<\/p>\n
South Sudan is preparing to hold the country\u2019s first national general elections on December 22, 2026, but concerns are mounting over whether the vote can take place in a stable and credible environment.<\/p>\n
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Institute for Security Studies ENACT Regional Organised Crime Observatory Coordinator for Central Africa Dr Oluwole Ojewale said the election would be historic, but would take place in a highly fragile context. \u201cThe election is going to be the first election conducted since the country gained independence as the youngest republic on the continent,\u201d Ojewale said.<\/p>\n
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Ojewale said South Sudan is no longer in full-scale war, but low-intensity conflict continues to divide communities along ethnic lines. \u201cThis is also layered with all sorts of security concerns of communal clashes, arms trafficking, and at the same time, cattle rustling and all forms of violent crime,\u201d Ojewale said.<\/p>\n
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Ojewale said the ongoing civil war in neighbouring Sudan is also influencing South Sudan\u2019s security environment and raising questions about whether credible polls can be held. \u201cAll these put together are influencing the state of peace in South Sudan, and that raises serious questions about the possibility of holding a free and fair election,\u201d Ojewale said.<\/p>\n
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Tensions remain high between President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar, who remains under house arrest. Ojewale said opposition groups believe the vote is being organised to legitimise the governing party. \u201cObservers are of the view that this is a one-way election that just wants to confer legitimacy on the governing party,\u201d Ojewale said.<\/p>\n
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Ojewale said opposition exclusion from preparations could undermine confidence in the process. \u201cAs long as the opposition leader is incarcerated, many people believe this election is not being prepared on their own terms,\u201d Ojewale said.<\/p>\n
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Ojewale warned that illegal weapons are entering South Sudan through neighbouring conflict zones, including eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and Sudan. \u201cThese are arteries through which illegal arms are flowing into the country,\u201d Ojewale said.<\/p>\n
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According to Ojewale, large rural areas remain outside effective state control and are dominated by armed groups, raising the risk that many citizens could be disenfranchised. \u201cIf the election is to hold in the context of what I just said now, the possibility of disenfranchising a greater majority of South Sudan who are living in the rural areas is very, very high,\u201d Ojewale said.<\/p>\n
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The National Elections Commission says it needs $250 million to conduct the polls, but has secured only a small portion of the funding.<\/p>\n
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Ojewale said financing is important, but peace and political consensus should come first. \u201cMoney is important, but we can’t throw money on our problems,\u201d Ojewale said.<\/p>\n
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Ojewale called for African Union and regional engagement to prevent another crisis. \u201cWhat happens in South Sudan must not be left to South Sudanese. There\u2019s a need for a Pan-African solution, Pan-African interest,\u201d Ojewale said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":41530,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-41529","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"South Sudan\u2019s first national elections could face serious risks unless political divisions, arms flows and insecurity are addressed, according to Analyst Oluwole Ojewale.","published_date":"","news_description":"South Sudan\u2019s first national elections could face serious risks unless political divisions, arms flows and insecurity are addressed, according to Analyst Oluwole Ojewale.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/41529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/41529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41531,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/41529\/revisions\/41531"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=41529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}