By Yiep Joseph
Civil society activists have criticized the transitional government over the replacement of the only female governor, asserting that this action violates the mandate for women’s representation.
On Friday, President Salva Kiir relieved Sarah Cleto, the governor of Western Bahr el Ghazal State, of her duties and replaced her with Emmanuel Primo Okello.
Cleto, a member of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO), was the only woman holding a gubernatorial position.
The replacement of Governor Sarah Cleto with Emmanuel Primo Okello is seen as a violation of the 35% representation for women, as all states and administrative areas will now be governed by men.
The revitalized peace agreement signed in September 2018, mandates a minimum of 35% representation for women at all levels of governance through affirmative action.
Despite intentions to appoint more women to leadership roles, many women continue to be replaced by men in positions such as the Ministry of Defence Veterans Affairs and Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, among others.
Reacting to the recent changes, members of civil society have expressed their disappointment with the government, criticizing it for its ongoing violations of the 35% minimum representation for women as outlined in the agreement.
Edmund Yakani, the Executive Director for Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), reiterated that several reshuffles violate the 35% affirmation for women as stipulated in the peace agreement.
Yakani threatened that civil society may be forced to go to court should the government continue violating women’s representation.
“This continuous violation of affirmative action of 35% minimum representation for women will make us(Civil Society) one day take you(government) to the court of law to question your commitment and your responsibility for enforcing the affirmative action of minimum 35% representation as it is in the provision of the agreement,” Yakani said.
“For a few years, reshuffles that happened at various levels of government, those reshuffles are leading us(South Sudan) to violation of the affirmative action of a minimum 35% presentation of women at various levels at the national level. We have lost women seats to men, and now we are losing seats of state governors to men,” he said.
He called on the SPLM-IO to ensure that a female governor is appointed in one of their states as per the power-sharing.
“Our first call is that we are urging SPLM-IO to ensure any reshuffle that will happen in Western Equatoria State and Upper Nile State, one of them has to be taken over by a female governor; do not violate for us the 35%,” he said.
He added that the SPLM-IG has continued to violate affirmative action for the representation of women in the government.
Yakani called on the government to prioritize women and youth representatives in leadership in order to make inclusive decisions.
In his part Ter Manyang Gatwech, the Executive Directive Center for Peace and Advocacy (CPA), condemned the replacement of Governor Cleto with a male governor, citing that it violates women’s representation in the government.
“I condemned the replacement of the Governor (Sarah Cleto) with a man; as a human rights advocate, I am deeply concerned about the actions taken by SPLM-IG and SPLM-IO that undermine the participation of women in the RTGoNU,” Ter said.
He claimed that this has been a common practice by the presidency where women in leadership are replaced with females.
“This matter is urgent and should be addressed immediately by all parties involved in the R-ARCSS; this is not the first time that women have been removed from their positions and replaced by men,” he said.
“This indicates that the RTGoNU is not prepared to implement the 35% quota outlined in the R-ARCSS,” he said.
He called on the government to ensure that they consider the representation of several groups: women, youth, and people with disabilities.