By Charles K Mark<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO has commended National Electoral Commission (NEC) for its transparency on funds for electoral process.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n CEPO\u2019s Executive Director, Edmond Yakani said that transparency is a pillar of accountability.<\/p>\n He however, called for a speedy process in disbursing the funds while creating a conducive environment for the upcoming elections.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a major pillar to accountability,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He also urged the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) to approve funds for other election-related bodies, namely the National Constitutional Review Commission (NCRC), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), and the National Elections Security Committee (NESC), as stated in the agreement.<\/p>\n Expressing concern over selective or discriminatory funding of electoral processes, Yakani stressed the need for fairness and equal support.<\/p>\n He revealed that CEPO would release its third pre-election domestic observation report the following week, which will provide detailed insights into the country’s preparations for the December 2024 elections.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, the NEC confirmed that it had received SSP22 billion (approximately $14 million) from the cabinet.<\/p>\n The commission announced that this amount would be sufficient to commence preparations and the voter registration process scheduled for June.<\/p>\n However, NEC initially submitted a gross budget of SSP253 billion (equivalent to $230 million), which is currently awaiting approval by the TNLA after being passed by the cabinet.<\/p>\n CEPO’s recognition of NEC’s transparency signifies the importance of open and accountable processes in ensuring a fair electoral system.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Coalition of Opposition Parties (COOP) has dismissed the NEC assertion that it received election funds to facilitate the electoral process.<\/p>\n In a statement issued on Wednesday, Dr. Gai Chol Paul, the chairman of COOP, labelled the claim as propaganda aimed at deflecting pressure from the international community.<\/p>\n The United States, Norway, and the United Kingdom have consistently urged the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU) to ensure the transparent use of public funds.<\/p>\n According to the coalition, this persistent call is intended to hold accountable those who undermine the democratic process in South Sudan.<\/p>\n Dr. Chol emphasized that the parliament still needs to initiate a debate on the election budget and cautioned against speculating about funds without a clear source, deeming it as falsehood and deception.<\/p>\n \u201cAny speculation of funds without a clear source is a lie and deception,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He further labeled the country as bankrupt, emphasizing that this status has made the lives of citizens miserable.<\/p>\n The chairman expressed limited optimism regarding the country’s ability to hold the anticipated elections by December 2024.<\/p>\n He pointed to inter-communal violence and the presence of numerous militia groups without a central command as significant threats to conducting elections.<\/p>\n Dr. Chol warned that the absence of a clear legal framework for elections and mechanisms to resolve election disputes makes it highly improbable for South Sudan to hold elections in 2024.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Charles K Mark Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO has commended National Electoral Commission (NEC) for its transparency on funds for electoral process. CEPO\u2019s Executive Director, Edmond Yakani said that transparency is a pillar of accountability. He however, called for a speedy process in disbursing the funds while[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":23572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Edmond-Yakani-CEPOs-Executive-Director-.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23571"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23573,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23571\/revisions\/23573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}