South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Benjamin Takpiny
The Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) has been asked by the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) to speed up the enactment of critical pending bills.
Maj. Gen (Rtd) Charles Tai Gituai, the Interim Chairperson of RJMEC urged legislators on Tuesday to expedite the enactment of the NGO, Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Healing (CTRH) and the Compensation and Reparation Authority bills that have been pending before the house.
Gituai was speaking during the presentation of the second 2024 quarterly report between 1st April To 30th June to parliament.
He said thatthe draft bills are before the August House for enactment and there is need for MPs to speed up the process.
Gituai called upon parliament to support the process of providing the requisite funding for the constitution and election- making processes by passage of the necessary supplementary spending and budget bills to secure funding for their operationalization.
He also urged the parties to the peace agreement to engage in dialogue in the spirit of collegiality on the best way forward for the holding of elections and provide a detailed plan to the people of South Sudan on the implementation of the Roadmap.
“To the RTGoNU: seize this constitution-making moment given the importance of a people-led and a people-owned permanent constitution, as the basis to guide the conduct of credible free, fair and peaceful elections,” Gituai said.
Gituai urged the RTGoNU to avail requisite funding, in a timely manner, to the National Constitutional Review Commission (NCRC) to enable it execute it’s duties effectively.
He also called upon the RTGoNU to create an enabling civic and political space for citizens’ participation in governance.
Gituai also urged the parties to the 2018 revitalized peace agreement to provide all the necessary resources to complete redeployment of the remaining unified forces, and in addition complete unification of the command structure so that the country can have a unified force with a national character under one Commander-in-Chief.
“With elections scheduled for December 2024, it is hoped that the dialogue by the parties to the Agreement will bring clarity on the best way forward. It is important to underscore that while some progress has been made in establishing the key institutions charged with the conduct of the constitution-making and elections processes, a lot remains to be done to fully equip them to carry out their mandates,” he said.
The country is due for elections in December 2024, and some of these critical pending issues are critical for the transitional unity government to hold free, fair and credible elections.
