Nicholas Haysom, the Special Representative of the Secretary General and Head of UN Mission in South Sudan -Credit: Charles Wote/Eye Radio -14th April 2022

The head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said inter-communal violence are the biggest threat to the conduct of the upcoming 2024 elections in the country.

Nicholas Haysom, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in the country, said he has learned that the South Sudanese people and leaders want elections, although there are uncertainties about the efficiency of electoral institutions and the process.

Mr. Haysom also said there is no conducive security environment to endure a robust political competition without a relapse into conflict.

Haysom encouraged the government to deploy the Necessary Unified Force in the conflict hotspot areas.

“It is increasingly clear that the South Sudanese and their leaders want elections. There is, however, widespread ambivalence about the adequacy of preparedness of electoral institutions and processes, as well as the security environment to endure a robust political competition without a relapse into conflict,” Haysom said.

“Let me underscore three points, on the security situation, intercommunal violence, referred to by all the other speakers, is the biggest risk to conducting an election without violence.”

Haysom made the remarks in his supporting brief for the AU Peace and Security Council Statement Trilateral Taskforce on Permanent Constitution-Making & Electoral Processes Support to South Sudan, on Tuesday.

The Trilateral Taskforce was formally established on 11th July 2022, as an AU, IGAD, and UN initiative to devise a strategy on mobilizing the needed support for the constitution- making and electoral processes in South Sudan.

According to Haysom, the ministers of Interior and Information, Angelina Teny and Michael Makuei classified inter-communal violence as a national security threat, in a meeting with senior officials of the United Nations last week.

“We would encourage all parties to reach agreement on the Transitional Security Arrangements, and implement those provisions, including the deployment of the Necessary Unified Forces, as a cornerstone for peace before, during and after the elections,” he said.

Sub-national conflicts triggered by land disputes mainly in the Bahr el Ghazal Region, have killed hundreds of people since the beginning of 2024.

On 27th January 2024, gunmen attacked multiple locations in southern Abyei, initially killing 53 people, including two UNISFA peacekeepers, according to the administrative government.

The incident followed cycle of similar attacks that killed dozens between the two regions, escalating the inter-communal conflict to its worst level, despite President Kiir’s recent order of an immediate ceasefire.

Abyei’s Deputy Chief Administrator Honorable Noon Deng Nyok was also killed on December 31, 2024, along with five others including his bodyguards in a road ambush by gunmen in Agok.

On January 31, 2024, nearly 40 people were killed, and dozens of others wounded during inter-communal fighting between the border communities of Luayjang in Warrap State and Pakam in Lakes State, authorities confirmed.

Meanwhile, on February 5, 2024, unspecified dozens of people, including high-ranking police, army, and national security officers, were killed in a fresh attack in Jur River County of Western Bahr el Ghazal, the state government said.

Mr. Haysom said the South Sudan government must increase momentum towards democratic elections as agreed and sought by South Sudanese, and this, he said, could be done by taking the required political decisions and backing them with financial resources.