South Sudan has asked for support from South Africa to conduct presidential and parliamentary elections in 2024, despite delays in the implementation of key provisions in the 2018 peace accord.
In an interview with the state-owned television (SSBC), South Sudan’s Information minister, Michael Makuei Lueth said the country was ready to conduct elections in 2024, hence the need to solicit support from the government of South Africa.
“The elections are imminently going to be held becomes 2024. There will be no other extension. The current government came through the agreement whose terms will elapse at the end of the current roadmap. And because of this, the government is preparing to conduct elections and South Africa is one of the countries which has been approached and indicated readiness to provide the support to help with the conduct of elections”, he explained.
The ministerial statement followed a meeting on Wednesday between President Salva Kiir and South Africa’s Deputy President, Paul Mashatile in the capital, Juba.
According the Makuei, the two leaders held bilateral discussions and the latest developments in the implementation of the 2018 revitalized peace agreement.
He said at the meeting, Kiir reaffirmed the government’s keenness to implement the provisions of the peace deal in order to take the country on the trajectory of peace and democratic elections at the end of the transitional period in 2024.
In July, the head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Nicholas Haysom said Africa’s newest nation could still make significant strides towards this December 2024 target to hold elections with political will, adequate resourcing and a commitment to create an appropriate political environment in the country.