{"id":48370,"date":"2026-09-30T16:08:40","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T14:08:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=48370"},"modified":"2026-09-30T16:08:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T14:08:40","slug":"ballot-must-replace-the-bulletsamb-cecilia-adeng-tells-un-general-assembly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/30\/ballot-must-replace-the-bulletsamb-cecilia-adeng-tells-un-general-assembly\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cBallot must replace the bullets,\u201dAmb. Cecilia Adeng tells UN General Assembly"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Lodu William Odiya<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The South Sudanese government has called for a replacement of bullets with ballots, as conducting the December 22 general democratic elections becomes a priority.<\/p>\n

Speaking to delegations in the Assembly\u2019s annual General <\/a>Debate, South Sudan’s Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Cecilia Adeng, who represented the country at the United Nations General Assembly, said the vote would provide South Sudanese people the opportunity to choose their own leaders democratically, 15 years after the country\u2019s independence.<\/p>\n

She acknowledged that much work remained: electoral institutions need adequate resources, political dialogue must continue, security arrangements must advance, and refugees and internally displaced persons must not be left out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people of South Sudan must increasingly speak for themselves, and they must speak through the ballot. Political competition must never again become armed confrontation. The ballot must replace the bullets,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Adeng said South Sudan had faced internal conflict shortly after independence and that implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, meant to end the second Sudanese civil war and develop democratic governance, had taken longer than anticipated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government does not deny these realities,\u201d she said, adding that the challenges should not erase the progress made.<\/p>\n

Throughout the transitional period, she said, President Kiir had made one commitment clear: that he would \u201cnot take South Sudan back to war.”<\/p>\n

Arguing that peaceful elections require security, she called for constructive engagement with the Security Council<\/a> on restrictive measures.<\/p>\n

\u201cSouth Sudan\u2019s objective is not militarisation,\u201d she said; rather, it was professional, unified, and accountable security forces under civilian authority and the rule of law.<\/p>\n

Sanctions should be instruments for achieving peace with clearly defined objectives, she added.<\/p>\n

While thanking the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS<\/a>) and honouring peacekeepers who had lost their lives, Ms. Adeng said the country did not want to remain indefinitely dependent on international peacekeeping and called for greater investment in its police, judiciary, education, and healthcare.<\/p>\n

She urged international partners and investors to look beyond the country\u2019s current challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo not ask only what South Sudan needs; ask what South Sudan can offer,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In neighbouring Sudan, Adeng said South Sudan supported regional and international peace efforts, adding, “Even the longest conflict must eventually reach a negotiated settlement.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also reaffirmed support for the Common African Position on Security Council<\/a> reform, noting that Africa\u2019s member states have no permanent seat on the Council.<\/p>\n

To partners who supported South Sudan through its liberation struggle and independence, she said, “Stand with South Sudan again, but let this chapter be a partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lodu William Odiya The South Sudanese government has called for a replacement of bullets with ballots, as conducting the December 22 general democratic elections becomes a priority. Speaking to delegations in the Assembly\u2019s annual General Debate, South Sudan’s Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Cecilia Adeng, who represented the[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":48371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[133,80,79,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-national","category-news","category-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Amb.-Cecilia-Adeng-Caretaker-Minister-of-Foreign-Affairs-.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48370","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=48370"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48372,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48370\/revisions\/48372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}