A coalition of fourteen opposition political parties on Monday petitioned the chairman of the South Sudan Political Parties Council (PPC) over the USD 50,000 provisional registration fee for political parties.
The Council’s chairperson, James Akol, was not in the office at the time the petition was submitted.
Addressing journalists shortly after submitting their petition to the PPC office, Dr. Chol Gai Paul, the chairman of People`s United Front and a member of the Coalition of Opposition Parties, said the group strongly rejects the registration fees, stressing that the fees have no legal basis.
“We, the leaders of political parties seeking to register with the Political Parties Council (PPC) in South Sudan, are writing to express our strong rejection of the recent fee increase for provisional registration. We are deeply concerned about the sudden and significant rise from SSP 20,000 to USD 50,000 for a provisional license imposed by the current leadership of the PPC,” he said. “We believe that this exorbitant fee has no legal basis and is in direct contradiction to the principles of democracy and fair political participation.”
He said Article 7 (7) of the Political Parties Act 2012 (amended 2022) stipulates that: “The Council shall conduct open registration of political parties by regulations issued herein” and Article 8 (3) of the same Act states that, “A political party registered by this Act shall pay in respect of the registration such fees, which shall not be refundable, as the Council may by regulations determine.”
Dr. Gai contends that it is abundantly clear that the legal basis for imposing a fee for the registration of political parties is the regulations which are part and parcel of the Act and complementary to it and since no regulations have been issued by the PPC, it follows that any fee they impose on the political parties for registration has no legal basis.
He said there was a declaration made recently during a high-level economic meeting chaired by President Salva Kiir that all the transactions in the country must be in the South Sudanese Pound (SSP) and imposing the registration of the parties in dollars is illegal.
“By imposing a registration fee in a foreign currency (the U.S. dollar), the PPC is not only contravening this high-level ruling but is additionally encouraging engagement in the currency black market and fueling inflation the country is already suffering from. It is mind-boggling how a government institution such as the PPC can get involved in such malpractice,” he charged. “The exorbitant fee of 50,000 US dollars has no justification whatsoever. For the sake of comparison, previously the political parties in this country were paying SSP 20,000 for registration. In neighboring Kenya, political parties pay 100,000 Kenyan Shillings for provisional registration. This is equivalent to less than 700 US dollars. Where did the PPC come up with this huge amount of money?”
Dr. Gai noted that the registration of political parties should not be a means of controlling the number of parties in the country, but rather a process of legalization and that the steep fee only serves to hinder and discourage citizens from exercising their rights to participate in the upcoming elections.
“We are calling on the PPC to reconsider this decision and revert the fee to its original amount of SSP 20,000. This was the official registration fee before the appointment of the new leadership. We urge you to prioritize the advancement of democracy and the promotion of a diverse and inclusive political landscape in South Sudan,” he advised. “Democracy cannot thrive in an environment where political participation is reserved for the wealthy few. We strongly believe that the recent fee increase was designed to undermine democracy and restrict the participation of citizens in the political process. As leaders of political parties, we stand united in our rejection of this unjust and unreasonable fee. We also call for the immediate publication of the regulations demanded by the Political Parties Act after validation by the political parties.”
For his part, Dr. Lam Akol Ajawin, the chairman of the National Democratic Movement (NDM), alleged that the parties are ready to register but the PPC has not been serious with the process.
“When the Council announced on 23 January that they were ready for parties to register, it was very clear that they were not ready because there are no regulations and there are no forms for people to fill. The law says you must collect 500 signatures from each state to get registered and there are specific forms to be used in collecting those signatures. So how will I collect signatures without forms?” he asked, and added: “People immediately took them seriously and the next day people came here to apply for registration to find that nothing was ready, actually this letter was a few days ago.”
Meanwhile, Advocate Gabriel Kuot Akok, the president of the People`s Progressive Party, said the exorbitant registration fees are going to affect the parties who intend to participate in the upcoming elections.
“It is going to affect because we are left with nine months now to go for elections and the PPC intends to delay the process. By now we are supposed to have completed the process of provisional license because in law, if you apply according to the Political Parties Act 2012, as amended, you can be given your provisional license within 30 days,” he stated. “We applied in January and up to now people are struggling with issues to do with fees. If there were no complications while the Council’s chairperson, James Akol, is absent, we would have taken our provisional license and then we go for registration within six months and get ready to go for elections.”
According to Kuot, there is a deliberate plan to stifle upcoming political parties so that they do not participate in elections.
“As we speak, since January when the registration process was announced, it has been very hard to get a concerned authority in this office at the PPC. As we speak, the chairman is not in the office. So, how do you expect me to get my license when there is no responsible person in the institution?” he asked. “If the government is not funding the institution, it means that they are not serious because the PPC’s budget is supposed to be released on time so that they can execute their mandate.”