Mary Nawai, the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs speaking during the launch of the women leadership and advocacy initiative under the theme ‘Arise Women’ - credit | Alex Misogo/Eye Radio | Jan. 26, 2022

The Minister of Parliamentary and Legal Affairs, has called for the participation of different stakeholders in the permanent constitution making process.

Minister Mary Nawai Martin, said there should be an all-inclusive constitution making process, as a significant step for the citizens to own the constitution.

Nawai said the contributions of all the stakeholders, in the constitution making process will leave the government blameless when it is passed.

“It’s very important that the national constitutions committee should really join together with the government and other stakeholders so when it’s passed, nobody will say no I was not part of this constitutions no I had wanted the constitutions to be like this,” Nawai said to Eye Radio.

She added that, through the participation of all the citizens, the country will have a law that honors the people.

“I had wanted something like that to be in the constitutions, but if it’s all the people are all involve and participated it will really, will have a constitutions that will honor as the people of south Sudan.”

The interim constitution, currently being amended, has been mired with concerns that was designed to concentrate more powers on the executive organ of the government.

The RTGoNU is mandated by the agreement to initiate the process for the constitution making process.

The Revitalized Peace Agreement of 2018 talks about the parameters of the constitution, including affirmative action to uplift the participation of women and involvement of youth in the process.

The agreement provided that a well-known international institution is to conduct a workshop for the signatories to the agreement, to come with the resolution which will form the base of drafting the bill for the constitution making process.

At the end of the workshop, the resolutions through R-JMEC should be handed to the Ministry of Justice and constitutional affairs to draft the bill to govern the constitution making process.

The workshop was launched and conducted in May last year and ran for three days.

The ministry then presented the bill to the parliament which was passed last month.

After the bill is assented to by the President, there will be establishment of the Reconstituted National Constitutional Review Commission.

The commission shall comprise of 55 commissioners, with 55% given to Executive of the R-TGoNU, 45% to other stakeholders to embark on public consultations as required.

The information collected, be analyzed and submitted to the constitutional drafting committee (CDC) a board of fifteen members.

The members are recruited on the basis of qualifications including 12 South Sudanese and 3 regional and international experts.

Moreover, the body will draft the text accompanied by a report that will be tabled before the national constitution conference (NCC), and that will mark the second stage of the constitution making process with more than 1,000 members from all segments of societies.

That will include political parties, civil society, religious, women groups, youth, academia, persons with special needs, local chiefs among others.

They will deliberate on the text drafted by the CDC.

After the adaption by the National Constitution Conference, the third stage commences where the current legislature will be transformed into a constituent assembly with a mandate to deliberate and adopt the constitutional text by the National Constitutional Conference (NCC).