national legislature is an independent organ of the government and he as a Governor of the State has no constitutional right to appeal for the removal of the NTLA Speaker. Gen. Alfred Futiyo Karaba wrote a letter to the president after he was summoned by the Parliament to answer the questions regarding the salaries of the employees of defunct Amadi, Maridi and Tambura States. After receiving the summon letter, the warmonger Gen. Alfred Futiyo Karaba suspected Rt Hon. Nunu Kumba was behind his summon and quickly rushed to coin allegations against her. The governor is incapable of differentiating the parliament as an institution from Hon. Jemma Nunu as an individual. The corrupt and illiterate governor was summoned by the parliament as an institution not Hon. Nunu Kumba.

Gen. Alfred Futiyo Karaba in his letter accused the Honourable Speaker of laying off the civil servants from Baka and Moru ethnic groups in 2008 when she was a Governor of Western Equatoria State. The issues to do with the government employees in the state are the constitutional responsibilities of the national Ministry of Public Service in collaboration with the State Ministry of Public Service and Human Resource Development. The State Governor has no constitutional powers to either recruit or lay off civil servants. Hon. Nunu Kumba as the governor of Western Equatoria State by then never involved herself in the issues to do with the employees leave alone downsizing them.

Regarding the allegations of ordering the military to shoot the school girls after the celebration of CPA Day in 2009. All the citizens of Western Equatoria State can recall that the CPA Day of 2009 was celebrated peacefully and no such incident of shooting occurred during the celebrations or after the celebrations.

The War Loving Governor of Western Equatoria further accused the Honourable Speaker of funding the tribal conflicts between Azande and Balanda ethnic groups in Tambura County in 2021. Every Citizen of Western Equatoria is aware that the tribal conflicts between the peaceful tribes of Azande and Balanda in Tambura County were  instigated by the forces of SPLA IO under the command of Gen.  Alfred Futiyo Karaba himself. Futiyo is a coin of two faces. He is a commander of SPLA IO Sector Six militias and a Governor at the same time. Hon. Nunu Kumba is a civilian politician with not even a single armed personnel under her authority unlike Mr governor who still commands thousands of rebel militias in Western Equatoria State. 

The communities of Azande and Balanda in Tambura County were coexisting peacefully during the gubernatorial tenure of Hon. Jemma Nunu Kumba. If she is a tribalist then the conflict between these two tribes would have broken out during her tenure as Governor of Western Equatoria State ( 2008-2010). Hon. Jemma Nunu has no hand in the conflict between Azande and Balanda tribes. In addition, the ongoing conflicts along the borders of South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic emerged as a result of the failure of the state government under his leadership. As a head of security in the state, Gen.  Alfred Futiyo has totally failed to maintain security and resorted to pointing his hands at the innocent and peace loving leaders like Hon. Jemma Nunu Kumba.

Gen.  Alfred Futiyo Karaba is a founder of all the ongoing conflicts in the Western Equatoria State and any citizen of Western Equatoria State can attest to this and no need for him to put blame on others. As an African proverb says " whenever a man fails to control his house, he should refrain from blaming others for the mess in the house". Gen. Futiyo should resign from the governorship and resume his previous business of selling meat in the butchery and give a chance to someone with leadership skills.

Otherwise he will be accountable for all the messes that are occuring in Western Equatoria State. In addition the governor should order his Press Secretary Alex Daniel Digi to stop abusing the President of the Republic on social media. Up to day, Mr. Governor is still seeing himself as a rebel commander in the bush and that's why his Press Secretary is always insulting the President of the Republic in the social media on daily bases. 

In conclusion, the UNMISS and all the citizens who might have come across the letter are urged to disregard whatever the illiterate governor has rebelled against the Hon. Speaker Jemma Nunu and other leaders of Western Equatoria. The governor should be advised to focus on peace building initiatives and refrain from anti peace activities in the State. 

The Author is. 

Cde, Meen Gabriel Chol Kuac 

The SPLM Senior Political Activist