By Lodu William Odiya
The United Kingdom has said it will not provide practical financial support for South Sudan’s planned December 2026 general elections, with outgoing British Ambassador David Ashley citing the country’s competing humanitarian and development needs.
Ashley said the UK wants to see elections take place but explained that Britain had not received a formal proposal requesting electoral assistance and had already allocated its available resources to other priority sectors.
“The UK wants to see elections, but we are not providing practical support,” Ashley said. “The first and most important is we haven’t actually been asked to provide support; there’s been no proposal that has been presented to us for support. Second, because we have already allocated our funding.” Ashley told the media on Thursday in Juba.
He said the UK and other international partners had previously set aside funding for elections when polls were expected to take place in 2024.
“If they had happened in 2024, we and some other partners did have set aside some money to support those elections,” Ashley said.
However, he explained that development partners cannot indefinitely hold funds for delayed activities because budgets are normally allocated at the beginning of financial years.
Ashley said the UK had instead directed its resources toward sectors where needs are considered particularly significant, including health, education, and humanitarian assistance.
“We know that the needs in terms of the areas we talked about, health, education, humanitarian, and so forth, are huge,” he said.
“So, we’ve had to make the decision that we’re going to put our resources into that. But that, you know, that we think that is the best thing to do, because, you know, ultimately saving lives is the most important thing we can do here.”
The ambassador’s remarks come as South Sudan prepares for the December 2026 elections and continues discussions with political parties and international partners on the electoral process. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to holding the polls in December.
The UK has continued to engage South Sudanese authorities on political dialogue and election preparations.
In September, Ashley discussed preparations for inter-party dialogue with Cabinet Affairs Minister Martin Elia Lomuro and stressed the importance of an inclusive process.
Ashley is completing his posting in South Sudan, with Rebecca Fabrizi appointed to succeed him and expected to take up the ambassadorial position in October 2026.