Justice Ruben Madol, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs - Credit: Moses Awan/Eye Radio, Date: April 17, 2023

Justice Minister Ruben Madol said his office is yet to respond to a petition by the Chairperson of the Political Parties Council asking him to reverse his order nullifying the $75,000 registration fee.

Justice Madol was responding to a question raised by lawmaker Joseph Bol Agwa regarding his previous order declaring the $75,000 registration fee as null and void.

Speaking during a parliamentary sitting on Monday, Hon. Bol inquired whether there is cooperation among government institutions, citing last week’s PPC petition against his office over the imposed fee.

According to the lawmaker, the petition reportedly demanded the justice minister to withdraw his decision to nullify the registration fee for political parties.

“I am very unpredictably standing here to know whether there is coordination and cooperation between the executive and other branches of the government,” Bol said.

“You are the Attorney General of this government. You are the chief legal advisor for the government anybody that does not know a legal line, and in behaves or he acts arbitrarily outside the legal framework.”

“I would like to draw the attention of the house to an impeded resolve that whatever has come out as a legal advice from the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs should be given that attention by all the government because this is the only legal body and the institution that we should adhere to.”

In response, Justice Minister Madol confirmed he received a petition from the Chairperson of the PPC, with a private law firm challenging his decision.

Minister Madol said his office is yet to respond to the petition from the Chairperson of the Political Parties Council, James Akol Zakayo.

He clarified that his ministry has no mandate to determine the fee for registration.

Justice Madol said he is in process of responding to the legal request by the Chairperson of Political Parties Council.

“The official respond that I got from the Political Parties Council was last Thursday. The Chairperson of the Political Parties Council wrote to me requesting that I withdraw based on a legal advice which he attached he had got from a private lawyer that he had hired,” he said.

“Now, I am in the process of responding to that request through our legal processes that’s the information I can give you on that whether that satisfies your concerns are not there’s the position.”

In March 2024, 14 opposition parties petitioned the South Sudan Political Parties Council (PPC) regarding the $50,000 fee for provisional registration and $25,000 for full registration, but the council did not respond to the parties’ petition.