South Sudan Parliament Hosts Uganda Delegation on Legislative Reforms

By Patricia John Kenyi

South Sudan’s Transitional National Legislative Assembly has hosted a delegation from the Parliament of Uganda to exchange experiences on parliamentary administration and leadership structures.

The Ugandan delegation, led by Denis Namara, met with the Acting Speaker of Parliament, Ambrose Lomin Pitia, on Wednesday as part of a regional benchmarking exercise on parliamentary laws and procedures.

Parliament spokesperson Oliver Benjamin Mori said the delegation is seeking to learn from South Sudan’s experience in managing government and opposition leadership.

“They have gone as far as Kenya and Tanzania to benchmark and see how the parliaments there are doing their activities in Parliament in regards to leaders of opposition and the government side,” Mori said.

Namara said the delegation is specifically benchmarking South Sudan’s parliamentary laws as Uganda considers the Administration of Parliament Amendment Bill 2026, a private member’s bill.

“We are here to do benchmarking on the laws that put in place mechanisms on how Parliament is administered,” Namara said.

He explained that Uganda’s Parliament allows members to introduce private member’s bills after obtaining permission from the legislature.

“In our Parliament of Uganda, you can move a private member’s bill. You get permission from Parliament to move a private member’s bill,” Namara said.

The delegation is particularly interested in how South Sudan’s Parliament handles the appointment and removal of majority and minority leaders, as well as opposition structures.

“We want to know how South Sudan, the majority leader, the minority leader, how they are processed, how they are removed, the shadow cabinet, if there is any,” Namara said.

Namara said Uganda has already conducted similar benchmarking exercises in Kenya and Tanzania, with South Sudan being the final stop.

The meeting is expected to strengthen parliamentary cooperation between the two countries and provide an opportunity for both legislatures to share experiences on parliamentary administration and leadership.