Who is Rt Hon. Jemma Nunu Kumba?

“Together with men, women make better leaders”

By Larco Lomayat

Women are crucial contributors to their societies. They are the ones who cross ethnic and religious borders and who see the healthy development of their children. They are the ones to advocate for education, employment, and new opportunities for young people.

The President of the Republic of South Sudan, H. E. Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit once had passed his sincere thanks and congratulatory message to all the women of South Sudan and he said “You know that women had made enormous contributions in the liberation struggle.

Their immense contributions to the birth of this nation are beyond any measurement. They are architects of our history and for clearing the way for future generations to live in a more equitable society. As a government, we will do whatever we can within our capacity and power to make sure that they get the opportunities to realize their dreams and utilize their potentials at any level”.

Women are peace-loving people. Peace can only last when women are also involved, that is why they are important in leadership roles in South Sudan.

South Sudanese women have also made a lot of contributions to our society. They have participated a lot in the struggle of our people. They have made significant sacrifices; one of these women who we are all proud of is the current Right Honorable Speaker, Jemma Nunu Kumba who is also The Acting Secretary-General of Sudan Peoples; Liberation Movement (SPLM).

Comrade Jemma has been an SPLM member since its inception in 1983 and was an active member from within the student’s movement since she was a high school student at Juba Day Secondary School.

In 1991, Comrade Jemma left Khartoum with her two little daughters, aged 2.5 and 1 respectively, and effectively joined her husband in the Kidepo Valley, one of the SPLM/A liberated areas by then.

From 1993 to 1994, she worked at NITCO, an SPLM transport company in Kampala, Uganda, as an administrative secretary.
Also, from 1993 to 1994, she studied business studies, focusing on bookkeeping at the YMCA Comprehensive Institute in Kampala, Uganda.

Between 1994 and 1996, she served as a relief coordinator in the New Sudan Council of Churches in the SPLM/A liberated areas in Equatoria, Upper Nile Regions including Nuba mountains.

In 1997, she worked as the women and youth program desk officer for the New Sudan Council of Churches in Nairobi, Kenya
From 1997 to 1998, the New Sudan Council of Churches partners offered her a nine-month diploma course, on scholarship, in Kitwe, Zambia; in which she obtained a Diploma in Leadership Development for Women.

From 1999 to 2002, Comrade Jemma joined the University of Namibia, Faculty of Economics and Management Science, and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration and Political Science.

From 2001-2002, she worked as an intern for the World Health Organization (WHO) in Windhoek, Namibia.

In 2002, she was appointed by the late Chairman of the SPLM, Dr. John Garang de Mabior as one of SPLM peace negotiators in Machakos and Naivasha, Kenya.

In 2003, she attended diplomacy training in Asmara, Eretria. From 2003 to 2005, Comrade Jemma was a gender advisor for Christian Aid, Southern Sudan Program, a United Kingdom-based organization in Nairobi, Kenya.

In 2005, she was among the SPLM advance team sent to Juba. And was nicknamed “NAKIDEN” by the people of Juba; because she was the only woman in the delegation.

In August 2005, she was appointed by the SPLM to the National Parliament in Khartoum, where she served as the chairperson for the Committee of Economic Affairs. It was the first time for a Southern Sudanese and a woman to head such a committee.

In December 2005, Comrade Jemma was nominated to represent Sudan as one of the five members of Sudanese parliamentarians to the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) in Midrand, South Africa, and also served as the head of this delegation. She was also the first Southern Sudanese woman to be at the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), where she also served as a member of the Committee for Co-operation, International Relations and Conflict Resolution.

In January 2006, she attended a training program on Women and Public Policy at John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Boston, USA.

In October 2007, she competed with male candidates from Liberia and Cameroon for the position of deputy chairperson of the Committee for Cooperation, International Relations and Conflict Management.

Comrade Jemma Kumba won the election as the Deputy Chairperson of the committee and held the position until 2008 when she was appointed as a governor of Western Equatoria State.

During her reign as a member of the National Assembly in Khartoum, she was a member of the Advisory Council for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She also served as a member of the National Council for African Peer Review Mechanism. During this period, she attended various international forums including the First Sudan Consortium Meeting in Paris, France and the Joint Sudanese and German Business Forum in Frankfort, Germany.

She attended the African Union Conference on the AU Policy for Post Conflict Reconstruction and Development in Lusaka, Zambia. She also went on a study tour on elections systems and observation in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Comrade Jemma, is a member of the worldwide Women Network Organization known as Initiative for Inclusive Security.
In 2006, Comrade Jemma spear-headed the formation the Sudanese National Women Parliamentary Caucus in the National Assembly in Khartoum as an umbrella for all women Parliamentarians in Sudan and served in this body as the Deputy President.

In 2006, she was appointed as a member of SPLM National Liberation Council; and in 2007 subsequently, as a member of the SPLM Political Bureau a position she held to date.

In February 2007, she participated in the first International Women Parliament Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, which brought together a very high profile and prominent women from all over the world, including the former Liberian President H. E. Hellen Johnson Sirleaf and the wife of Tony Blair, female speakers and Senators.

In 2008, she was appointed governor of Western Equatoria State and was the first and only female governor in Southern Sudan and the whole of Sudan after the CPA and thereafter became the state SPLM Chairperson in Western Equatoria State.
In June 2010, she was appointed as GOSS Minister of Housing and Physical Planning.

On August 26, 2011, Hon. Jemma was reappointed as the Minister of Housing and Physical Planning in the New Republic of South Sudan.
On September 7, 2011, Jemma was Appointed as Chairperson of Ministerial Committee for Building Ramciel Union and/or National Territory of the Republic of South Sudan.

On January 9, 2012, Comrade Jemma was appointed as a member of the National Constitution Review Commission (NCRC).
In 2013, Comrade Jemma was appointed as the Minister of Electricity, Dams and Water Resources.

In 2015 after the signing of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflicts in South Sudan, Hon. Jemma Nunu Kumba was appointed as the Minister of Wildlife, Conservation and Tourism.

In 2018 Comrade Jemma was appointed of Minister of Gender, Child and Social Welfare. In 2019 After the signing of the R-ARCSS, Comrade Jemma was appointed as the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs.

On 23rd July 2021, Comrade Jemma was nominated by the SPLM Leadership as SPLM Candidate for the position of the Speaker of the Revitalized Transitional National Legislative Assembly (RTNLA).

On Monday, August 2nd, 2021, Hon. Jemma was unanimously endorsed by the members of the RTNLA as the Right Honorable Speaker of the Revitalized Transitional National Legislative Assembly (RTNLA) (The First Female Speaker in The Parliament of The Republic of South Sudan).

Rt. Hon. Speaker, Jemma Nunu Kumba is a mother of four children, three girls and a boy, she hails from the Azande tribe in Western Equatoria State, she is the wife of Hon. Dr. Festo Kumba, the former Minister of Animal Resources and Fisheries who was appointed to that position on October 22nd, 2005 by the President of the then government of Southern Sudan, His Excellency General Salva Kiir Mayardit. Dr. Festo Kumba currently is one of the MPs of the South Sudan Parliament.

On August 2nd, 2021, on the occasion of assuming the speakership, Rt. Hon. Jemma Nunu Kumba said “It is my humble conviction that the citizens of South Sudan, represented by the Honorable Members in this august house, stand with President Salva Kiir Mayardit and appreciate him for this patriotic move. It is hoped that from now onward, Southerners will firmly join the President in the noble endeavor to achieve full emancipation and empowerment for the women of our country.

Accounting for nearly 60 % of our country’s population, the women constituency is too huge to ignore and marginalize.

Dear Honorable Members, the rest of my speech will not dwell on the past. On the contrary, it will focus on the present and future for this is what the citizens of our beloved nation expect of this parliament. The R-ARCSS deliberately provided for an expanded legislature inclusive of the various political parties in the country.

The aim was to constitute a peoples’ national legislative body that is comprehensively inclusive of all political shades of opinion to tackle the predicaments that led us to war. It was also intended to lay a solid foundation and practical strategies to serve the best interest of all our citizens irrespective of ethnicity, gender, and geographical background.

However, I am sure you all are aware that the challenges ahead of us are enormous. To confront and overcome those challenges, the situation demands that we as the representatives of our people should look beyond political, partisan, and tribal expediencies and focus keenly on the common good of all. All our various political parties should put heads together so that we can collectively and with open minds solve our national problems.

Therefore, in an atmosphere of patriotism, brotherhood and sisterhood, we ought to engage in serious dialogue, with tolerance, the spirit of compromise and respect for each other’s views, to overcome the few contentious issues that still block the path to full implementation of the R-ARCSS.

Only with such a spirit shall we be able to solve the problems among us and prove to the rest of Africa and the world at large that we are not a failed state; but a people capable of governing ourselves.