South Sudanese Leaders Urged to “appoint more women in the State Governments”

Only one woman was among the newly appointed Governors and Administrators, which goes against the provisions of the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement that stipulated a 35 percent female representation in the unity government.

It was against this backdrop that women Coalition for Peace in the world’s newest nation convened a Press Conference Thursday, July 2 during which their representatives recommended that President Kiir’s administration reconsiders “these current appointments and have women occupy their rightful positions under the 35 percent quota” as stipulated in the Revitalized Agreement, the Transitional Constitution and other legal instruments.

Speaking to ACI Africa during the July 3 interview, Archbishop Ameyu urged the parties in South Sudan’s unity Government to “be sensitive to the women's representation. When women are appointed in the government for national posts, they represent everybody.”

“If we still hold that traditional element that men are the only important people in the society, we will get it wrong,” the 56-year-old South Sudanese Prelate cautioned.

He encouraged newly appointed Governors to pay attention to urgent issues affecting the country during their three-year mandate.

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The Archbishop regarded the fight against the coronavirus as a priority for the new heads of South Sudanese States and the other regions.

“The first task now is to save lives. The first thing for the government is to control this COVID-19,” Archbishop Ameyu said, and added, “We know that COVID-19 is a silent killer and it has killed many of our people including government officials.”

He continued, “The second thing would be to alleviate hunger because COVID-19 has caused hunger also among our people. The third thing is to bring security to our people because of inter-communal violence.”