The national council of ministers on Friday approved a plan by the Minister of Defense and Veteran Affairs to have land allocated for SSPDF bases in all the states and administrative areas across the country.
Addressing reporters after the council of ministers meeting chaired by President Salva Kiir Mayardit, the Minister of Information, Communication Technology and Postal Service, Michael Makuei, said the army has no land and so the defense minister requested the cabinet to approve the issuance of land to the army so that the army is kept at a distance from the civil population
“All over the world, there is no way you find the civil population mingling with the army but here in South Sudan, they are inseparable and in the same places,” he said. “So, they (the army) are requesting that land be allocated to them in the states and the administrative areas so that they can allocate these areas to the army and their families so that they stay a little distance away from the civil population.”
Makuei said the cabinet has directed the defense minister to form a committee to establish contact with the administrative authorities in the states and the administrative areas so that they can provide the necessary land.
According to Makuei, Justice Minister Ruben Madol presented a bill for the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation and Healing Commission which was approved by the cabinet.
He said the bill is very important because after the establishment of the commission, anybody who has a complaint or is aggrieved will have to report to that body and that body will look into their cases, investigate it and summon people to come and answer.
Makuei also said the justice minister also made a presentation on the Compensation and Reparation Authority Bill which provides for the establishment of an authority that will address matters and processes of compensation and reparation.
“These two bills are by the provision of the peace agreement,” he said “The commission and authority will provide for compensation for those who deserve compensation and those who have suffered and been affected by the conflict.”
Makuei said that after deliberation, both bills were passed to be presented to the parliament.
The information minister also revealed that the minister of higher education, science, and technology, Gabriel Changson Chang, made a presentation about 400 scholarships awarded by the Egyptian government to South Sudanese.
“The Government of Egypt has given us 400 scholarships which were free and fully funded but now there are a lot of changes in the system and they are demanding that students should pay USD 100 for registration and that there are some other fees that ought to be paid by the students in addition,” he said. “They (Egyptians) made further clarifications that any student going for undergraduate study should not be above 19 years of age, anybody going for a master’s degree should be not more than 27 years of age and anybody going for Ph.D. studies should not be more than 32 years of age, these are all limitations which are being made.”
“After the presentation, the cabinet decided that the higher education ministry and the services cluster should set up a committee to go to Egypt to discuss all these with the Egyptian government and see how best this situation can be addressed,” Makuei added.