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Traditional authorities demand inclusion in constitution-making process

Author: Michael Daniel | Published: January 26, 2025

Traditional chiefs attend the inspection of the new Juba Headquarters. (Courtesy).

The National Council of Traditional Leaders’ steering committee has stressed the need to include traditional authorities in the constitution-making process .

The committee made the call during a meeting held on Friday in Juba.

The meeting brought together several traditional chiefs and the Minister of Justice to discuss the integration of traditional leadership into South Sudan’s constitutional framework.

Prince Tadeo Marie, a representative of the National Council of Traditional Leaders’ steering committee, stressed on the importance of involving traditional leaders to ensure a constitution that reflects the people’s aspirations and addresses historical short-comings.

Prince Marie said the Traditional leaders have always played a vital role in solving problems during crises and wars, providing peace and guidance for our communities.

Marie said one of the key issues discussed during the meeting included the establishment of the National Council of Traditional Leaders, as outlined in South Sudan’s Constitution, and the challenges facing traditional authorities in conflict resolution and peace building efforts.

He added their inclusion in the constitution-making process is seen as a vital step toward strengthening the social fabric and ensuring the Constitution reflects South Sudan’s diverse cultural heritage.

“We know that Constitution is the peoples’ agreement and therefore it is very important that  a constitution process include the traditional the authorities to avoid many historical short-coming that have been happening along our history.

“The second issue we discussed is the issue of how it is stipulated in the Constitution of South Sudan. So, the meeting was very fruitful given the challenges facing the traditional authority. They are all involved in solving problems during crisis.

“During war it was the traditional leaders who were there to provide peace for people and others.

South Sudan has a long history of violent conflict and according to a 201-2023 research by the European Union, while much attention has been given to national-level peace efforts, inter-communal violent conflicts have increased in some states.

Nevertheless, it said, some communities manage to prevent or peacefully resolve local conflicts based on bottom-up, dynamic, and solution-oriented Conflict Prevention and Resolution Mechanisms.

The report stressed that an in-depth understanding of community-level Conflict Prevention and Resolution Mechanisms is thus needed to shed light on the functioning and the current challenges of these mechanisms.

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