South Sudan's president replaces electoral chief three months before scheduled polls

Sacked South Sudan’s National Elections Commission (NEC) chair, Professor Abednego Akok (Photo Credit: Handout)

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has fired the chairman of the National Elections Commission, Prof Abednego Akok Kacuol, and appointed Gabriel Bol Deng Majok to replace him.

The removal was announced on the state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) on Tuesday evening, the kind of routine reshuffle Kiir has applied repeatedly during his tenure.

The decision comes as electoral institutions face a tight timetable to prepare for presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for December 22, 2026.

South Sudan's cabinet last week approved legal amendments in preparation for the vote.

Yet only a day earlier, on September 10, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan reported that the country lacked "many of the safeguards and conditions for peaceful and credible polls" - an assessment the government swiftly rejected.

South Sudan has not held national elections since its independence in 2011, owing to recurring cycles of armed conflict and political stalling.

Its first elections, scheduled for 2015, were abandoned after civil war broke out in 2013. Since then, polls have been postponed five times.

The first peace deal lasted barely a year before collapsing into renewed fighting, eventually giving way to the 2018 Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan.

With less than four months to voting day, the Institute for Security Studies says the government continues to water down that peace deal amid growing insecurity and a deepening humanitarian crisis.

More than 2.5 million people are internally displaced, and over 10 million require assistance.

Significant technical and political problems also remain unresolved, notably the underfunding of the National Elections Commission and the absence of a voter register.

Widespread insecurity makes it difficult for the electoral body to reach all areas of the country and hinders citizens' movement.

The replacement of the electoral commission's leadership at this stage raises familiar questions.

Is it preparation for a credible vote, or a tactical move to install a loyalist before a contest that may be delayed once more?

Source: https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/news/401042/south-sudans-president-replaces-electoral-chief-three-months-before-scheduled-polls