{"id":92131,"date":"2026-04-19T13:53:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T13:53:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms"},"modified":"2026-04-19T14:25:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T14:25:06","slug":"cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms","title":{"rendered":"CEPO Urges National Election Commission to Drive Reforms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Sudan. <\/strong><\/span>JUBA \u2014 The Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) has called on the National Election Commission to take the lead in spearheading electoral reforms, arguing that the move is critical to ensuring credible and transparent elections in the country.<\/p>\n

Edmund Yakani, executive director for CEPO, made the call following the cabinet\u2019s approval of the 2026 amendment bill to the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan.<\/p>\n

The decision follows a Cabinet session chaired by President Salva Kiir Mayardit, during which ministers endorsed changes to provisions of the agreement to effectively clear the legal pathway for the national elections scheduled for December this year.<\/p>\n

Ateny Wek Ateny, Minister of Information and Communication, was quoted on South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation as saying the approval paves the way for the amendment bill to be forwarded to the National Legislative Assembly for scrutiny and final approval before it becomes law.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis time round, let political leaders not make amendments on behalf of the National Election Commission. The Commission must be allowed to propose the necessary legal changes that will enable them to conduct elections in December 2026,\u201d Yakani told Sudans Post on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Yakani warned that time is running out, highlighting key electoral deadlines:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are facing a serious deadline of 22nd June 2026 for the announcement of the final voters\u2019 list and national readiness. By 30th June, the Political Parties Council must also submit the final list of eligible parties.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yakani pointed to two major risks threatening the electoral timeline\u2014legal gaps and lack of funding:<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if the legal framework is fixed today without funding, elections will still face challenges. And even if funding is provided without fixing the law, the problem remains.\u201d<\/p>\n

He expressed concern over delays in financing the electoral body:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe National Election Commission has repeatedly requested funding, yet resources are being allocated to other priorities. This is deeply concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n

While welcoming the Cabinet\u2019s move to amend the peace agreement, Yakani stressed that the process must strictly follow the law and agreed procedures.<\/p>\n

He noted that South Sudanese citizens are demanding elections in December 2026 without further delays, especially after leaders committed that the current transitional period would be the final extension.<\/p>\n

Yakani reiterated that stakeholders support limited amendments aimed only at creating a conducive legal framework for elections\u2014particularly by removing impractical preconditions such as the constitution-making process and the population census.<\/p>\n

However, he warned against altering key provisions like Articles 8.2 and 8.3, which guarantee the supremacy of the agreement.<\/p>\n

Calling for urgent and lawful action, he urged leaders to follow procedures under Article 8.4 and ensure consensus among all signatories.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmendments must strictly aim at enabling elections and should not tamper with Chapter 8 of the agreement, which is not directly related to elections.\u201d<\/p>\n

He concluded with a firm appeal:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe urge our leaders to commit themselves to timely and adequate funding of the National Election Commission and to ensure elections are conducted as scheduled. Any attempt to delay through indirect means is unacceptable to the citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe focus should be on enabling elections, not changing the core principles of the agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Sudan<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Sudan. JUBA \u2014 The Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) has called on the National Election Commission to take the lead in spearheading electoral reforms, arguing that the move is critical to ensuring credible and transparent elections in the country. Edmund Yakani, executive director for CEPO, made the call following the cabinet\u2019s approval […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":92130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[233],"class_list":["post-92131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-south-sudan"],"yoast_head":"\nCEPO Urges National Election Commission to Drive Reforms - South Sudan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"JUBA \u2014 The Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) has called on the National Election Commission to take ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CEPO Urges National Election Commission to Drive Reforms\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"JUBA \u2014 The Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) has called on the National Election Commission to take ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Sudan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-19T13:53:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-19T14:25:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2026\/04\/sm_1776596036.903387.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"540\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"CEPO Urges National Election Commission to Drive Reforms\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-19T13:53:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-19T14:25:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms\"},\"wordCount\":533,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2026\/04\/sm_1776596036.903387.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Sudan\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms\",\"name\":\"CEPO Urges National Election Commission to Drive Reforms - South Sudan\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2026\/04\/sm_1776596036.903387.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-19T13:53:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-19T14:25:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"JUBA \u2014 The Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) has called on the National Election Commission to take ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2026\/04\/sm_1776596036.903387.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2026\/04\/sm_1776596036.903387.jpg\",\"width\":960,\"height\":540,\"caption\":\"CEPO Urges National Election Commission to Drive Reforms\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"CEPO Urges National Election Commission to Drive Reforms\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/\",\"name\":\"South Sudan\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"CEPO Urges National Election Commission to Drive Reforms - South Sudan","description":"JUBA \u2014 The Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) has called on the National Election Commission to take ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"CEPO Urges National Election Commission to Drive Reforms","og_description":"JUBA \u2014 The Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) has called on the National Election Commission to take ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms","og_site_name":"South Sudan","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2026-04-19T13:53:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-19T14:25:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":960,"height":540,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2026\/04\/sm_1776596036.903387.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"CEPO Urges National Election Commission to Drive Reforms","datePublished":"2026-04-19T13:53:53+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-19T14:25:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms"},"wordCount":533,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2026\/04\/sm_1776596036.903387.jpg","keywords":["South-Sudan"],"articleSection":["all news","head lines","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms","name":"CEPO Urges National Election Commission to Drive Reforms - South Sudan","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2026\/04\/sm_1776596036.903387.jpg","datePublished":"2026-04-19T13:53:53+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-19T14:25:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"JUBA \u2014 The Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) has called on the National Election Commission to take ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2026\/04\/sm_1776596036.903387.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2026\/04\/sm_1776596036.903387.jpg","width":960,"height":540,"caption":"CEPO Urges National Election Commission to Drive Reforms"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/cepo-urges-national-election-commission-to-drive-reforms#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"CEPO Urges National Election Commission to Drive Reforms"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/","name":"South Sudan","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92131"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92141,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92131\/revisions\/92141"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}