Nov 16, 2020(Nyamilepedia) — The ministry of foreign affairs and international cooperation has urged ex-government officials to hand in their diplomatic passports when they are replaced.
Speaking during the National Dialogue on Thursday, the deputy minister Deng Dau Deng said that many ex-government officials refuse to hand in their diplomatic passports as they prefer diplomatic passports to special or official passports.
“Everybody wants to be a boss, everybody wants to be distinguished that they are very serious. This is why the diplomatic passport is a problem,” Deng Dau said.
The deputy minister added that the reason why there are many diplomatic passport holders in the country is because South Sudan has appointed and removed many government officials who do not surrender their passports after being relieved of their duties.
“You know how many governors and how many ministers have been appointed in this country. And if you are appointed and removed, we hold the passport and the person who has been appointed needs a new passport. Why are people refusing to hand in the passport?” he added.
Deng Dau further said that many government officials prefer diplomatic passports to special passports as they come with many privileges like diplomatic immunity in a foreign country and the ability to travel freely with their immediate family throughout the world.
The acting co-chair of the national dialogue Betty Chan called on the ministry to come up with a policy that will regulate the use of diplomatic passports.
“The ministry of foreign affairs needs to put a policy of when they can withdraw diplomatic passports or stop the use of diplomatic passports from constitutional post holders who have already been relieved,” Betty Achan Okwaro, the acting co-chair of the national dialogue said on Thursday.
The Passport and Immigration Act stipulates that upon the direction of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Directorate of Nationality, Passport and Immigration shall withdraw or cancel a Diplomatic or Special Passport, in accordance with the regulations.
