South Sudan became an independent country following a long armed struggle to break away from Sudan. At a referendum in 2011, millions voted in favour of secession, creating Africa’s 55th independent state. Since then, the nation of 11 million has been governed under the Transitional Constitution.
The process of drafting what is referred to as a ‘permanent’ constitution started in 2012. But it was interrupted by the conflict of 2013 and then again in 2016. The conflict was eventually defused by an agreement between the warring parties in 2018.
South Sudan is, therefore, yet to draft a constitution that the country’s population can call its own. This is unlikely to take place so long as obstacles to effective people’s participation remain. These include the slow implementation of the 2018 agreement which is the mainstay of peaceful coexistence. There is also large number of displaced…