[OPINION] – Medical Allowances: MPs Must Remember Their Duty to the People

(Likambu Isaac, JUBA) – I am deeply disappointed and heartbroken after reading a recent report by Eye Radio, in which the National Transitional Legislative Assembly urged the Ministry of Finance to prioritise medical allowances for Members of Parliament.

It is painful to witness our leaders who are meant to represent and fight for the people focusing solely on their own benefits while millions of South Sudanese continue to suffer daily.

As an ordinary citizen living in poverty, with no proper roads, clean water or access to healthcare, I find it shameful that our elected representatives are more concerned about their personal welfare than the well being of the people who gave them the mandate to lead.

Many of us cannot even afford basic medicine when we fall ill. Our hospitals are empty, understaffed and lacking essential equipment. Pregnant women are dying in rural areas due to the absence of ambulances, doctors, or any form of government support. Yet the MPs who already enjoy various privileges are still asking for more for themselves.

South Sudan continues to grapple with insecurity, hunger, displacement and disease outbreaks. Instead of using their platform to address these urgent issues and to push for peace and development, our leaders have returned from recess only to talk about their own allowances. This is not what leadership looks like. It is selfishness.

We, the citizens, are calling on Members of Parliament and the Speaker of the Assembly to realign their priorities. What South Sudan needs is a functioning healthcare system, lasting peace and improved security. We need roads, schools and jobs, not to hear about the luxurious medical entitlements of people already living more comfortably than the majority of us.

I speak not only for myself, but for every voiceless South Sudanese who is tired of being overlooked. It is time for our leaders to remember why they were elected: to serve the people, not themselves.

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