The South Sudan main opposition faction will challenge the proposed amendments to the country's constitution, official said.

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) said it would petition the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (Igad) to stop the bill from the Justice ministry.

“We are opposed to the procedure and some of the changes made to the bill,” the UN Miraya Radio quoted senior party official Oyet Nathaniel Penono as saying in Juba on Thursday.

The amendment

Mr Penono said Igad member states, who were the guarantors of the South Sudan peace agreement, should order the withdrawal of the amended bill.

“We want Igad as guarantors to the agreement to direct the NCAC to withdraw the bill and make the necessary amendments,” Miraya Radio quoted Mr Penono.

SPLM-IO maintains that the amendment of the constitution was premature and did not reflect the spirit of the September 2018 peace deal.

The South Sudan National Constitutional Amendment Committee (NCAC) submitted the proposed amendments to the constitution to the Minister of Justice last week.

Power devolution

But SPLM-IO objected the decision saying it would have waited until the transitional legislative assembly was reconstituted as per the peace agreement between President Salva Kiir and Dr Riek Machar.

The group further claimed that the issue of power devolution and decentralisation in particular, was not resolved.

He said Igad member states should order critical changes to the amended bill.