German Ambassador to South Sudan Christian Sedat speaks to Eye Radio|Photo by Lou Nelson|02-10-2024

German Ambassador to South Sudan says his country shares the disappointment of many South Sudanese over extension of the transitional period, and urge the unity government to recommit to the implementation of the peace agreement.

Christian Sedat said many people in the country wanted to vote for the first general elections in the country, but lack of preparations for the polls delayed the process.

“We have seen in surveys that really the population of South Sudan wanted to vote for the first time, we have to say since independence.

“So, we share the disappointment of those who really wanted to vote, and we share the disappointment that elections have to be postponed now due to the lack of preparations”, said the diplomat.

He added since the unity government has extended the transitional period, it is fundamental that the pending tasks are implemented fully.

“When we now look at the two-year extension, it is not only two years (because) have four months  more left of the former transitional period. So, we have 28-month now to work on the implementation of the peace agreement, it is that something fundamentally has to change.”

Ambassador Sedat stressed the need for political will and increased measures on transparency in funding the peace process, saying this will address the question of inadequate resources.

“From the German perspective, it comes to mainly two points; the first and most important one is of course the question of political will. The second one raised by high-ranking South Sudanese politicians, is the question of funding for the process and how South Sudan can provide the funding.”

He went on to say; “I’m convinced that increased measures of transparency could also help here to have more South Sudanese funds available for the implementation of the peace agreement.”

Last month, South Sudan’s transitional government gave itself another two-year legitimacy after the Presidency postponed long-awaited elections to December 2026 in order to implement pending tasks.

Reacting to the move, a section of citizens said extending the current government is an extension of the suffering of the common citizens.

Others agreed with the extension, saying critical provisions of the peace pact should be first implemented before the conduct of general elections.