In his remarks Amb. Gituai lauded the annual forum, saying the platform to promotedialogue and foster smooth communication between the different levels of government in the country, enhancing policy coordination and sharing experiences.

“This Forum offers an opportunity to deliberate and reflect on the importance of transparency and accountability in governance as well as devolution of power and economic resources,” he said. 

Giving a detailed status of implementation of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) , Amb. Gituai said while there were key milestones over the years, the R-ARCSS has faced many recurring challenges. 

“Key among these have been the lack of political will, lack of predictable and sufficient funding to the Agreement Institutions and Mechanisms, trust deficit among the Parties, capacity gaps within the various implementation mechanisms, insecurity caused by activities of some holdout groups, severe flooding and ramifications of the conflict in Sudan,” he said. 

Regarding the registration of political parties in preparations for elections, Amb. Gituai reported, 29 political parties had been fully registered by the Political Parties Council as at 30th June 2024. 

“However, there were concerns raised that the registration fee of US $75,000 was deemed prohibitive, to which the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs was petitioned and provided a legal opinion. In addition, the Political Parties Act 2022, prohibits registration of political parties with armed wings.”

“It is therefore essential for the Parties to the Agreement to expedite the completion of unification of forces to enable those currently with armed wings register and participate in elections,” he added. 

Additionally, he said, there are serious concerns that the Parties to the R-ARCSS have not adhered to the 35% minimum women representation threshold. 

“Currently, no single woman holds the position of Governor or Chief Administrator in the Republic of South Sudan. RJMEC reiterates its appeal to the Parties to the R-ARCSS to adhere to the minimum women’s quota in the Executive and decision-making bodies at all levels of government.”

In his conclusion, he called on the leadership of the country at the national and state levels should therefore use this Forum to reflect on the challenges that have faced the implementation of the Agreement and resulted in repeated extensions of the R-ARCSS. 

“The critical question to be addressed relates to what should be done differently during the next 24 months to ensure completion of implementation of the critical pending tasks of the R-ARCSS, and creation of a conducive environment for the conduct of credible, peaceful, free, and fair democratic elections in December 2026,” he said. 

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