President Salva Kiir has outlined three priorities of the government in 2022 besides the 2018 Revitalised Peace Agreement’s full implementation to end violence in South Sudan.
In his New Year’s remarks on December 31, the president wished the citizens all the best, pointing out that economic challenges hindered his government’s ability to deliver as expected over the past years even when the war had ended.
“I am also very happy that we are able to collectively say goodbye to the year 2021, in peace, even though it had been a difficult year for us. You all know that we were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, flooding in most parts of our country, and the lingering economic hardship since we ended the war in 2018,”
“Fellow citizens, these are challenges you rightly expected your government to address. While the financial limitation did not allow us to address these challenges to your expectation, I am assuring you that we are committed to addressing them in the coming year.” Kiir said in a statement.
The president stated that the full implementation of the Chapter Five of the peace agreement would commence in January.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
“We will be embarking on the process of establishing the commission for truth, reconciliation, and healing (CTRH) by the end of January 2022. It is important to initiate this process so that our people can know the truth about what took place during the war and use it as the basis for peace-building, reconciliation, and social stability,” he said.
In May 2021, the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs established a 33 members’ technical committee under Chapter Five of the agreement to design legislation that would ensure the incorporation of the experiences of women, men, girls and boys during the war.
This was preceded by the launch of the consultative process in June 2021 for the establishment of the Commission of Truth, Reconciliation, and healing, which is yet to be constituted.
According to the agreement, the commission shall develop a law through consultative and participatory approaches that, once enacted, will enable the commission to form the hybrid court to conduct hearings on human rights abuses since 2013.
In July last year, researcher Abraham Diing Akoi released a study that postulates that the formation of the hybrid court—which most of the leaders are hesitant to implement—would be the recipe for further violence in South Sudan.
However, in his speech, the president said, “With these in mind, I, therefore, call upon all South Sudanese to embrace the roadmap set forth in the ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs regarding this process.”
Economic reform
Another priority of this year will be the implementation of Chapter Four of the agreement on resource, economic and financial management the president has emphasised to ensure reform in public financial institutions.
President Kiir said: “In the face of excess needs and scarce resources, we need to provide unwavering support to those who are working to reform how we collect and allocate resources. This is critical because it is only through financial management that we can meet our priorities, including funding the implementation of the revitalised peace agreement.”
Chapter four of the economic reform provided for political leaders and stakeholders to ensure the coalition is transparent and accountable, with legal, institutional policies, and procedures fully functional for sustainable development.
It also provides that the revitalised government shall develop a code of ethics and integrity for public officials emphasising the values of honesty and integrity. In addition, it shall expand the curriculum in the educational system to inculcate the spirit of nationalism and promote the values of honesty, integrity, and respect for public property
Furthermore, the wealth of South Sudan shall be shared equitably to enable each level of government to discharge its reconstruction, development, legal and constitutional obligations, duties, and responsibilities.
And that revenue sharing shall reflect a commitment to the devolution of powers and resources, and the decentralisation of decision-making in regard to development, service delivery, and governance, among other provisions.
As a priority in 2022, President Kiir said: “That is why I am calling upon you to support the ongoing work on Public Financial Management Reforms Strategy. Supporting these reforms will eliminate ad hoc spending and endure government budgetary allocations are spent on designated priorities.”
“Through these reforms, the Ministry of Finance and Planning will be able to meet its commitments to government departments. This will ensure all departments received their budgetary in a timely manner.” He added.
Infrastructure
President has considered road infrastructure in the country as one of his government priorities in 2022 in addition to previous road projects. These entail the Juba – Bor road and Juba – Rumbek road.
Other road projects will include the Aggry Jaden Road, formerly the Juba-Lianya-Yei road launched on December 28, 2021, Juba – Mundri – Yambio – Tombura – Wau Road with another branch from Mundri – Mvolo – Rumbek – Tonj – Wau – Kuajok – Gogrial – Aweil, and Yei – Bangolo – Tali via Amadi and Juba- Kajo- Keji Road.
“In my remarks to the joint session of our legislature in August, I clearly identify the government priorities as; peace implementation, economic reforms, and roads construction,” said Kiir. “These remain unchanged, and your members of parliament will continue working on these priorities with the goal of moving them forward. That said, I would like to inform you today that we have recently added other roads in addition to the ones I announced in August.”
“These roads are part of our efforts to link our production areas with population centres. They are also intended to connect us with neighbouring countries and facilitate interregional trade,” he stated.