Prof. Abednego Akok, Chairperson of the National Elections Comission|Photo -Charles Wote

The National Elections Commission has received 22 billion pounds from the government to commence electoral activities ahead of December 2024 nationwide polls.

In February this year, the Commission submitted to the government, a total of 253 billion South Sudan pounds budget  for the conduct of general elections in line with the 2018 peace accord.

On 9^th February, 2024, the Council of Ministers meeting approved the budget which is equivalent to 230 million US dollars pending the approval of the national legislature.

George Lemi Stans Yata, the Spokesperson of the Commission, confirmed receipt of the money to the media on Tuesday evening, 09,04, 2024 .

“On the 2^nd April, the government released some funds to electoral institutions, which national election commission has received SSP 22 billion as an advance from the elections budget pending approval very soon by the parliament.”

According to the Chairperson of the National Elections Commission, the financial resources received from the government will be used for pre-electoral activities.

Prof. Abednego Akok said the elections budget has been organized into what he called sequences.

The first sequences according to him, includes addressing the status of the NEC headquarters in Juba, restructuring the state offices, and procuring vehicles for electoral commissioners across the county among others.

“An action has been taken by the national government, they deposited to us some money and this money is given to us because the budget we presented to them is organized in the sequences.

“The first sequence is per-election activities, this starts with accommodation of the election headquarters in Juba and then the ten states, and three Administrative Areas, where we will visit them very soon.

“The third one is to purchase of vehicles for the Commissioners to enable them move inside here,” he said.

The National Elections Commission is the second electoral institution to announce the reception of funding from the government for its activities since its reconstitution in November 2023.

Last Friday, the Chairperson of the Political Parties Council, James Akol Zakayo, stated that his institution has received funding from the government without disclosing the amount.

Prof. Abednego Akok, however says the National Elections Commission will also embark on a series of civic education initiatives to inform the public about electoral preparedness.

“This is the second day of my declaration of civic education which is our first priority that, the policy or the statement which has been released several times by different bodies has become now a reality  and that we are going to conduct election.

The National Elections Commission of South Sudan is mandated to promote democracy, transparency, and accountability through the conduct of free, fair, and credible elections in the country.

This is expected to be  the first time for South Sudan to go for polling , 13 years after gaining independence from Sudan in 2011