Crisis of the Judiciary of South Sudan: A Leadership Problem NOT Lack of Resources

[Elisabeth Janaina]

Crisis of the Judiciary of South Sudan: A Leadership Problem NOT Lack
of Resources
Apr. 27 National, Uncategorized no comments

By: Tong Kot Kuocnin, LLB (Juba), LLM (Nairobi), Specialist in Law,
Governance & Democracy
University of Nairobi, Kenya, APR/27/2017, SSN;

In the previous article I authored titled ‘The Nation Needs a New Face
in the Judiciary NOT Justice Chan Reec Anymore,’ and another piece
titled, ‘Why Too Many Judges and Justices are discontented with Chief
Justice Chan Reec’s Leadership in the Judiciary?’ I explored hitherto
issues that, if the judiciary of South Sudan could indeed position
itself in its rightful place.

These articles plus many others were greeted with hostility by many
stooges and kitchen supporters of the Chief Justice leadership. They
turned a blind eye to the important issues tackled in the articles for
a simple fact that they are beneficiaries of that messed up leadership
and care less of the important place the judiciary occupies as an
institution in our country.

In this article, I ironically intends to bring to forefront the crisis
which has pervasively infested the judiciary of South Sudan which lies
not in the judiciary as a juridical institution but in the leadership
of the incumbent Chief Justice.

However, the malignant inertia, unruly and unscrupulous behaviour,
that has rocked the judiciary since the current Chief Justice took
over the administration could warrant unspeakable dysfunctionality of
the judiciary and has intrinsically provoked mistrust of the
institution trusted as the last hope in retrieving back rights
infringed on and maliciously encroached upon aberrantly by the most
powerful and untouchable mafias and oligarchs.

It has become a common saying that the judiciary is in abeyance where
many judges, whether senior or junior, point fingers at the Chief
Justice of not doing enough in addressing most pressing issues of
concern both for them and for the institution to truly observe its
boundaries of separation of powers, independence and impartiality
which are the tenets of the true judiciary as a third arm of the
government.

The gap between the Chief Justice and his colleagues grows wider every
day and causes many judges to think of quitting the institution simply
because it is not truly elegant as it should be.

Many judges and justices are discontented with the way the Chief
Justice is running the Judiciary and this is manifested by judges and
justices incessant strikes since 2013.

Even with intervention of H. E. the president and his learned Advisor
on Legal Affairs to address judges and justices demands in 2016, the
Chief Justice again went and slept on the rights of the judges and
justices.

The president resolved judges and justices strike in 2016 by releasing
vehicles that were parked for the last six years to be distributed to
them but the Chief Justice went and took all the keys and stored them
in his living room, in his residence.

The Ministry of Finance was directed by the President to release their
long overdue salaries into the account of the Judiciary but again the
chief justice, being the sole signatory to the account, refused to
release the money to the judges and justices again, causing the
current ongoing judges and justices’ strike.

This is not a problem of the state anymore, but a leadership problem
within the judiciary in which our learned chief justice perceives the
judiciary as his own private property with which he can do what he
likes at his own discretion.

Why too many judges and justices are discontented with Justice Reec’s
administration is a combination of these issues and that’s why it has
become a leadership problem not a crisis that other arms of government
created.

The Chief Justice is of course the head of the judiciary and one
charged by law with day-to-day running or administration of the
judiciary. It is on his directives that the director of judges affairs
in the judiciary acted upon a communication and if he happens not to
be in town, then no toilet papers, ream papers, no transport and no
cleaner to clean the court-rooms and everything comes to a standstill.

The nation needs a new face in the judiciary to salvage the
credibility of the judiciary and restore confidence and trust of the
people in the judiciary.

The hedge is against the president to come to his senses and correct
the image of the judiciary by relieving the indignant chief justice
due to his heedless consideration of opposing views which heisted the
people of South Sudan off their legal and constitutional rights of
access to justice, a crux that will not only cost him dearly but the
admired and most respected institution among all institutions of the
government in the world.

The nation needs a new face in the judiciary, a face that is herald to
meeting the demands of judges and justice for the people of South
Sudan.

A face which doesn’t worship the appointing authority and turns his
back at the institution and the people it’s meant to serve.

A face determined to reshape the chattered image of the institution of
Judiciary because the administration of the judiciary under Chief
Justice Chan R. Madut is heretical not only to the members of legal
fraternity but to the general public which resort to judiciary as the
only hope in getting rights they deserved.

Heretofore, the nation needs a new face that is not detached, divorced
and disabled from the members of the judiciary, the legal community
and general public.

The nation needs a new face in the judiciary not Justice Chan Reec
Madut anymore. The judiciary, judges, advocates and the general public
have suffered more than enough during his tenure as Chief Justice and
President of Supreme Court of South Sudan.

It must be admitted that the crisis that have now engulfed the
judiciary were brought about by his dictatorial and weak leadership
style. It is leadership problem that is now facing the judiciary not
because resources aren’t available.