By James Aniceto Batikayo
Chairman of the Real SPLM, Mr. Pagan Amum has of late revealed in a Radio Interview that the end result of the ongoing Tumaini Peace Talks in Nairobi – Kenya would be “a National Constitution Conference” to be held first in Kenya before it is officially launched in South Sudan due to insecurity.
In his expectation, that constitutional conference will require broad and extensive participation embosoming all shades of opinion, across South Sudan.
Some people shrugged off the statement of the boss of the Real SPLM Pagan Amum, because the National Constitutional Conference is already enshrined in the Transitional National Constitution 2011 that is now in force in the country. To be more clear, Part Sixteen of the Transitional National Constitution bearing the title: Transitional Provisions and The Permanent Constitution Process, as well as its sub-title Chapter II, referred to as Permanent Constitution Process, provides that: “Upon the presentation of the Draft Constitutional Text and Explanatory Report by the Commission, the President of the Republic shall, after consultation with relevant stakeholders, constitute and convene a National Constitutional Conference comprising delegates representing the following categories: the political parties, civil society organizations, women organizations, youth organizations, faith-based organizations, people with special needs, Traditional Leaders, war widows, war veterans and war wounded, business leaders, trade unions, professional associations, the academia, and other categories to be determined.” Each of the aforementioned categories shall nominate their delegates and present their names to the President for appointment to the National Constitutional Conference. Mr. Pagan as a former Secretary General of the SPLM should have known that. However, he suggested also in the interview that the General Elections scheduled for December 2024 should be laid to rest until peace and stability prevail in all parts of South Sudan. Well, that may be good enough but such a situation will definitely take very long time to happen, perhaps ages. Insecurity in our world today is everywhere including in Kenya where the boss of the Real SPLM is now present. The difference is only in the time of occurrence.
One is very surprised as well, about the National Constitutional Review Commission (NCRC) which should have now been sent on drafting the new constitution but instead it is still training the members of the commission to know about the Separation of Powers in the constitution, what are the functions of the Judiciary and how to deal with gender issues and the Media etc. In fact when the present Secretary General of the commission was reappointed, many were happy thinking that he was going to be very instrumental for completion of the constitutional process now that the country is going for elections in December 2024, which is a short while from now. The reason was that Late Professor Akolda Ma’an Tier the former Chairman of the NCRC and many other distinguished dignitaries such as Late Justice John Luk Jok, Justice Ambrose Ring Thiik, Advocate Lawrence Korbandi, Dr. Peter Adwok Nyaba, Veteran Politician Lawyer Dr. Aldo Ajo Deng, Lawyer Robert Lado Lwoki, Professor George Bureneg Nyombe (Professor of English Language) and many others, had met, worked, travelled across the country and abroad and prepared papers and reports on this important matter. What has not been done is within the Civic Education framework. Things like posting billboards in local dialects, holding regular TV and Radio snap shows in local and other languages, and staging grand rallies which some could be televised and broadcast. There is no need for a fresh beginning on the making of the new constitution any more. The work that started in July 2012 must simply be completed not necessarily in 18 months as stipulated in the R-ARCSS 2018 and the NCRC should then after be forthwith dissolved. Since Sudan took its independence in 1956 and South Sudan was then part of that country, it has had no Permanent Constitution up to now after the lapse of more than 60 years. It had to go through successive military junta and civilian governments each claiming to have written a permanent constitution for the country. It has been a vicious circle over there, same as what the present reconstituted NCRC seems to wish to go through, to put away all what was done under Late Professor Akolda and come up with a new fashion of constitution. The NCRC should now be pressurized to constitute a competent committee of experienced lawyers and professionals of different calibre from among their members or other institutions, to sit and write professionally the draft Permanent Constitution which should be passed on very soon enough to the National Constitutional Conference for deliberation and endorsement under the chairmanship of the Chief Justice of South Sudan, not the Speaker. The process moves on from there to complete the making of the permanent constitution in accordance with the Transitional Constitution now in force in the country. Later on, the Speaker and present national parliament, the R-TNLA, will receive the draft constitution from the Chief Justice, to enact and present it to the President of the Republic for assent to become the Permanent Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan, prior to elections 2024. The present parliament will then be dissolved immediately after the elected President has taken oath of office, to give way for a new fresh democratic elected parliament and the end of the Revitalized Agreement 2018.
Job well done, so far, is seen with the National Elections Commission which has opened offices in all the states and is inviting the public for voter registration. Unfortunately, the media is still behind in a state of ruckus about the 2024 elections; particularly with the Ptomaine Peace Talks juggling in Nairobi – Kenya. Nevertheless, the opposition seems to be agreeing with the leadership of the country on the 2024 Presidential Elections. Next year 2025 seems to be the time for the Parliamentary Elections to be followed by the State Elections. Until then the population census to facilitate the delineation of constituencies, the security arrangements to have one National Army, the return of the refugees and displaced to their homes and so forth which are the conditions of some political parties for contesting the upcoming elections, will have been considerably satisfied. God Bless.