CASS’s report on South Sudan national dialogue

Re: REPORT OF THE NATIONAL DIALOGUE COMMITTEE SUMMARIZED

July 2021

This document is prepared and distributed in the hope that South Sudanese throughout the nation may understand what their friends and neighbors around the country have said during the National Dialogue interviews. Many people may not have access to the final report so we hope that you will share this widely. We ask that churches make the results known in rural areas. CASS

July 20, 2021 (SSNA) — On May 26, 2021 President Salva Kiir, while opening the permanent constitution-making process workshop in Juba, said that the permanent constitution of South Sudan should reflect the aspirations of the people for freedom, equality, justice and prosperity for all.

The final report of the National Dialogue, released late last year, provides those aspirations.

The Coalition of Advocates for South Sudan has put together the following summarized statement of the National Dialogue results and provided it for your use.

South Sudan is a Failed State

The people judge South Sudan to be a failed state and blame the crises in the country on the failure of political leadership and the state. They call on both President Salva Kiir Mayardit and opposition leader Dr. Riek Machar to resign and step aside from leadership and politics.

Neither President Kiir nor First Vice President Machar has displayed moral leadership or the political will necessary to break the political deadlock, which they created. They have permanent political differences and personal hatred towards one another. Thus, they have created a political deadlock in the country, and have neither the will nor moral leadership to move beyond personal grudges and egos.

It is obvious that this government cannot deliver peace, security, or stability which the country desperately needs. We must courageously admit that South Sudan as a state has failed by all measures.

The people of South Sudan spoke openly against what they consider to be grand corruption in the country. By 2019, South Sudan was ranked the second most corrupt country in the world. To date that has not improved.

The social cohesion of the South Sudanese people was shattered and torn, and the nation technically collapsed because of the leaders’ ethnic politics. Several ethnic people groups have been targeted by one or the other leaders to a degree that some have called the actions of the leadership genocide! Political leaders developed their own ruthless militia to protect their power and to defend their personal political interests.

The People Demand:

Having concluded that South Sudan is a failed state for the above and other reasons, the people demand.

• Immediate focus be placed on the
  1. unification of the army,
  2. establishment of the permanent constitution,
  3. preparations for the elections, and
  4. return and resettlement of IDPs and refugees

• The Constitution: Convene the Constitutional Conference to draft the constitution. Delegates must represent the counties, women, and political parties.

1. The new constitution shall prescribe a federal system which gives the states autonomy.
2. There shall be a president and two vice presidents. One must come from each of the three regions of South Sudan. One of the vice presidents must be a woman if the president is male.
3. Neither President Salva Kiir nor Dr. Riek Machar may take any part in the elections; both must leave politics. None of the four current vice presidents may take part in the coming elections, although they may participate in future elections.

• The Elections shall be internationally organized and managed, free and fair, conducted under the auspices of the United Nations, the African Union, and IGAD to prevent controversy over the results and a risk of relapse to war.
• The Military shall be professional, diverse, and non-politically aligned. No political party may have a military wing nor any affiliation with the national army.
• Sharing Revenue: All revenue from natural resources shall be shared among all the states of South Sudan. All taxes collected at the levels of state shall be shared with the national government.
• Newly Elected Government: Following the elections, the newly elected government shall, among other things:

1. Criminalize cattle-raiding and child abduction. Develop and assign a special police force to respond to any cattle raiding or child abduction.
2. Establish laws requiring that children shall be registered from birth and each state shall establish a child tracing desk.
3. Adopt the healing mechanism provided for in the Revitalized Peace Agreement.
4. Instead of relying on oil proceeds as the mainstay of the economy and the government, focus should shift to the development of agriculture and infrastructure as the main development drivers.
5. Deliver common security in the form of peace and stability.
6. Disarm the people of all states simultaneously once stable and respected national and state police forces are in place.

Notes:

• The primary reference for this summary is the “Final report of South Sudan’s National Dialogue” as published in “The Sudan’s Post” on December 17, 2020
• While the Coalition of Advocacy for South Sudan absolutely agrees with the thrust of the Final Report and the Current Situation as reported, its research has revealed that some citizens have additional ideas about the organizational structure of the new state as may be defined in the permanent constitution and the approach to the elections. Those ideas are available to anyone who is interested.

The Board of Directors,

Coalition of Advocates for South Sudan