1. Welcoming remarks

I am so happy to meet all of you in such an important gathering as I have been longing to meeting all of you and to discuss the challenges facing us and how to address them collectively.

I thank UNDP for facilitating your coming here to attend this important meeting.

I also thank Dr. Riek Machar for initiating such a forum that will need to institutionalize and define clearly within our new structure of the Office of the President.

Although we want to come out with concrete results from this meeting, I am particularly interested in concretely streamlining our relationship, reporting and fundamental issues of governance at the state level.

2. Key challenges:

I would like to share with you the followingb challenges as a basis for your deliberations:

• Security and Rule of Law: Maintenance of security and rule of law is a real challenge that we need to address with clear action points and way forward. The security at community level is becoming increasingly fragile as ethnic tensions and conflict are gradually undermining our CPA and we need to act now to protect the lives of our people. I made recently some changes and appointment of new governors and some of you who have survived the wind of change will need to work harder to restore peace and stability and the newly appointed governors have my full trust in bringing stability in their states.

• Institutional relations: The relations between the organs of government (judiciary, legislature, executive and civil societal institutions) in the state is a real challenge as some governors deliberately tend to undermine the autonomy and independence of such organs as defined in our constitution. We need to be clear and respect the role of these organs and how to relate to each other. For example when we say independence of judiciary, we mean it and any person undermining it is not only undermining that institution but also our constitution and the CPA. A judge was arbitrary arrested and beaten in Northern Bahr el Ghazal state without resorting the normal and due process as provided in our constitution. We may be blaming others for tempering with the CPA, but we are as well undermining the CPA in our own routine work if we do not respect these organs of government. I need to reiterate here that the appointment and dismissal of members of other political parties in the state assembly and council of ministers can not be done by the President of GoSS and with the consent of the concerned political parties.

• Governance and transparency: Issues related to management of public funds and transparent check and balance mechanisms are real challenges in most states. Only few states have a clear policy statement and budget passed by its assembly to guide their political commitments to our population. Some states have even more that doubled the staff ceilings of 5,000 persons as directed by GoSS. Most states are not only using their grant-in-aid to pay salaries of this unacceptable level of employment but are even using conditional grant meant for education and water to pay the salaries. Such practice is a crime against our children and vulnerable citizens to whom we should deliver such vital services through our institutions at state level.

• Affirmative Action: Our constitution is very clear about affirmative action regarding representation of women and other marginalized communities and we need to be up to these constitutional challenges, particularly at the state level. More than half of our states have no women represented in the State Council of Ministers and this is a real constitutional violation that will make some of you offenders of our constitution. We are still struggling and searching for women seats taken by men and we need to be vigilant to safeguard the rights of our vulnerable population. Some small communities in various states are looking for avenues and means through which they could be heard as they are poorly represented at all levels of government in the state.

• Demand for more counties: We are receiving many and sometimes genuine requests from various communities asking for their own counties as effective way to govern themselves. While some of these demands may be genuine, we have resolved to establish new counties in accordance with law as provided for in our constitution. The Local Government Board is now reviewing the local government framework and is preparing as well the local government bill to be presented to our assembly for approval. The real challenge is not the establishment of new counties but how far have we been able to transfer powers and resources to the counties as the closest level of government to the people. I am worried that most resources transferred to states do end up at the state level without reaching our local government and this is a real challenge.

• Relation with GoNU: The issue of relationship between our states in Southern Sudan, while SPLM wanted to have such contact to be through the GoSS. Most staff of our states, particularly those adjacent to Northern Sudan, do frequently visit Khartoum without informing us and some have even established their own working relations with national ministries without our knowledge and some have established their own liaison offices and even rented their residential houses in Khartoum. Such behaviour is not only undermining institutional intergrity of our government but violating what we have achieved in the CPA and provided for in our constitution. Those who are having such dubious contacts with GoNU are not less than those who are determined not see the people of southern Sudan exercising their right of self determination. I have given you my full trust to represent us so as to implement our political commitment and safeguard our achievements in the CPA by respecting our institutions, CPA and our constitution and expect each of you to be keen to honour such trust.
• Old laws: Our constitution is clear that the current laws (New Sudan Laws) will be in force till new legislations are passed. It came to my attention when my Presidential Advisor on Gender and Human Rights became a victim of the very laws that forced us to resort to armed struggle. I was shocked and saddened if such laws could be imposed on my advisor in our capital, what would be the situation of our people who are far away in the states? I hope these laws are not operational in your states otherwise I am directing each of you not to allow such laws to victimize our people and undermine their fundamental freedoms and basic rights.

• Relationship with NCP: It is important to emphasize that our political partnership with NCP came as a result of its political courage of signing the CPA and makes it a key strategic political partner in the implementation of CPA. Although we do differ sometimes over the implementation of the CPA, we should remember always that we want to implement the CPA and create conducive environment for our people to enjoy and exercise their rights as provided for in the CPA. In some states, I learned that NCP is not accorded such special status and I would urge each of you to respect them and trat them as your key strategic political partners. I would like you to remember also that southern Sudan is part and parcel of Sudan and we should respect that as some of you tend to believe and behave as if we are an independent country and each Sudanese should enjoy his or her full citizenship rights in all our states. Other southern Sudan political parties should also be accorded the same respect and full participation in state public affairs. We need to be on a high moral ground and provide a sound leadership that encourages and tolerates other political views within the law

• Population Census: we are now planning to conduct the population census towards the end of next year or early 2008 and this is a major exercise that will need massive mobilization of resources and people, particularly at the state level. In order to expedite preparations for the conduct of the population census, we have set up various committees at the levels of government in Southern Sudan and we urge you to operationalise and support these census committees as came out in my presidential Decree. I hope you will have time to discuss the population census with Southern Sudan Center for Census, Statistics and Evaluation.

Concluding Remarks.

• I am sharing with you the aforementioned challenges with the aim of finding solutions and hope you will deliberate on them and to come up with specific recommendations.

• As from my part, I have appointed now a minister in my office, Dr. Lukda Biong Deng, who will be working out a mechanism through which I should be able to access and related to you on regular basis. In particular I will be very keen to get regular reports on key issues that I need to be kept informed on a regular basis.

• As it became apparent the need to work closely with you on regular basis, I formalize this Governors Forum Desk as a mechanism through which you can directly relate to my office.

• Thanks you very much and I wish you a fruitful meeting.