After two postponements in one month, the swearing-in of the newly-appointed legislators has finally happened, though in the absence of the presidency.
The road has been bumpy for the legislative appointees. Some had their appointments revoked while others were fortunate enough to make it to the big occasion.
But as the legislators assume their duties, citizens’ expectations on what the new MPs must prioritize have grown.
In an interview with a former official at the Transitional National Legislative Assembly, there were many critical tasks that remained unresolved.
The official who is also in the Reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly told City Review anonymously that the first priority the house should implement is the passing of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) initiative that empowers MPs to undertake developmental projects in their respective constituencies.
According to the official who opted to stay anonymous because he was not authorized to speak to the media, the CDF is an initiative that draws the allocation of budget from the Ministry of Finance and Planning.
“This initiative (CDF) is very important because if there is no budget allocated to constituencies then it means the hands of legislators are tied. There is no developmental project they can undertake without sufficient funding,” the source underscored.
David Jame Kolok, Executive Director of the Foundation for Democracy and Accountable Governance (FODAG) said the lawmakers should prioritize what is essential for the citizens.
“The priority they should have should base on what is most important because they cannot finish all the assignments that are expected of them and one of them is to ensure that they pass all the legislations that are required to support the implementation of the peace agreement,” he said.
South Sudan has been run by the executive arm of the government for over two years in the absence of lawmakers since the formation of the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU) began in February 2020.
This means that with the resumption of the house this week, the lawmakers will be expected to pass reviewed bills into laws to catch up with the remaining few months, according to Mr. Kolok.
“The entire reconstituted parliament needs to understand that they are way behind schedule and therefore an agreement of 36 months has already given them the responsibility of less than a year. So they have literally lost a huge part of their work.
“They should ensure that the constitution-making process, legislation for transitional justice, legislation to enhance reforms of government institutions; those are very, very critical things MPs should take into consideration immediately,” said Mr. Kolok.
Currently, over nine bills including the National Elections Act, 2012, and the Political Parties Act 2012, intended to lay a legal foundation for free and democratic elections at the end of the transitional period, comes 2023 await enactment.
Other Bills that have already been reviewed by the National Constitution Amendment Committee (NCAC) and stacked at the Council of Ministers include the SPLA Act, 2009, National Security Acts, 2014, the Police Service Act 2009, the Prisons Service Acts, 2011 and the Wildlife Service Act, 2011.
“There are numbers of the security acts that have been reviewed and this means that these reviews would warrant to get into the parliament to incorporate these reviews and pass new legislation. This is the process they have done and the process cannot get forward because of no parliament and these are challenging,” Mr. Kolok added.
According to Chapter 1.18.3 of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS), these Bills should have been enacted into laws within twelve (12) months from the commencement of the transitional period which began in February 2020.
All these have, however, got stuck before the Council of Ministers and are expected to be tabled to the TNLA for debate and enactment into laws.
Mr. Kolok also added that since 2019, the government never passed into law the country’s fiscal budget, making it one of the fundamental tasks the new members of parliament will deal with to ensure that South Sudan has a legal budget to implement in the next 2021-2022 financial year.
“We are now entering into two months of the financial budget without a national budget. East Africa has already passed their national budget way in June and for us, we don’t have a national budget. So they should pass the budget as soon as possible and the budget that reflects the remaining of the transitional period,” he said.
Mr. Kolok also pointed out that the lawmakers should pressure the revitalized government to graduate the necessary unified forces, fight corruption and ensure transparency in all the country’s transactions
“There is a huge problem with corruption and the MPs need to be Keen to ensure that they really perform and see to it that there is a high level of transparency especially in the oil sector and revenue collection.”
“One of the biggest problems with some of those (officials) involve in corruption is that they have failed to accept systems. I think MPs need to encourage the national revenue Authority to set in place the system that can cartel corruption,” he said.
Mr. Kolok also said the reconstituted MPs should regulate the South Sudan exchange rate to prevent the government from dubious deals of borrowing money that South Sudan cannot refund easily.