South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Simon Deng
The Executive Director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organisation, Edmund Yakani, has stated that funding constraints have delayed the full implementation of essential tasks related to the upcoming elections.
“Recent political developments in the country, including the undermining of the unification of forces, the lack of financing for the constitution-making process, and the unclear status of the population census, are all contributing to the delays in conducting elections,” Yakani said yesterday at the Pyramid Hotel during a one-day roundtable dialogue aimed at fostering a conducive environment for credible elections in South Sudan.
Yakani noted that President Salva Kiir Mayardit has reached a decision with the National Election Commission to conduct free, fair, and credible elections as scheduled for December 2026.
“We are actually behind schedule, and preparation is not yet in place; it is below 50 percent. If the political leadership does not make timely disbursements of cash for the preparation of elections, we will face significant challenges,” he said.
“The National Election Commission has demonstrated that they have materials for civic education and voter education, and they are also ready to carry out voter registration, but the constraint is that they do not have resources in place to deliver their tasks.”
Amos Juma, the Commissioner at the National Election Commission, stated that the electoral commission needs funds to be able to conduct free, credible, and democratic elections in December 2026.
“We need to continue engagement with civil society, political parties, and those who have a stake in the election. The National Election Commission should expedite the dissemination of the civic and voter education strategy document to concerned stakeholders so that they can begin raising awareness about the election,” Juma added.
