South Sudan elections set for December
CAPTION: President Salva Kiir Mayardit, right, with Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, left, African Union High Representative for the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea during a meeting in Juba recently. (File photo).
By Agencies
JUBA – President Salva Kiir is expected to run but has yet to formally declare his candidacy© AFP via Getty Images
There have been a number of false dawns when it comes to elections in South Sudan, but the authorities have said the long-delayed first-ever vote will take place in December.
The leaders of the world’s youngest country have not been tested at the ballot box since independence in 2011 and President Salva Kiir has been in office for 15 years.
According to the original plan, the general election was supposed to have happened in 2015 but a civil war meant that had to be postponed.
The 2018 peace deal, which created a unity government with Kiir at its helm and rival Riek Machar as his deputy, envisioned an election in 2022 but the vote was never organised amid tension between the country’s leaders.
Continued issues between the two men could yet delay the vote further.
Machar was sacked as vice-president and arrested earlier last year and charged with murder, treason and crimes against humanity, which he denies. He has been under house arrest in the capital, Juba, since March last year as fighting persists in some areas of the country.
There have been warnings, including form the UN, that the violence could once again spill over into full-scale civil war.
When announcing the 22 December date for the vote, electoral chief Abednego Akok Kacuol acknowledged that unresolved legal amendments and persistent funding gaps continued to hamper poll preparations.
“The political will is not ours; it lies with the government,” he said.
Asked what would happen if funds were not secured within six months, Kacuol said his commission would continue planning while adjusting toward a “realistic electoral timeline”.
In a statement on Monday, the presidency said Kiir was committed to implementing the 2018 peace agreement and keeping South Sudan on track toward peaceful, democratic elections.
