As the December 2026 general elections approach, the country faces a decisive moment: to end the longest transitional agreement that has accommodated incompetent leadership and to chart a path toward accountable governance.<\/p>\n
Imperfect polls are still better than permanent transitions that cannot deliver development while wars continue across the land.<\/p>\n
The Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity, signed on 12 September 2018 and implemented on 22 February 2020, was meant to stabilise the country, and after more than six years, it has still failed to deliver peace, services, or accountability. Instead of strengthening institutions, it entrenched unaccountable leadership, fostered impunity, and eroded public trust.<\/p>\n
Citizens expected security, schools, hospitals, water, and roads. What they received was stagnation. Open-ended power-sharing deals negotiated behind closed doors have substituted political compromise for genuine accountability.<\/p>\n
Every year without a clear, time-bound path to elections deepens frustration and raises the risk of renewed conflict.<\/p>\n
South Sudan cannot afford further delay. Delay is not neutrality; it is a risk. The nation needs a transparent, time-bound roadmap to free and fair elections. Only credible polls can restore trust, rebuild institutions, and secure lasting peace.<\/p>\n
A caretaker government must be formed to allow the National Elections Commission to carry out its duties while giving space for all parties to contest positions. This will pave the way for citizens to vote for leaders from the grassroots to national offices.<\/p>\n
South Sudan\u2019s future belongs to its people. A clear, time-bound path to elections in December 2026 is the first step toward restoring trust, rebuilding institutions, and securing lasting peace.<\/p>\n
\u200e<\/p>\n
About the Author\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Engr. Maker Mangol Acien Yuol is a civil engineer, opinion writer, and leader based in Juba. He holds a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Civil Technology, BCT, from the Federal TVT Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and is pursuing a Master of Science (MSc) in geotechnical engineering at the University of Juba. <\/em><\/p>\n Geotechnical engineering is the branch of civil engineering concerned with the behaviour of soil, rock, and groundwater and how they interact with structures built on, in, or from them. He writes on geotechnical safety, sustainable infrastructure, youth development, leadership, and other issues affecting South Sudan. <\/em>He can be reached at <\/em>makermangolacien@gmail.com for verification or comments.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Disclaimer:<\/strong> Any opinion published on our platforms does not represent the view or position of the company.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As the December 2026 general elections approach, the country faces a decisive moment: to end the longest transitional agreement that has accommodated incompetent leadership and to chart a path toward accountable governance. Imperfect polls are still better than permanent transitions that cannot deliver development while wars continue across the land.[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":47273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89,90,80,87],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columnists","category-commentary","category-national","category-oped"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/By-Engr.-Maker-Mangol-Acien-Yuol.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47272","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\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47272"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47274,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47272\/revisions\/47274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}