Traditional authority and local government - struggling together against
continued centralization
RUMBEK, Sudan, March 16 (Gurtong) – Representative of all eight counties
of Lakes State, the 40 – mostly rural - chiefs attending the conference
on the restoration of traditional authorities in Rumbek this week were concordant
on the need for greater service provision to their areas. Together with disarmament
and the problem of reduced judicial powers for chiefs, the issue of the continued
centralization of power, wealth and any kind of development since the signing
of the peace agreement in Jan. 2005, appeared continuously throughout the meeting.
Many of the chiefs said that their communities had no health services or school
and problems with accessing water.
The Governor of Lakes State has signed a US$46mn contract to redo roads and
construct office buildings and other amenities for the central state government
according to two Bosnian businessmen working on the contract in Rumbek, the
capital of the state and seat of state government, currently. They say that
the state government is behind on payments.
The Acting Governor of Lakes State Awan Guol said that the Lakes State government
was hoping to get a loan from the central Government of Southern Sudan to help
cover the cost, but whether this would come through or not is as yet unknown.
As to whether there will be any similar amount of money put into the rural areas,
Guol said that ‘bringing the towns to the people’ was part of the
Sudan People’s Liberation Movement’s policy. Guol, speaking after
the closing ceremony of the traditional authority conference during which a
Council of Traditional Leaders was formed, said that he hoped that council would
increase the spread of services to the rural areas, “the Council will
be able to help a lot, especially in mobilizing resources from the local community,”
he said.
Athiaan Majak, the Commissioner of Yirol East County discussed with Gurtong
the need for development in his area, and how he and the chiefs of his county
struggle against these challenges together.
“Well, we really have no services. There is no money within the state
government budget for development, all the money goes on salaries.
“Yes, we heard about the money, that they are building big rooms for
big offices in Rumbek. That is Rumbek. There is nothing in the counties. It
is creating an imbalance in development. The UNDP (the United Nations Development
Programme) has supported us with some offices, with three rooms. This is all
we have.
“We are experiencing a lot of return. You know the Shambe Port is in
my county. People come from the north on the river barges. They come even in
the wet season when the roads are bad and they walk sometimes 70km. Sometimes
they are raided by the Nuer.
“An old man died in the rain.
“It is not easy for these people to fit in. Our people are not economically
very strong, they live off subsistence agriculture, hard to sustain even their
own household. So these returnees become a burden. They are not receiving food
yet. The IOM (International Office for Migration) is trying to build a way station
in Shambe.
“When they were in Khartoum these people worked, but here no one can
employ them, but they are not professional farmers. Some of them will go back,
to find someone who can employ them.
“The relationship between the traditional authority and the commissioners
is good. The traditional authority administer the local communities, the plans
usually come from the commissioner. Most of the time they are involved in settling
cases. If there’s a possibility th |
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