“An extension of the suffering of the people”: Catholic Bishop

[John Ashworth]

“An extension of the suffering of the people”: Catholic Bishop in
South Sudan on Proposed Extension of Transitional Govt

By Jude Atemanke
Tombura-Yambio, 05 July, 2024 / 11:00 pm (ACI Africa).

An extension of the mandate of South Sudan’s transitional government
of national unity will only serve to prolong the suffering of the
people of God in the East-Central African nation, a Catholic Bishop in
the country has said.

South Sudan’s Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity
(RTGoNU) was formed in February 2020 in line with the September 2018
Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan
(R-ARCSS).

The world’s newest country that gained independence from Sudan in July
2011 and plunged into civil war in December 2013 had scheduled general
elections before February 2023.

An agreement between the RTGoNU and the opposition was to postpone the
elections to late 2024. Another postponement has been reported, “owing
to the continual delays in implementing crucial aspects of the 2018
peace agreement.”

In an interview with the Catholic Radio Network (CRN) on Wednesday,
July 3, Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of South Sudan’s Catholic
Diocese of Tombura-Yambia (CDTY) weighed in on the planned December
2024 elections.

The general elections need to be held as previously planned so that
eligible voters in South Sudan can “vote for their leaders who can
provide basic needs that the current government failed to address.”

“The extension of the period (of the transitional government) is also
an extension of the suffering of the people,” Bishop Hiiboro said in
the interview reported on July 4, adding, “For the last four years,
there has not been proper work in the country; no so much service has
been done.”

An extension, he also noted, would “give us humble time to prepare the
people before the election comes.”

In the interview, the Local Ordinary of CDTY since his Episcopal
Consecration in June 2008 decried the suffering of the people in the
country amid economic hardships.

“If you’re extending that period there must be a promise that the
market will change tomorrow, people will have basics to feed on and
necessary services they need for themselves,” the Catholic Church
leader, who serves as the President of the Integral Human Development
Commission of the Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SCBC) said.

On June 29, SCBC members called upon the South Sudanese government to
seal all security loopholes and prepare adequately for the country’s
elections scheduled for December.

In a statement issued at the end of their June 27-29 meeting in the
Catholic Archdiocese of Juba, members of SCBC said, “South Sudan is
not truly at peace. While there is no serious fighting between major
armed groups, sub-national violence is taking place in many parts of
the country.”

They said organizing credible elections involves many elements,
including the establishment of an independent electoral commission.

Elections, they continued, must only come after the country has
undertaken demarcation of constituencies, registration of voters,
political parties and candidates, training of electoral officers, as
well as civic education.

The Catholic Bishops also underscored the need to have in place the
logistics of voting in the country that they said has poor
infrastructure and communication challenges, and experiences
widespread insecurity.

They described the planned elections as being part of the R-ARCSS, a
peace agreement signed by the country's political parties to end the
December 2013 civil war.

https://www.aciafrica.org/news/11306/an-extension-of-the-suffering-of-the-people-catholic-bishop-in-south-sudan-on-proposed-extension-of-transitional-govt

END
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