The National Legislative Assembly has suspended consideration of the Martyrs’ Family Fund Bill 2015 pending a public hearing on the matter. Elements of the bill were criticized by some ruling party MPs in parliament yesterday.

The bill would presumably provide funding to families of deceased soldiers, but some MPs said that the law did not adequately limit who would be eligible and who not. Deputy Speaker Mark Nyipuoc ruled on Wednesday after controversial deliberations that the bill should be deferred for public hearing.

“Honourable members, calm down please. We have divereged enough on this bill, and it is not harmful for us to conduct a public hearing, instead it will enrich this bill... the public hearing must be held on this before it is brougth to the third reading,” he said.

Jonglei State Member of Parliament Ajang Bior criticized the Martyrs’ Family Fund Bill 2015 for failing to define precisely martyr and a martyr's child, including which people would be eligible from which wars.

“For your information, right honourable speaker, is that this bill is coming without proper definition who is a martyr and who is the child of a martyr? They only talk about events like the Anyanya I, SPLM. There are even wars going on now for which we will receive martyrs. My concern is that there should be an age limit.”

“When you talk of children of martyrs and then you include Anyanya I, you know Anyanya I activities is over 42 years now. So what is your definition of a child? This would include me at 70, isn't it?”

Ajang concluded, “So my suggestion is that we have to settle the issue of a child of a martyr.”

Warrap State MP Aleu Ayieny Aleu blasted the bill for supporting only the children of 'martyrs' rather than widows and orphans more broadly.

“The problem now is coming from the naming of the fund. Because when people talk of martyrs' families, it is a definition that is bring us to the problem,” he said.

“Had it come as the bill estalbihsing a fund for the Commission of Disabled, Widows, we would not have any problem. But if you make it martyrs' families, we are excluding the disabled. Confusing the two is not correct.”

Aleu continued, “In Cuba, martyrs are treated differently from disabled, widows and orphans. What you do to martyrs is just honouring them – like we did to our late John Garang. And I've seen a very big mountain dedicated to all the martyrs in Cuba where unknown graves of thousands are put and every year people go and celebrate for them.”

“Let us change the name from Martyrs' Families Fund,” he said.

File photo