South Sudan expedites efforts to enact new constitution
November 20, 2017 (JUBA) – The South Sudanese cabinet has approved a draft constitution that will pave way for the young nation to enact a new constitution in line with the August 2015 peace agreement, the head of peace monitors said Monday.
“JMEC welcomes this significant progress and I urge the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) to expedite the ratification of the amendments to the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan,” he told a stakeholders’ plenary meeting.
South Sudan, according to the 2015 peace agreement, is to have in place a new constitution 18 months after the formation of its coalition government.
The constitution, Mogae said, lays a firm foundation for progress in the establishment of all the institutions and mechanisms provided for in the agreement.
The former Botswana President, however, decried the continued violations of the unilateral ceasefire declared by President Salva Kiir.
“I condemn all incidents of violence and again call on the warring factions to cease all hostilities and abuses immediately,” he said.
Mogae also condemned acts of sexual and gender-based violence perpetrated by uniformed men in South Sudan’s Yei River state.
Meanwhile, South Sudan government is committed to the implementation of a new constitution, its cabinet affair minister said.
The young nation is also engaging the African Union about the establishment of a hybrid court to try individuals or groups accused of committing atrocities during the civil war, said Martin Elia Lomuro.
Violence broke out in South Sudan in December 2013 when a political disagreement within the country’s ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) triggered a civil war along ethnic lines.
However, a peace deal signed in August 2015 between the country’s rival leaders in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to pave way for the establishment of a government in April has failed to make impact.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed and over 2 million displaced in South Sudan’s worst ever violence since it seceded from Sudan in July 2011.
(ST)