The Challenge of Constitutionalism and Separation of Powers in South Sudan
Date: 15 December 2015
Location: 2:00p.m - 5:30p.m, Gudele Hall, Juba Grand Hotel
Organizer: The Sudd Institute & UNDP
Following the conduct of a successful plebiscite in January 2011, the then semi-autonomous Government of Southern Sudan immediately formed a technical committee to review the interim constitution adopted in 2005. As expected, the constitutional review committee hurriedly drafted a constitutional text, which the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly endorsed and finally promulgated into law by President Salva Kiir on July 9, 2011 as the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan.
Since independence, it is a known fact that the practice and the ideals expressed in the transitional constitution have not necessarily caught up as envisaged. To discuss the challenges of constitutionalism and separation of powers in South Sudan, The Sudd Institute in conjunction with UNDP is sponsoring a public lecture. The lecture explores the underlying factors that make the dream of achieving constitutionalism a mere distant imagination in South Sudan. It argues that part of the challenge in achieving constitutionalism regards the legitimacy and the relevance of the process that brought about the constitution. It concludes that state failure to exert control over the population is to blame for lack of respect and acceptance of the constitutional order in South Sudan.
Speaker
Abraham Awolich, Senior Policy Analyst, The Sudd Institute
Discussants
Hon. Kuel Aguer Kuel, Former Caretaker Governor, Northern Bahr el Ghazal
Prof. Samson Wassara, Vice Chancellor, University of Bahr el Ghazal
Dr. James Okuk, Lecturer, University of Juba
Moderator
Dr. Mario Awet, Deputy Director, Center for Peace and Development Studies, University of Juba