Aerial view of Torit, the capital of Eastern Equatoria State | Credit | Courtesy

TORIT, Eastern Equatoria (Eye Radio) — Local communities in Eastern Equatoria State have welcomed the constitutional review commission and expressed strong eagerness to participate in drafting South Sudan’s permanent constitution.

This positive sentiment follows the arrival of a team from the National Constitutional Review Commission (NCRC) in Torit last week to conduct civic education and public consultations.

The NCRC launched its nationwide engagement campaign on October 8th to gather citizens’ views as part of the process to draft an inclusive, people-led permanent constitution.

The campaign began in Juba and has now been extended to Lakes, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Eastern Equatoria, and Western Bahr el Ghazal states.

The NCRC views the civic education phase as a critical step toward developing a document that truly reflects the hopes of all South Sudanese and is encouraging citizens to actively participate and take ownership.

Speaking to Eye Radio from Torit, local government official Elias Ahaji confirmed the strong engagement from local communities.

“The members of the National Constitutional Review are very busy consulting different stakeholders. Actually, people express optimism, and they are very happy for the arrival of the committee members here,” Ahaji said.

He noted that people are sharing their views proudly and have “high hope for the Constitution to be interrupted, which will reflect their opinion.”

Ahaji added that citizens would “be very proud to be part of the Constitution and which they will also own.”

The NCRC’s public consultations and civic education activities are scheduled to run for one month. After gathering views from grassroots communities across the country, the commission will compile the submissions into a draft permanent constitution.