By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Authorities in South Sudan have confirmed that the country’s long-delayed first-ever poll will now take place in December.
Created in 2011, the world youngest country has not gone to polls to elect their leaders and President Salva Kiir has been in office for a decade and half.
According to the original plan, the general election was supposed to hold in 2015 but it was postponed following the outbreak of a civil war
A 2018 peace deal created a unity government with Kiir at its helm and rival Riek Machar as his deputy. It envisioned an election in 2022 but the vote was never organised amid tension between the country’s leaders.
Unabated disagreements between the two men have contributed in delaying the election.
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.
It is expected that Kiir will run in the election but he is yet to declare his candidacy.
