UNISCI - Universidad Complutense de Madrid

More documents

Recommendations

Info

UNISCI Discussion Papers, Nº 33 (Octubre / October 2013) ISSN 1696-2206The SPLM National Convention held in 1994 at Chukudum created a real governmentstructure for the liberated areas, with a central executive and legislative power heldrespectively by the National Executive Council and the National Liberation Council. Thejudiciary was also reformed, with the formalization of three levels of traditional courts (A atBoma level, B at Payam level, C at County level) and a parallel system of military courts. Onone side, the authority of traditional chiefs was recognized, on the other it was subjected tothe military, 42 which, according to some, negatively affected their legitimacy and capacity ofexercising their conflict management role in the eyes of the population. 43 After the NationalConvention, 49 local councils (i.e. Counties) were created, but their number doubled in thefollowing years through presidential decrees in response to the local population demands ofself-administration, so that in 2005 the Counties were 98. 44 According to Johnson, the numberof local chiefs (and chiefdoms) also increased due to the recognition of new tribal section andsub-section by County Commissioners, in order to have a higher number of positions todistribute to their local clienteles. 45At Boma and Payam levels appointed SPLA administrators were the links with localtraditional authorities, whose main responsibility was to keep local insecurity under control.The County was led by an appointed County Commissioner drawn from SPLA ranks, and wasthe level responsible not only for raising taxes but also for delivering services through CountyDevelopment Committees created in 1999, that should have taken over some of the servicedelivery and aid coordination activities run by the Sudan Relief and RehabilitationAssociation since 1989. 46Evidence of how much these administrative reforms were actually implemented islimited and varies across the territory. Nevertheless, the SPLA was able to create a governingstructure parallel to the customary one, recognizing the latter but also subjecting it to civilauthorities that in practice were never really separated from the military apparatus. Despitebeing weakened in terms of autonomy and legitimacy by the war, local traditional authoritiesare still regarded as the most significant institution in the people’s daily lives, especially in therural areas, and the bottom-up demands for their re-empowerment is strong according to oneof the studies on the state of local government conducted during the formulation process ofthe Local Government Framework. The same study also highlighted the persisting supremacyof military rule over civil administration at County level and the proliferation of counties intotribal constituencies. 474. Why Counties MatterThis paper will now focus on the County level of government and on its role in the currentsettings. This choice is due to two reasons. First, the County is the first level of what is42 Ibid.43 Hoehne, op. cit.; Bradbury, Marc; Ryle, John; Medley, Michael and Sansculotte-Greenidge, Kwesi (2006):Local Peace Processes in Sudan: A Baseline Study, London/Nairobi, Rift Valley Institute; Hutchinson, SharonE.: “A Curse from God? Political and Religious Dimensions of the Post 1991 Rise of Ethnic Violence in SouthSudan”, Journal of Modern African Studies, vol. 39, nº2 (June 2001), pp. 307-332.44 Local Government Framework, op. cit., section 1.4.4.45 Johnson D. H.: “The Sudan People’s Liberation Army…”, op. cit.46 The SRRA was the humanitarian branch of the SPLA, in charge of channeling aid flows to the localpopulation in SPLA controlled areas, but actually often used to divert aid according to the rebel movementinterests and needs. Branch and Mampilly, op. cit.; Rolandsen, op. cit.47 Local Government Framework, op. cit., 2.3.3 3 rd Framework.44
UNISCI Discussion Papers, Nº 33 (Octubre / October 2013) ISSN 1696-2206constitutionally defined as Local Government. Although states play a very important role inthe decentralized system of governance South Sudan is currently implementing, and they alsorepresent an interesting level of analysis of inter-communal violent conflicts that mostly occurin the form of cattle-raiding and see states’ authorities actively involved in conflict-resolutionefforts 48 , states are not considered to be part of the local government structure, but above it.Their role and position in the governmental hierarchy and their representation at the nationallevel through the Council of States 49 seems to suggest a federal system, which is howevernever mentioned in the Transitional Constitution. The second reason for choosing the Countyas level of analysis is that the more the local government legal framework is produced andimplemented, the more Counties are empowered and increase their importance in themanagement of local issues.4.1. Counties´ Design and FunctionsWhen the local government structure was designed, the SPLM largely relied on assuminglypre-existing customary boundaries between tribes, sub-tribes, sections and sub-sections 50 inorder to trace borders between Counties, Payams and Bomas. Tribal “traditional” boundariesare nevertheless something hard to officialize, because it implies a snapshot of ethnic groupsterritorial distribution in a precise moment of history, which is even harder to achieve in acontext that has been characterized by massive displacement for decades. In a paper on accessto land and pastures in Southern Sudan commissioned by FAO in 2001, Paul De Wit suggeststhat, despite discourses on the endorsement of “pre-existing” “customary” boundaries, thesewere often manipulated with the aim of influencing population movements, 51 and newnarratives were produced. After the end of the war, local borders so created were more or lesskept untouched and are still recognized as the borders of local government units, though notyet officially demarcated. According to a senior official in the Local Government Board,colonial maps of internal boundaries should be taken as a landmark in the process ofdemarcation as written evidence of traditional borders, but also acknowledges the lack ofthese maps. 52The Local Government Act (2009) clarifies both the structure and the duties of localgovernment councils. Besides differentiating between Rural Council (County), Urban Council(Town and City) and Industrial Council, it outlines their internal structure which shall becomposed of a legislative council made of 35 elected members with 25% women’srepresentation, an executive council made of departments directors and secretaries headed bya County Commissioner/Mayor/Town Clerk elected directly by the population, and acustomary law council as a judiciary organ. 5348See for example: Gatdet Dak, James: “South Sudan steps up inter-state community reconciliationconferences”, Sudan Tribune, 4 January 2009, available at http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article29770;Radio Miraya: “Warrap Holds Interstate Peace Conference”, 12 July 2013; Nonviolent Peaceforce: “InterstateConflict in South Sudan: a Case Study in Unarmed civilian peacekeeping”, 20 October 2011, available athttp://www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org/interstate-conflict-south-sudan-case-study-unarmed-civilianpeacekeeping.49 The Council of States is made of former members of the Council of States of the Republic of Sudan plus 20members appointed by the President. Transitional Constitution, op. cit., Part V, Ch. I, 58.50 Johnson D. H., “The Sudan People’s Liberation Army…” op. cit.51 De Wit, Paul (2001): Legality and Legitimacy: A Study of the Access to Land, Pasture and Water, Rome,FAO. For example, the border of the Lou Nuer area was moved by the SPLA - North of the Sobat River toprevent Lou Nuer to move southwards in the territory of Dinka Bor.52 Interviewed in Juba in January 2013.53 Local Government Act, op. cit., Section 22. As mentioned above, however, none of these provisions iscurrently implemented.45
Page 1 and 2: ISSN 1696-2206 Nº 33 Octubre /Octo
Page 3 and 4: Juan Emilio CheyreDirector, Center
Page 5 and 6: UNISCI Discussion Papers, Nº 33 (O
Page 43: UNISCI Discussion Papers, Nº 33 (O
Page 95 and 96:
UNISCI Discussion Papers, Nº 33 (O
Page 97 and 98:
Page 99 and 100:
Page 101 and 102:
Page 103 and 104:
Page 105 and 106:
Page 107 and 108:
Page 109 and 110:
Page 111 and 112:
Page 113 and 114:
Page 115 and 116:
Page 117 and 118:
Page 119 and 120:
Page 121 and 122:
Page 123 and 124:
Page 125 and 126:
Page 127 and 128:
Page 129 and 130:
Page 131 and 132:
Page 133 and 134:
Page 135 and 136:
Page 137 and 138:
Page 139 and 140:
Page 141 and 142:
Page 143 and 144:
Page 145 and 146:
Page 147 and 148:
Page 149 and 150:
Page 151 and 152:
Page 153 and 154:
Page 155 and 156:
Page 157 and 158:
Page 159 and 160:
Page 161 and 162:
Page 163 and 164:
Page 165 and 166:
Page 167 and 168:
Page 169 and 170:
Page 171 and 172:
Page 173 and 174:
Page 175 and 176:
Page 177 and 178:
Page 179 and 180:
Page 181 and 182:
Page 183 and 184:
Page 185 and 186:
Page 187 and 188:
Page 189 and 190:
Page 191 and 192:
Page 193 and 194:
Page 195 and 196:
Page 197 and 198:
Page 199 and 200:
Page 201 and 202:
Page 203 and 204:
Page 205 and 206:
Page 207 and 208:
Page 209 and 210:
Page 211 and 212:
Page 213 and 214:
Page 215 and 216:
Page 217 and 218:
Page 219 and 220:
Page 221 and 222:
Page 223 and 224:
Page 225 and 226:
Page 227 and 228:
Page 229 and 230:
Page 231 and 232:
Page 233 and 234:
Page 235 and 236:
Page 237 and 238:
Page 239 and 240:
Page 241 and 242:
Page 243 and 244:
Page 245 and 246:
show all

UNISCI - Universidad Complutense de Madrid

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?