Group warns over extension of South Sudan’s interim period
July 9, 2024 (NAIROBI) – An umbrella organization has warned the leadership in South Sudan against plans to extend the interim period, saying the country remains on the edge of total collapse owing to the worsening economic crisis.
The caution from the National Consensus Forum (NCF) comes amid food insecurity as ethnic tension and inter-communal clashes rage across the country.
NCF describes itself as an entity that comprises of 21 South Sudanese political, civil society, women, youth, faith-based organizations, academic and professional association and represents a major segment of the South Sudanese society.
In a statement issued on Monday, the group claimed the government has failed to pay the civil servants regularly and it has lost the trust and control of the country.
“The NCF condemns in the strongest terms possible, the attempted extension of the despicable 2018 Khartoum Agreement, which has already been extended once. While it was foreseen to be implemented within thirty-six months, the Agreement has only seen fifteen percent implementation in six years,” it partly reads.
The umbrella group also claimed any attempt to extend the interim period, though the Tumaini initiative, would be contrary to the spirit of genuine peace. The Kenya-led peace process is between South Sudan government and its hold-out groups.
Expressing its commitment in search for genuine and lasting peace, the NCF called on all the stakeholders, civil society, women and youth groups, faith-based organizations and various political organizations to collectively exercise their national duty and responsibility to reject this illegal and unilateral extension.
According to the forum, the recent passing of the Security Bill, allowing for the arrest of suspects without a warrant, demonstrated a dictatorship with impunity.
“If the NSS [National Security Service] can arrest without a warrant, it can torture, and isolate any detainee without visits, no access to legal and medical services, and beyond”, it noted, condemning the arrest civil society activists and journalists.
On Wednesday last week, South Sudanese lawmakers passed the long-awaited National Security Act 2014 (Amendment) Bill 2024, which gives the security body the right to arrest suspected criminals without a warrant. However, sections 54 and 55 of the Bill, which give the agency excessive powers, were maintained.
“Good governance and the rule of law have been abolished with impunity in South Sudan through the passage of that Bill,” stressed NCF’s statement.
Meanwhile, the umbrella organization is calling for an inclusive roundtable conference that would offer a conducive environment for all South Sudanese stakeholders to join hands in the search for genuine lasting peace, by addressing the root causes of the conflict in the country as detailed in the new road map and ushering in the new dispensation and social contract for South Sudan.
(ST)