Training Launch in Torit
Seventy-five officers, traditional chiefs and civic actors are spending two intensive days in Torit mastering South Sudan’s 2022 Permanent Constitution-Making Process Act.
The workshop, led by Support Peace Initiative Development Organisation with UNDP funding, opened on Tuesday inside the state secretariat’s hall.
Grassroots Focus Takes Shape
SPIDO programme officer Morish John Peter calls the exercise part of a five-year drive to spread constitutional literacy across Greater Equatoria.
He notes the initiative revisits communities reached last year while adding new audiences left out in the first round.
Women’s and Youth Charter Integrated
Unlike 2023, the curriculum now embeds clauses drawn from the Women and Youth Charter, ensuring gender and generational voices influence the final text.
Interactive civic education modules encourage participants to test the new provisions against everyday realities before wider public consultations begin.
Government Voices and Expectations
State technical advisor Mustafa Albino Zakaria urges frank debate, arguing that a balanced constitution will calibrate relations among the executive, legislature and judiciary.
He reminds the hall that without clear checks and balances, fragile post-conflict institutions risk overlapping mandates.
Translation Plea from Participants
Several chiefs ask for the Act to be translated into Bari, Acholi and Toposa so remote villages can scrutinise the clauses in familiar tongues.
SPIDO officials acknowledge the demand and hint at forthcoming audio summaries for illiterate audiences.
Road Ahead for Constitutional Review
The National Constitutional Review Commission will use field feedback from Torit and other counties to draft South Sudan’s first permanent basic law.
Parliament passed the enabling bill in December 2022, meeting the timelines set in the Revitalised Peace Agreement; observers see the current training as a critical bridge to that milestone.