The Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) on Tuesday passed the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation, and Healing Bill 2024 and the Compensation and Reparation Authority Bill 2024 and they now await the president’s assent.

According to the 2018 revitalized peace agreement, the two bills are to facilitate the establishment of a commission that will spearhead efforts to address the relics of conflicts and promote peace, national reconciliation, and healing, and another commission for compensation and reparation respectively.

Speaking during the presentation of the two bills, Bona Deng Lawrence, the chairperson of the TNLA’s Specialized Committee on Peace and Reconciliation, said the bills can also be used for the establishment of national museums for the prevention of conflicts.

“The Bill has provisions for the establishment of national museums for the prevention of conflicts and memorial centers in the ten states and three administrative areas,” he said, adding that the bills also provide for the establishment of support centers for psychotherapy cases for both victims and perpetrators.

According to Deng, to fully scrutinize the provisions of the two bills, the committee conducted a nationwide consultation as well as going to Rwanda for more consultations.

“The committee conducted three workshops for public hearing with civil society organizations, faith-based groups, people with disabilities, women groups, and representatives from youth, and traditional leaders,” he stated.

“The committee also conducted public consultations with victims and survivors of the conflict in the three great regions of Bahr el Gazal, Upper Nile, and Equatoria respectively.”

“The committee also conducted an external visit to the Republic of Rwanda to learn about the different facets of the transitional justice processes that would be formed and they reach the CTR-H and the CRA-B,” Deng added.

For her part, TNLA Speaker Jemma Nunu Kumba said the two bills are very important because they are a requirement of the peace agreement. She said with them being passed, parliament has done its part.

“Thank you very much honorable members for effective deliberation on these two bills that are related to the peace agreement,” she said. “Everybody has been waiting for the bills and now they have been passed. I think we have done our part. The rest is for the executive.”