The Constitutional Amendment Committee on Thursday handed over the bill to the Minster of Justice.
The bill for the amendment of the constitution is to incorporate the South Sudan revitalized peace agreement.
Chairman of the committee, Kishira Kibara says the bill is according to the deal.
‘The bill fully incorporates the agreement. We have followed various procedures in incorporating the agreement; including making a general reference to the agreement and making it part of the constitution. That means the entire agreement is already part of the constitution as soon as the bill is passed. ‘, he stresses.
Kibara says the committee has amended and added things that were in conflict with the agreement.
‘We have also amended where necessary the process of the current constitution that were in conflict with the agreement. And also in other places, we have added particular things into the constitution, including changing the way the government is appointed and also the way the government is managed. For instance, establishes the four vice Presidents and the First Vice President to be part of the executive. It also expands the legislative assembly to have five hundred and fifty members to incorporate the people who are feeling they were excluded before the amendment was done. It has also thought to increase the share of women in running the government by requiring that all government institutions should provide for at least thirty five percent representations of women’.
Minister of Justice Paulino Wanawila pledges to submit the bill to the council of ministers within one or two weeks to adopt it.
‘The next step is to go and present the drafted amendment to the executive, the council of ministers. After that it goes to the assembly to be adopted according to the agreement provides. I can present the constitution within a week or two. I don’t think there is going to be any deliberation because the agreement is self explanatory and it is not a bill that is to be discussed differently than a free bill. It is an agreement that is to be incorporated into the constitution’ Minister Wanawila explained.
The committee for the amendment of the constitution says it has also started working on the South Sudan laws, including the Police Act, SPLA and Security Act.
It expects all the laws to be amended within the next two of three months before the pre-transition period.