The national minister of cabinet affairs has raised doubts about the establishment of the Hybrid Court which is stipulated in the revitalized peace agreement.
Dr. Martin Elia Lomuro who was speaking during the twenty-seventh meeting of the Revitalized Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) on Thursday said the court plans to rely on the Obasanjo Report which the government has challenged.
Article 5.3.1.1 of the peace agreement specifies the establishment of a Hybrid Court under the auspices of the African Union which will use among other documents, the report of the African Union Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan commonly known as “Obasanjo Report”.
The government however in March last year challenged the Obasanjo Report and released its report authored by the National Security Service and a United Kingdom-based law firm.
The report said there was a well-planned coup and made public the names of alleged perpetrators who have since joined the unity government.
“The process awaits guidance from the African Union as provided for in article 5.3.1.1 of the agreement. And I want to say this is not an easy process because, in the agreement, the main document to be used for the Hybrid Court is the report of the former president of Nigeria (Obasanjo),” he said. “The Government of South Sudan has challenged that report and so the owner of the report might have to go to court to justify the claims.”
Minister Lomuro also revealed that the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU) is set to conduct a workshop by mid-March to consolidate the Bill for the establishment of the Compensation and Reparation Authority before it is signed into law by President Salva Kiir.
He said the Bill is ready but that the government is planning to invite African countries that have passed the same situation of war such as Rwanda, Gambia, and South Africa.
According to chapter 5 of the 2018 peace deal, compensation and reparation will provide material support for people whose properties were destroyed and looted during the war and help them rebuild their lives.
“Every country that has gone through our same challenges like Gambia, South Africa, Rwanda, and many others will be invited before mid-March,” Lomuro said.