UK Ambassador to South Sudan, Guy Warrington - courtesy

The UK Ambassador to South Sudan is urging the unity government to establish the necessary conditions for conducting peaceful, free, and fair elections.

In an interview with Eye Radio on Monday, Ambassador Guy Warrington emphasized the critical need to finalize security arrangements, particularly the unification and deployment of forces.

Mr Warrington also underscores that the decision on timely conduct of elections lies in the hands of the government and people of South Sudan.

But, according to him, free, fair and transparent elections can only be achieved if the country’s security forces have been unified to protect the democratic process.

“It’s for the people of South Sudan and particularly the leadership of South Sudan to decide whether they have elections in December,” UK Ambassador said.

“What we say is, that the leadership of this country need to meet and make the necessary decisions to allow an election to take place,” he said.

“We want like everyone else; we want a free, fair, transparent election and the decision is entirely for the people of South Sudan.

“There are certain things that need to happen so you can have a good election and those things are the unified armed forces and civic and political space”.

The R-ARCSS obligates the unity government to transition the country to a democratic and stable South Sudan by holding free, fair, and credible elections at the end of the transition period.

The National Elections Commission had earlier announced and scheduled December 22, 2024, as the polling date in line with its mandate by the R-ARCSS.

The Commission later said, given the limited time frame, holding partial elections—focusing on the presidency and state governorships—may be a practical solution.

But just last month, the electoral institutions threw the ball back to the unity government to decide on the fate of December’s anticipated polls, while civil society activists demand clarity on how the transition period will end.