Furious Nunu Kumba berates senior SPLM official for calling her ‘upcoming president’

JUBA – South Sudan’s speaker of parliament and senior member of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) faction led by President Salva Kiir Mayardit has condemned comments by a senior party member in which she was referred to as “the upcoming president of our republic”.

Yesterday, SPLM Youth League Secretary-General Simon Machar called on the public to show up for a high-profile reception involving senior government and party officials for Kumba who was returning home from Kenya.

Kumba was in Kenya for a meeting of the East African Community speakers of parliament where she was elected as the next chairperson of the Beau of Speakers of East African parliament and was expected at Juba Airport on Sunday afternoon.

In his Facebook post that has angered the SPLM membership, Machuar called on the public to show up at the airport for a “popular reception of our Right Honorable speaker Comrade Jemma Nunu Kumba, the elected speaker of East Africa Speakers’ Forum and the upcoming president of our republic.”

But the comment did not go well with Kumba whose office immediately issued a statement describing it as a “very irresponsible” statement, calling the SPLM Youth League Secretary-General as a hired thief with an intention to stain her relations with President Salva Kiir who is also the chair of the party.

“The office of Rt. Hon Speaker of National Assembly learned with disappointment of the very irresponsible statement written by the so-called Simon Machuar Manhkeracnaak earlier this morning,” Kumba’s office said in a statement on Sunday afternoon.

The statement distanced itself from the statement and said “such unfortunate writing does not represent Rt Hon Jemma Nunu Kumba in any way since it was concocted by her political opponents and hired this machine so called Machuar to say it out.”

The statement reaffirmed that “the only legitimate body that has a power to nominate party’s flag bearer as it has nominated H. E Cde. Gen. Salva as the SPLM flag bearer in the upcoming elections.”