Public Officials Urged To Uphold Constitution

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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South Sudanese government officials have been urged to uphold the rule of law.

Speaking at the closure of a five-day Governors’ Forum that ended yesterday in Juba, the Deputy Speaker of the South Sudanese Parliament Daniel Awet urged law makers, the executive and the judiciary to observe the rule of law as the best governing mechanism.

“It is important that all constitutional office holders understand the constitution as a guide to leadership. Unless one fully understands the constitution, he or she will administer in the contrary. The rule of law is how best you understand the constitution and how you really read the Local Government Act”, Awet told the forum.

He at the same time called for honesty and commitment of all the organs of the national and state governments, adding that co-operation and coordination are critical if services are to be delivered.

South Sudan Vice President Dr Riek Machar who was the chief guest during the closing ceremony urged the officials to focus on strengthening decentralisation and reiterated calls for cooperation between the states and the national government institutions.

Dr Machar cited inadequate infrastructure, rising demand for educational services, inadequate funding and limited resources and lack of a conducive environment for private sector growth as some of the critical issues discussed.

“Most significantly we must remain cognisant that these challenges and solutions are cross cutting”, he said.

The five-day conference under the theme “strengthening decentralised governance with South Sudan for equitable service delivery and sustainable development” brought together all the Governors of South Sudan’s ten states, national and state legislators, the judiciary and the executive.

It was organised by the South Sudanese Presidential Affairs Ministry and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Among the issues discussed at the meeting included insecurity, lack of manpower in the public sector and lack of adequate governance mechanisms as well as lack of connection between national, state and sub-national institutions.