Security personnel in Juba yesterday blocked journalists from covering a joint session of the Finance and Economic Committees at which it was reported that the 2014/2015 budget was overspent.
Plainclothes security personnel removed the journalists from the parliament as the hearing got underway.
In general, parliament sittings in South Sudan are supposed to be open to the public, according to the constitution, but the legislature may decide that certain deliberations be held in secret.
“The sittings of the National Legislature or either of its two Houses shall be open to the public; its proceedings shall be published and may also be broadcast. However, the National Legislature or either House may decide according to its Conduct of Business Regulations that certain deliberations take place in camera,” reads article 75 of the Transitional Constitution.
At the beginning of the hearing on Monday, a representative of the NLA Accounting Committee stated that the ministry of Finance and Economic Planning overspent on some line items. For example, “The ministry of Finance and Economic Planning overpent its budget for the fiscal year 2014/2015 in salaries and use of goods and services,” said the official, whose name was not given to journalists.
He added that other accountability agencies have also overspent their budget lines. But he also noted that the Ministry of Finance throughout all of last year has not paid the operation budget over to the Anti-Corruption Commission, which he said is over 2 million.
As the committee began to read further findings, however, security personel in the parliament decided to tell all the journalists to go out from the sitting.
