A civil society Activist has appealed for the creation of a civil interplanetary in Yei River County of Central Equatoria state.
The appeal was made during the visit of Nicholas Heysom the special Representative of the secretary general with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan to Yei River County.
A programme manager for Centre of Democracy and Development, Dara Felix said the civic space in Yei is closed.
The activist said there are four human rights defenders who fled Yei River County for safety after threats.
This happened after they organised people to express their feelings concerning the economic status of the country.
“There is already talks around elections but the Civic Space is closed. As we speak now, there are four Human Rights Defenders who fled Yei because they have been accused of organising the people to express their feelings concerning the economic status of the country,” the Activist narrated.
Dara decries lack of space for other political parties which has instilled fear in the minds and hearts of the citizens.
He added that, “Politically, SPLM is doing great but other political parties have no space. The Military intelligent and National Security have instilled fear in the minds and the hearts of the citizens.”
The activist regretted that citizens of the county are cut off from the political process in the capital Juba which makes people doubt if there would be general election
The official regretted that it is a risk of life to talk about political procedure which he believes is an unhealthy pathway to transition.
Felix appealed to the special Representative of the secretary general of the United Nation mission in South Sudan to put more emphasis on the political situation
Bishop Alex Lodiong Sakor of the Catholic diocese of Yei said UNMISS mandate is protection of civilians and support the implementation of the peace agreement.
The religious leader blames UNMISS for lack of response to some of the delayed implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.
In response to the appeal Nicholas Heysom, special representative of the secretary general of the United Nation mission in South Sudan said UNMISS will try its best to ensure that they monitor and respond to the cry of the citizens.
Nicholas said he has reported every time that the country is not ready to conduct elections if they don’t make progress in what is required in the peace agreement.
He commented that there is no civic and political space that is necessary and open political competition.
The 2018 revitalized peace agreement provides for elections after the end of the transitional period but many citizens are concerned about the civic and political space in the country.
It is also understood that some of the chapters in the agreement are not fully implemented, especially the drafting of the permanent constitution, deployment of the unified forces, census and many others.