Radio Miraya
2651: Professor James Ukuk: Reflections on the four years of RTGoNU in South Sudan
The assessment is mixed, there are some which are good and then others we cannot good, but let us start with what is good. The government was supposed to be established in accordance with the revised peace agreement in 2019 after the pre-transitional period, but because of some delays in funding and in organization, the whole thing got pushed until we reached 22nd of February 2020. And from that time, the establishment started with the highest level, that is the first vice president, and then the other vice president, we completed the presidency, and then now it came down to the new ministries, the certified open, but then when it came to the commission there has been a problem, and here is in this year where they constituted the national constitutional review commission, and also the national election commission, political parties, council commissions, and some few others, but most of the commission have remained and stayed there so far. They also later recorded the national legislature, both of the national legislative assembly and also the council of the states, and they went as far as also establishing the governance of the 10 states and the three administrative areas, although again, still missing a national legislative assembly, the same with the rest of their administrative areas. So so far it has been like partial reconstitution of the government, particularly at a sub-national level, but at national level what is missing out are the commission and then the other authorities and agencies that were supposed to be technical and specialized. So so far from the time the government got established to be the custodian of the implementation of the vitalized peace agreement that was signed in September 2018, at least once, went over almost closer to two years, that's when they were established, and then corona came in with its own challenges, so a lot of a lot of activities got delayed, until we can say that the government picked up to start really operating, it was from 2021, that was the time we can say now the government has picked up, and from that time it went up to now 2021, we are in 2024, they managed to do something which we cannot appreciate them for, at least the capital city, which is Dubai, as it states, peaceful, they have never been fighting in it, and also the capital of the 10 states, and then the three administrative areas, they have also been peaceful, they have not been made the fighting among the parties in it, so that's something commendable you can say, this revitalized government at all levels, they have managed to maintain that level of peace in these areas, that's the side of the security, when you come to the side of the economy, also they managed to make sure that people are doing business here, and then the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of South Sudan are functioning, and then CB7 are getting their salaries, not all of it, but they are getting some of these to maintain them, and then some of the services are being provided, there have been some roads that have been built, and then the moment they have been also operating well, a lot of trucks coming, getting in, the river transport have also been working, and then shops and all other businesses have been operating, and people have expanded in the private market, and in fact they have attracted a lot of foreigners to come to South Sudan and do business here, also airlines have expanded and also the banking sector, so all these in the economy sector, they have done better than before, in one way or another, you come to the humanitarian side of each access to humanitarian delivery, so far the international partners and same of South Sudan, they have been standing a lot of money on the humanitarian side, the world food, the health, the education, other areas like a smaller agriculture, so a lot of money being going to the sector, and if you go to the country side mostly, you can see that humanitarian are the one responsible for most of the service delivery, so at least something good as being done in that sector, when you come to the rule of law sector, it is mostly the sector of the justice system, and then the rest, including transitional justice, they also the judiciary has been operating like the other no agencies, bodies, but then the performance has not been that strong, I think there are a lot of bad luck cases in the justice system, prison is full of people who are on demand and also people who are waiting for the crisis to be looked at by the justice system, so that area has not been doing very well compared to the rest, and then there is a kind of a division to the judges and whatever, a number of them have also met to find other better jobs because the judiciary has not been very attractive for them, but the police, the police have been there, they have been trying their best and here, but mostly concentrated, the capital city, Cuba and also the capital of the state and the administrative areas, but if you go to the defense rule areas, policing has been neglected totally, and people are taking care of themselves using their own transitional mechanism or community mechanism of keeping rule and order, all these, and that's why if you see there are a lot of insecurity problems at the countryside and inside this capital, maybe some criminal gangs here and there, but they are being managed by the police and then the whole of the security sector, so all in all, if you look at all this what's happening, we can say so far, we can see some benefits from the establishment of the government, from that time after now, and then what is awaiting us is to go to the end of it and the end of it is election, and we hope that's what we will be waiting and then we can give a full assessment of what we have done, but then as long as, as far as the, like a nice piece of demand is concerned, I think we have no reach to half of it, yet half of what we are supposed to be implemented, we are less than fifty percent, but at least that below fifty percent are scared as up to where we are now and it is better than nothing, that's what equal us is. Okay, what do you think might have happened to the political leadership of this country, we didn't actually go on not to cross the threshold of fifty percent, at least like you're saying, we are below fifty percent, what should be the main challenges of this government in the last ten or four years? The challenge has been the focus, sometime they lose focus on what they need to do as the core mandate, the core mandate of these governments, be the executive or be the legislature or be the judiciary, the core mandate is focused on the implementation of peace agreement and the implementation of peace agreement means reforms across all the institutions, they have not been focused very much on this and the reason they were not focused because the partnership and consensus that they were supposed to deal so that they move as one block of government that is assigned to implement these agreements has not been there, they still have been categorizing themselves as IOPT, SOA and sometime they broke themselves from doing things because of these discriminities of categorization, why they are one government, so that has affected their working relationship and that working relationship has implication on focusing on the activities that are supposed to be implemented, so that you can say there is implementation, then plus the funding, the issue of funding is not the missing of money in the country, but the priorities of where you should channel this money, particularly the oil revenues, the men oil revenues, it has been chaotic in that area, there has been lack of real control from government, so that it can use this money and channel it to implement the activities that have been provided in the peace agreement, that has not happened, we could see huge chunk of money from the public coffers have gone into private ends and private ends do not implement the agreement, the institution that are supposed to implement the agreement, and that's why you see many of the mechanisms that were supposed to implement the agreement, they remain unfounded, but if you go and observe in the market or even in the cities you can see that two individuals are carrying a huge amount of money as cash or in their account and that already the source of that money has been the Ministry of Finance and then the Central Bank of South Africa, so this tells me that there is this opportunity to put the money where the priorities is, so that has been a challenge to that government and that's why many of the institutions they become almost paralyzed or dysfunctional because of lack of funding, so that is the second aspect, the current aspect of it is the international community, the international community I think they got started and also other problems popped up elsewhere, South Sudan is not the only country, that's the international community and international partners need to focus on, so a number of them because of crisis and where or crisis inside their country, they were not in possessive to support the government directly with the funding, so that also created a gap of funding, unlike for example the comprehensive piece agreement in 2005, the funding from the international partners was very huge, but with this one they decided to see what the government will do and then they come and do, so the funding has been there for them to do it indirectly through other individuals or through other UN agencies, but directly with the government they were unwilling to do this and mostly because also a lot of functions, individual functions that are targeted, it has scared also the international community not to contradict themselves because they cannot function, the same people who are connected with the government are again someone from the same government, so in function has made them to to stay and move and watch its teams improve, they have a election with a stake in place, they could have changed their heart and say this is a new elected government given a mandate by the people, so we can come and deal with them directly, although like the World Bank IMS African Development Bank, they have tried to to comment but also not freely giving it to the government, they are still in control of the bus call, even when they say they have given a second amount to the ministry of agriculture or to whatever ministry to support them in something, it's still the money is being managed at the back door by these institutions, even when IMS are saying they are giving credit for the facility to the bank of South Sudan, they are still also giving a lot of restrictions on this, so it's not the free building, so these are also its own, its own ethic on the flow of money at the South Sudan and that has created a lot of shocks in the actual market in all these and the value of power has been lower every year, it was just getting lower because of lack of this direct engagement with this international monetary institution, so this is where we are, these three main factors actually have affected us and the last factor which is the international community and the partners, we are talking also about the region that are the grantors of the agreement, a number of them went into their internal issues at home and then they were not focused very much on the issue of peace in South Sudan, particularly if you take Sudan, Sudan now got itself into war and it was the share of the regard, so it was focused, it cannot have any delivery anymore, so it became another engagement by the part of the international community region and that's why you could see even the argument can almost become paralyzed here, their world is not respected even if they say what, or they say what because their boss is in the region of lost the truck over South Sudan, so this is where we are and but it's still, life is moving on and then the agreement has not collapsed, at least there is a bridge in the streets but this agreement has brought and it is still there and people are waiting how it will end, by the end of this year or maybe next year, the country is approaching the end of the transitional period with an election expected to be conducted at the end of DC in December, what are some of the immediate decisions the parties to the agreements should take right now to iron out some of the outstanding issues you have outlined already? Yeah, the move important the issue they should take is for all these parties that side even to convert and then they convert, they come together and now assess where they have come so far and then what is the remaining challenge that they need to overcome and now this is the end game of the agreement in the election, I think they need to for a while and say let's see how we conduct these elections and put the other thing aside and feel after election and then see how we fund it, the meeting fund that we have let us turn it towards the election and see how to move forward because that is what can create a new dynamic, the extension will not create a new dynamic, it will create more frustration but if you go for election it will create new dynamic because of the new things that might appear in the scene, the accountability that will come with voters and all these so it will have its own dynamic so it is the central focus that the parties really win their energy towards, all their energy they need to sit down and say this is what we need to do, it is not necessary that this election should first place in December but if they sit down and they say this is the only priority we are picking now and we are keeping other priorities up there at the back bunches until we clear this priority call election, I think that is that is the only thing I see the parties should focus on and it will be the rescue to the country if they do that while doing this they can feel that we should be the whole our group and the whole our group can now join the weapon of the election and if they are not prepared for the election they can feel become part of the next election government and then compete in the next election after this part election that will be waiting for, so this is what I see for the parties to prioritize to focus on if something would have to continue in this country. Is the country ready for an election come December 2024 according to you in your own opinion? You can categorize this question into three, if you ask the people are they ready for election already there have been an assessment that has been done and people are ready for election there is no doubt about that across the country they want it even tomorrow not after tomorrow that is what they say they affect about this bloated government which is consuming the services that would have gone to the people which is enjoyed or it is consumed by the three villages of these leaders who are at the top so people are frustrated on that so then one election so that their power can come back because the peace agreement there is no free people's power to account their leaders but the election does so that's why people are ready for election tomorrow not tomorrow even today if the election commission can speed up it what if they get funded and everything goes well people will be happy that now they will be elected the leaders for the first time in the very public of South Sudan when it's gotten dependent because we have not gotten any chance to conduct our own elections so people are ready very vitalized government of national unity is not ready and we can understand that why they are not ready a number of them are not popular in their constituency and a number of them are being detected with the people for long so they are scared of the election some of them are even not known in their own areas so who will make an unknown person that has been also the question to this so a number of of the leaders or those who are enjoying the seats of this government they are already for election they are comfortable that the situation continue as it is so that's why they are not in high even to talk about this they are not in high to fund the institution that should push the election forward they are very reluctant with anything on election because they are not sure whether they will make it back to the government or or they will not the international community the thought also it is doubting the team I want to see the government taking the first step to where the election then they come and push it forward so they they they they won to side with the people that let the election take place but then because they are accredited accredited by the government to operate they cannot go against the government so when the government is already then they have to wait then when they know that the people are already they cannot go and leave the people because after all the sovereignty does not belong to them here they are their partners and they are friends of salsa that so they cannot leave the people if you the government of salsa then that should leave the people through the election so because of these they have become reluctant also what to do because they are torn between the people who won the election and then the government needs that not one or only the reluctant for elections so this is the situation where we are and if you if you combine the mathematics around this it means the international community is the government they are on they are on one fight and they are they are not in a hurry for the election and it is the people who won elections and election is organized by the government so in one way or another mathematically people on one side and then the government and the international community on the other side reluctant with elections so it pains you that the election might not take place time on time as people look without love to see so this is what we see okay and one of the major challenges this government is facing right now they have been saying that on record is the issue of funding funding this agreement is not for coming and just recently we witnessed the recostition of the three major bodies the political parties council the national election commission and the national constitutional review commission and now they are also facing challenges of funding the question people would be attempted to ask is what can the government do to close the gap of funding given the dwindling global crisis where like you mentioned it's not only south so that that is in need but also globally their crisis all over the world now yeah the issue of funding it it come back to the door of the government because of the entity it is the government that should leave the funding for the election and if the government does not need this it means the international community or the family of south Sudan will not come and do it but now here is the government because you are leaving it are very skeptical whether they will be elected by the people if they fund that election so you look at it in this way who would like to fund an election where they will be in loses so these these are really the tricky questions some of them might might be asking themselves so this right the front back south Sudan does not lack funds but it's left prioritizing these funds and those who are in charge of prioritizing and managing these funds be very reluctant so it tells you they will not prioritize channeling funds into these election entities and institutions so they will you will find it be fun or channel elsewhere but not good to be so that election does not take place very quickly so this is this is very clear about who should fund the election if the person who should fund the election is very skeptical about the result of that election or about things getting elected then they would rather take it if known it not too hard and maybe other things will develop themselves and then they might have more more term to enjoy in government rather than rushing to the election so these have affected the the will to fund the election because of the nature and attitude of the people who are in charge of of government so and this is where where we are today and it took the international community the international partners who were willing to to rally the support behind the government it put them into a dilemma whether to really come forward openly or wait but the wait is now the wait until the government becomes serious but when will this government become serious and fund the election commission this is the question that everybody's asking and people are saying they will never become serious because actually they are not willing to go for competition in that election because they are not sure whether they will win or not so this is where we are today with all the positive issues you have talked about with this government for years down the line and also the shortcomings of these government what will be your recommendation with just 10 months to the expected general election in the country yeah the recommendation will be focused on election there is no other exit so whether you you lose in that election or not it is better you focus on it which is better you fund that election and the moment you do it you will get support from partners or from friends and that election is 10 10 mom is still is still a a big time for election to attend but this provides the funding and that funding now will strengthen the institution and also the personnel that will will be organizing this election and then the election takes place and later you can talk of other things after after the election because we are doing what do you recommend not more than than than all these other other things can be put aside but the election laying election aside will have its own repercussion and it is not good to to do that so it's better the recommendation is that put everything aside the part is that find the agreement they should come together as soon as possible and direct the road to the election and now the government that is sitting you find funds by all means even if they have generally to some private individuals or private companies they need to bring some of this money back and fund the election and after that I think people can start to talk of of a country called us with that