South Sudan’s Journey to Democracy Faces Obstacles
South Sudan’s progress towards becoming a full democracy is facing significant challenges, even five years after a peace agreement was signed, providing some stability to the nation.
Periodic violence continues to erupt, mainly involving government forces and groups that did not fully commit to the peace deal.
Furthermore, South Sudan grapples with severe damage during the rainy season, which spans from June to October. In early September, heavy rains triggered extensive flooding in Maban, Upper Nile State, severely impacting refugee and internally displaced person camps. According to the Jesuit Refugee Services, over 200,000 people have been forced from their homes, and a staggering nine million people urgently require food assistance.
Floodwaters consistently devastate entire villages, destroy crops, and drown livestock.
The issue of flooding was recently discussed by the Revitalised Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (R-JMEC) on South Sudan. On September 5, Maj-Gen (Rtd) Tai Gituai, the commission’s chair, pointed out that the flooding in neighboring Sudan is adding to Juba’s political challenges, potentially hindering the transition.
Gituai stated during a briefing session of South Sudan’s transitional national legislative assembly, “The onset of rains and the influx of refugees and returnees from Sudan have exacerbated the already severe humanitarian needs in the country. This is compounded by the cumulative effects of prolonged intercommunal conflicts, long-term flooding, and high levels of food insecurity. The disruption of trade routes between Sudan and South Sudan has also negatively affected the supply of food and other essential goods into South Sudan, resulting in scarcity and price increases.”
Delays in South Sudan’s transition are primarily due to a lack of funding. These delays affect security reforms, the enactment of critical laws, and a census necessary for planning the population.
JMEC has cautioned that holding elections may be impractical unless outstanding tasks are addressed. These include finalizing the permanent constitution, enacting the National Elections Bill, reconstituting the National Elections Commission, establishing election management structures at sub-national levels, and redeploying the Necessary Unified Forces.
Maj-Gen Gituai emphasized, “It is essential to safeguard the political and civic spaces to create an enabling environment for the conduct of free, fair, and credible elections, come December 2024.”
The JMEC report notes that while some legislation has been signed into law, their implementation remains pending. For instance, the transitional government has not reconstituted the Political Parties Council, responsible for registering political parties, nor have they established the institutions responsible for creating the permanent constitution.
The government claims that deployment delays result from a lack of funding, while critics argue it’s due to a lack of political will.
While President Salva Kiir has recently stated that his government will hold free and credible elections for the first time since South Sudan’s independence in 2011, First Vice-President Dr. Riek Machar has expressed concerns about the feasibility of holding elections.
At a recent Economic Conference on September 9, Dr. Machar emphasized that there can be no elections without the full implementation of secure arrangements. He stated, “Security is paramount; even if you want to hold elections under the current situation, who will protect the ballot boxes? You have to address the security issues first.” Dr. Machar also added that internally displaced persons and refugees in neighboring countries must be resettled for credible elections to take place.
