Juba, South Sudan
May 2, 2022 — South Sudan’s national legislative assembly has clarified media reports on the role of a committee formed to come up with a standard dress code for senior officials of the upper and lower houses in National Parliament.
This is in response to allegations purported by some media outlets that the committee was designing a dress code for the Rt. Speaker of National Legislature, Jemma Nunu Kumba.
In a statement seen by Nyamilepedia, the legislature says the six-member committee has been mandated to find a suitable dress code for not only the Speaker but also for the legal advisor, the clerk, the sergeant-in-arm, as well as the house attendees.
The committee headed by Mary Naway, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, is expected to report back to parliament within 60 days.
It is also expected to work hand in hand with other stakeholders in the project.
“In all of Africa and especially in different parliaments of Africa and also of the world they always have the Speaker and other officers in the house have a different code of dressing,” John Agany, the R-TNLA spokesperson said in a statement.
“It was decided by the National Legislative Assembly that there should be a special dress code for the Speaker, Clerk, Legal Advisor plus other officers”, Agany added.
According to R-TNLA spokesperson, an ad-hoc committee was constituted to come up with a standard form that can be used in the National Legislative Assembly together with the Council of States.
Regionally, and internationally, many speakers of parliament, their legal advisors and clerks dress differently from other members of parliament; however, in developed countries, the dress code may not matter very much.
