Flags of the Troika Countries | File photo.

The United States, Norway and United Kingdom expressed concerns on Tuesday over South Sudan government’s preparedness for the upcoming elections which is only 9 months away.

The Western nations, also known as the Troika, made the statement during the 40th CTSAMVM Board Meeting in Juba.

Troika said their support to the South Sudanese people is based on “our conviction that they deserve peace human rights democracy and a government that is accountable to them and responsive to their needs.”

“Nine months ahead of the planned elections, most questions on how the challenge of making headway and progress remain unanswered,” said Linken Nymann Berryman, the Norwegian Ambassador to South Sudan, in a statement.

Ambassador Nymann said progress on some of the prerequisites for the transition to democracy, including the formation of a professional security sector under a unified command structure, remain pending.

“This includes, how when and where the transitional government plan on deploying the remaining forces and under whose command.”

Currently, only 6% of the 83,000 strong Necessary Unified Forces stipulated in the 2018 peace deal to secure elections, have been deployed, since graduation of the first phase two years ago.

UNMISS boss, Nicholas Haysom recently warned comparative experience suggests that South Sudan is at risk of relapse into violence unless adequate time, resources and confidence building measures are invested into elections preparations.

The Troika ambassador reiterated the group’s call on the transitional government to demonstrate their commitment to lasting peace by implementing critical provisions necessary for successful elections.

“We once again repeat our call on the transitional government to demonstrate their commitment to lasting peace,” Nymann concluded.