By Gladys Fred Kole
Executive Director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) has accused state governors and chief administrators of administrative areas of undermining resolutions adapted from the annual governors’ forums.
CEPO’s Edmund Yakani has often expressed concerns over the ineffectiveness of the forum.
Last year, Yakani called on the Presidency to ensure that the sixth annual Governor’s Conference didn’t turn into ‘Annual Political Tourism.
Juba is preparing to host the 7th State Governors and Chief Administrators’ Forum, which will take place at the end of this month.
But activist Yakani said their assessment shows that less than 10% of the adopted resolutions and recommendations during the 6th governors’ forum were not implemented.
According to CEPO, most of the governors and chief administrators don’t take seriously the resolutions adopted in the forum.
“The six governors’ forum of last year’s recommendations and resolutions were not properly implemented by the state governors and administrator chiefs,” Yakani echoed.
“I would like to repeat my voice as CEPO that we have evaluated the 6th state governors and chief administrators’ forum; resolutions were not implemented,” he reiterated.
Last year, the president warned the governors and chief administrators to take the implementation of the adopted resolutions seriously.
However, Yakani is urging President Kiir to first let the state governors and chief administrators start presenting reports before planning for the next forum.
“Your H.E., this time let the governors start presenting reports on their commitment towards those adopted resolutions and recommendations of last year; we are aware that most of them are actually violated by the leadership of the states and administrative areas,” the activist noted.
He emphasized the need to do an evaluation before opening a discussion for the 7th forum.
The Governors and Chief Administrators’ Forum is a forum held every year to bring together states, administrative areas, and central government, including youth, to make decisions for improving service delivery, governance, and respect for human rights across the country.
Last year, President Salva Kiir Mayardit asked the governors and chief administrators to implement resolutions and recommendations of the sixth governors’ forum.
President Kiir, during the closing of the sixth governors’ forum, said a lack of follow-up on the resolutions and recommendations of the forum remains a challenge.
“Let us address this lack of follow-up on the resolutions collectively at all levels of government. Failure to take this public concern seriously will erode public trust in the government’s understanding of the significance of this annual gathering,” said Kiir.
In a week-long forum, all governors and chief administrators brought up many challenges and worries linked to financial difficulties, security issues, and power overlapping among governors.
The sixth governors’ forum concluded with 52 resolutions and 83 recommendations from participants, and it’s divided into three categories: peace and security, governance, and economics.