Elections Commission says only 4% of funds released for December elections

2026-03-10 - 09:28

The Chairperson of the National Elections Commission says the body has received only four percent of the funds required to organize the general elections scheduled for December this year. The announcement comes as preparations continue for the December 2026 elections, after parties to the peace agreement agreed in December last year to defer the permanent constitution-making process and the population census until after the vote. Speaking in an exclusive interview with Eye Radio, Professor Abednego Akok says the lack of resources could become a major obstacle to organizing the elections meant to end the current transitional period under the 2018 peace deal. Prof. Akok says out of the four percent received so far, only two percent has been used due to delays in the release of funds. “Lack of resources is a big obstacle, but political will belongs to the ruling party and other political parties. If they have the political will, the election must be run. The resources are to be provided by the government,” he said. “For example, some ministries overspent the budget while others underspent. The election commission has only used 2% so far. We do not even have electricity; we rely on solar power. Resources must be provided on time because we have only a few months left before the elections,” he added. Prof. Akok says the limited funding comes as the commission plans to carry out civic education, train election workers, and prepare legal processes and voter registration activities that must be completed before June ahead of the declaration of the election date. “Civic education is funded by the government, and stage one will be completed by June, when we will declare the election date. Apart from civic education, we are training manpower about the election, legal processes, and voter registration,” he stated. In December 2025, President Salva Kiir and representatives of other parties to the peace agreement agreed to postpone the population census and the permanent constitution-making process until after the 2026 general elections. The parties also agreed not to extend the transitional period again and committed to holding the 2026 elections as outlined in the peace roadmap.