Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The Executive Director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organisation (CEPO), Edmund Yakani, has called for timely and adequate funding of South Sudan’s electoral process, saying credible elections depend on direct financial support to the National Elections Commission (NEC).
On Friday, President Salva Kiir directed the Ministry of Finance to immediately release funding to electoral institutions following a Presidency meeting that declared elections will be held by December 2026 with no further extension of the transitional period.
The directive came after Kiir and political leaders agreed to postpone the permanent constitution-making process and the national population census.
The heads of political parties also agreed that other pending tasks under the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement would be implemented as programs by the next elected government.
The decision to postpone the census has drawn caution from the Chairperson of the National Bureau of Statistics Dr. Augustino Ting Mayai, who warned that holding elections without an updated and credible population census could raise questions around constituency boundaries, representation, and fairness.
Dr. Mayai has argued that population data plays a key role in electoral planning and allocation of political representation.
Yakani welcomed seven agenda points recently presented by stakeholders, describing them as a positive step toward preparations for the 2026 general elections.
“Our take as a civil society, as a stakeholder who are signatory to our access, [is] that at least they communicate [and] have come out with seven agenda points,” Yakani said.
Speaking to Eye Radio on Saturday, Yakani said civil society groups appreciate the clarity provided by the agenda, particularly as December 22, 2025 approaches — a deadline for the declaration of geographical constituencies ahead of the December 2026 polls.
“We are aware that the date of 22nd December 2025, which is a critical day for declaration of geographical constituencies for the scheduled election for December 2026, is approaching,” he said.
Yakani said attention must now shift to election financing, placing responsibility on the Minister of Finance to ensure the process is handled efficiently.
“This is where the Honourable Minister of Finance is put on task,” he said.
He said previous elections were affected by slow and bureaucratic funding transfers from the Ministry of Finance to the National Transitional Committee and later to the National Elections Commission.
“Always, we have seen a very bureaucratic transfer of funding for elections from the Minister of Finance to the National Transitional Committee and then to the Electoral Commission,” Yakani said.
He said the upcoming elections require funds to be released directly and without delay.
“This time round, we need to see funding of elections is adequate, timely and delivered to the Electoral Commission immediately,” he added.
Yakani said discussions about elections must be matched with a firm commitment to financing to ensure a free, fair, and well-organized electoral process in 2026.
“If we talk of elections, then we’re talking of a proper and adequate funding of the election scheduled for December 2026,” he said.
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