Three UN agencies jointly held consultations with returnees and displaced people in Wau and Raja, Western Bahr El Ghazal on the importance of citizenry participation in democratic processes in South Sudan. | Photo:Michael Wondi/UNMISS.

Displaced South Sudanese citizens returning to Wau and Raja in Western Bahr el Ghazal State, are appealing for fully-pledged security arrangements if the country is to hold timely and credible elections in 2024.

The returnees reportedly voiced the concern during two separate consultations on the constitution-making and electoral processes, facilitated by the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and UN Women.

Suzi Batista, a returnee who sought refuge at a former UN Protection Site during the 2016 conflict, said security is also paramount to ensure that people cultivate and move freely without fear.

“Without economic activities, we cannot usher in development, but good security is a key parameter that our leaders must provide us, especially to returnees who were once displaced by violence,” Suzi said in the forum, according to UNMISS.

“For us to fully reintegrate and participate in the public life of our nation, our concerns must be acknowledged,” she added.

Suzi added that “we want to cast our vote and elect our representatives to power without any fear.”

She also suggested that it is important that South Sudanese citizens are heard and their views included in the permanent constitution.

The workshop reportedly concluded with recommendations for full implementation of the Revitalized Peace Agreement.

Stakeholders from the state said efforts should be redoubled to boost security and access to justice for all, widespread economic development, including for youth, and inclusive representation of all communities in South Sudan’s permanent constitution.

“Let us do what is right and dispel misinformation about the constitution-making process,” said Randa Luis Romano from the state Relief and Rehabilitation Commission.

She encouraged participants to fully contribute to the ongoing drafting process.

“This paper does not belong only to the leaders but to every citizen of South Sudan,” she added.

On his part, Christina Gabriel Ali, state Minister for Gender, Child and Social Welfare, said the South Sudan constitution must be people-centered.

“The constitution is something that every South Sudanese should be intimately familiar with. It is a document that decodes how we decide to live together in peace as one nation.”

“Therefore, everybody has a part to play in it—women, children, men, the disabled, the youth,” she added and assured that the views of returnees and IDPs would be presented to the government for inclusion in the country’s constitution.

South Sudan has never conducted a general election as an independent state.

General elections were scheduled to be held on 9 July 2015, but the outbreak of conflict in 2013 scattered the planned polls.

The South Sudan parliament voted overwhelmingly in April 2015 to amend the transitional 2011 constitution to extend the presidential and parliamentary term until 9 July 2018. The polls were again postponed to 2021.

But in 2018, a peace agreement that ended the civil war was signed and a transitional period of three years was agreed on, which would be followed by elections in 2023.

In 2022, the transitional government and opposition agreed to extend the transitional period until late 2024 where an elected government would then be ushered in 2025.