Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The government spokesperson, Michael Makuei, stated that the government is unaware of the suspended operations of the National Constitutional Amendment Committee.
The National Constitution Amendment Committee (NCAC) ceased all activities due to the government’s failure to pay dues, according to a press release issued on March 8, 2023, citing financial constraints.
But Makuei, who is also the national minister of information, said yesterday that the National Transitional Committee—a body tasked to oversee the implementation of the 2018 peace deal, chaired by the Presidential Advisor on Security Affairs, Tut Gatluak— did not present a budget to the cabinet to finance the operation of NCAC.
“I have not seen that statement so far because the last meeting we had was last week at the meeting of the RJMEC, if there was anything of the sort, it should have been reported to us, so there is nothing like that,” said Makuei as he addressed the media yesterday.
“NTC is supposed to prepare a budget for all of these, but unfortunately did not do it up until now. So we are waiting for NTC to present its request; we will approve it and they will be paid,” said Makuei.
The National Constitutional Amendment Committee is mandated by Article 1.18.1.3, of the revitalized peace agreement to amend the Constitution and other pertinent laws to include the agreement and any reforms that are related to it.
There are fifteen members of the NCAC, including two foreigners and 13 nationals, who represent the parties to the agreement and other stakeholders. While IGAD supports the two non-nationals, the government is expected to make accommodations for 13 citizens.
The committee pointed out that it has regularly presented its budget to the NTC annually ever since it began operations. In actuality, the mechanisms’ budgets were approved, but NCAC only got a 0.5 per cent initial payment in 2020.
Pending arrears
The NCAC stated it has been working for nearly three years without payment, despite repeated requests from the government and RJMEC, including NTC, even when the first vice president and the vice president in charge of the economic cluster wrote directing the minister of finance and planning to make payment of the NCAC’s dues.
According to the press statement they issued, 18 Amendment Bills, including the Constitutional Amendment Bill that incorporated the Revitalized Agreement into the Transitional Constitution of South Sudan, 2011, were reviewed by the Committee and presented to the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs by the NCAC since its establishment in 2018.
However, there are still crucial laws that need to be reviewed for full implementation of the roadmap.
As one of the bodies responsible for implementing the agreement, the NCAC was established by Article 13.1 of the 2015 ARCSS and reconstituted in 2018 by Article 1.18.1 of the revitalized peace accord.
On the other hand, the National Transitional Committee (NTC), with more than $6 million in rent arrears, was similarly thrown out of the South Sudan Hotel.
Stephen Par Kuol, Secretary General of NTC and Minister of Peacebuilding, acknowledged receiving the eviction notice from the South Sudan Hotel management in a meeting of the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission convened in Juba on Thursday, March 2, 2023.
For More News And Analysis About South-Sudan Follow Africa-Press
