{"id":620,"date":"2026-10-02T08:22:21","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T08:22:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawn.com.ss\/?p=620"},"modified":"2026-10-02T08:26:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T08:26:08","slug":"uk-envoy-urges-government-to-prioritize-health-education-over-mps-vehicles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawn.com.ss\/?p=620","title":{"rendered":"UK Envoy Urges Government to Prioritize Health, Education Over MPs\u2019 Vehicles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The outgoing British Ambassador to South Sudan, David Ashley, speaks to reporters in Juba during his farewell remarks on Thursday (Photo by Awan Achiek).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Awan Achiek<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The outgoing British Ambassador to South Sudan, David Ashley, on Thursday urged the government to prioritize spending on health, education, and young people instead of allocating millions of dollars for vehicles for outgoing lawmakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ambassador Ashley raised this concern during his farewell remarks in Juba, following reports that the government pledged to provide 900 vehicles for Members of Parliament at an estimated cost of $85 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was even more disappointing when that evening, Monday evening of last week, we heard that the government had pledged to provide 900 vehicles for Members of Parliament for the outgoing Parliament, which we understand would cost $85 million,” Ashley stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He highlighted the government’s failure to contribute $10 million in funding to the Health Systems Transformation Project, a World Bank-led initiative that supports approximately 85 percent of the country’s functioning health facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast, he noted that the United Kingdom contributed $26 million to the project last year, supporting essential medical care, medicines, and healthcare workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ashley expressed his disappointment at the proposed vehicle expenditure, especially after being informed that government finances were constrained and that there were competing priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“South Sudan has a young population, as many of you are part of. Half of the population is under 18. Something like 72% is under the age of 30. So, South Sudan can genuinely benefit from that young population, but it needs to invest.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He argued that the country’s limited public resources should be directed toward its young population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It needs to invest in the health, in the education, and in the opportunities for the children and youth of this country,” he emphasized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“So if South Sudan has $85 million to spend, surely it makes sense to invest that in the children and the youth, not in vehicles for outgoing MPs.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The envoy also called for improved management of public finances, including prompt payment of salaries and significantly increased government allocations to health and education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It needs to spend money on its kids and not on cars. So we will continue to press for progress on management of public finances, starting with the essentials, with prompt payment of salaries and a significantly increased budgetary allocation to health and education,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Along with this, as I’ve said previously, we will support work to track down where stolen public resources are being hidden away, and we will look to sanction those responsible.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He warned that poorly prepared elections could fuel further violence, urging the country to ensure an inclusive, peaceful, and credible electoral process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The UK wants to see elections in South Sudan. The people of South Sudan have waited long enough for the opportunity to choose their representatives and to hold them to account. But democracy is a process; it’s not an event,” Ashley remarked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ashley stated that the UK echoed the call of the AUC5 and the region for genuinely inclusive, peaceful, and credible elections in South Sudan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As I’ve seen elsewhere, winner-take-all elections can, if poorly prepared, lead to more violence, not less, especially when the constitutional rules of the game are not decided. So we continue to echo the calls of the AUC5 and the region for genuinely inclusive, peaceful, and credible elections.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He called for the opening of political and civic space so that voters can freely participate in the upcoming election slated for December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Inclusive” means that people in all regions of the country have the opportunity to register for elections and the opportunity to vote. It means that all major parties are able to participate freely in those elections,” he concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The outgoing British Ambassador to South Sudan, David Ashley, on Thursday urged the government to prioritize spending on health, education, and young people instead of allocating millions of dollars for vehicles for outgoing lawmakers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_tdlc_coverage_id":0,"_tdlc_timeline_at":"","_tdlc_timeline_label":"","_tdno_assigned_editor":1,"_tdno_approval_notes":"","_thedawn_video_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[38],"class_list":["post-620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-following"],"yoast_head":"\nUK Envoy Urges Government to Prioritize Health, Education Over MPs\u2019 Vehicles - The Dawn Newspaper<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thedawn.com.ss\/?p=620\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK Envoy Urges Government to Prioritize Health, Education Over MPs\u2019 Vehicles - 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