Plight of administrative areas divide MPs; amendment bill no. 8 passed

The transitional national legislature enacted Amendment Bill No. 8 to the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan, 2011 (as modified), after the bill proceeded through the four steps required for the president to sign it into law.

The bill sparked a heated debate, particularly over the inclusion of the three administrative areas, namely Pibor, Ruweng, and Abyei, in the transitional constitution, with certain members of parliament objecting to their inclusion.

Dengtiel Ayuen Kuur, the head of the select committee who delivered the bill’s report, noted that while discussing the bill in the committee, each member provided arguments and opinions on which they agreed and afterwards chose to consult the law themselves.

 “So if you go to only area that is 54, there is something called the administrative area, It was objected to by some of our members that it is not in the agreement and we must always implement what the agreement says, we must go by the agreement so we delete administrative areas to be left out because it is not in the agreement,” Ayuen stated.

Meanwhile, another committee member, Abraham Biar, argued that because the administrative districts are part and parcel of South Sudan, they cannot be left out when modifying the transitional constitution.

 “I think there was a slip of the tongue from the chairperson of the select committee. Why? Because what is in the report is what is discussed and agreed by the select committee,” said Ayuen.

“Some members have argued that administrative districts are not covered by the peace agreement and hence cannot be included in the constitution. However, what is written here is from the committee, and it was stated that “we did not include them in the constitution, we left them out, and we have excluded them; are they part of the Republic of South Sudan?” he inquired.

He acknowledged that the administrative territories were not included in the peace agreement, but emphasised that the accord was intended to move the country forward, build it, and bring peace.

“If we leave the three administrative areas out of the constitution, it is like you are creating another problem. So the select committee in which I am a member, we have agreed to put administrative areas and it will be the decision of this house to [admit] or reject that proposal and exclude administrative areas,” he explained.

Contentions

Lulal Deng, a non-committee member, objected to the administrative areas being mentioned in the constitution.

We have no objection to the administrative areas being mentioned or considered as part and parcel of the constitution, but what we are doing here as members of parliament or now the legislature is amending the constitution based on the revitalised agreement to include part of the agreement in the constitution and make it a law he said.

 “I personally, plus others who are rejecting the removal of the administrative areas in this document is because when we look here and make our research we didn’t find the administrative areas in the agreement and as such if the administrative area is not mentioned then there is no need for us to mention it here. I personally reject the mentioning of the administrative areas,” he said.

Mr. Lual Deng was chastised by Onyoti Adigo, the MP who is also the minister of animal resources and fisheries, for refusing the inclusion of the administrative regions after the speaker ruled it with the support of a majority those present in the debate.

 “You ask a question before they should continue to be in this document and the house said yes, so there is no need again to come up with that thing. He is a member of the committee of the final status of Abyei if it not here how will he argue that Abyei is part of the Republic of South Sudan”.

After several MPs continued to rise to reject the administrative districts, the acting speaker Nathaniel Oyet, who presided over the discussion, sought the MPs’ agreement to pass the bill a second time.

 “I therefore again want to ask do we agree that the administrative areas be part and partial of the constitution, do we agree, do we agree; it is passed”.

David Nailo Mayo, who represents Budu County’s seat number eight, also denied that the agreement’s goal was to end the fighting in South Sudan, claiming that the Abyei Administrative territory was a CPA (the comprehensive peace agreement).

 “This country seems to be searching for the soul of itself which was about to happen by rejecting administrative areas was really going to put us in trouble,’’ Nailo warned the MPs.

“Am talking about the soul of this country is even missed in the agreement. We had gone to 21 states which followed the former districts of independence. We would have not had this problem now,” he added.

The transitional constitution 2011 as amended, amendment bill No.8 2021, amend articles 3(5)(6) and incorporate 3(7), 102(2), 164(1)(a) and 203 of the transitional Constitution to fully incorporate the previsions of the revitalised agreement signed in 2018.