{"id":48728,"date":"2026-10-09T16:14:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T14:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=48728"},"modified":"2026-10-09T16:14:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T14:14:00","slug":"election-south-sudan-leaders-urge-citizens-to-choose-peace-ahead-of-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/09\/election-south-sudan-leaders-urge-citizens-to-choose-peace-ahead-of-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"ELECTION: South Sudan leaders urge citizens to choose peace ahead of elections"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sabri Dibaco <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

South Sudanese leaders, churches, and civil society voices have urged citizens, political actors, and young people to reject violence and make peace, reconciliation, and responsible voting central to the country\u2019s upcoming electoral process.<\/p>\n

The calls were made during the South Sudan peace conference, under the theme \u201cBeyond our camps, bridging our future\u201d; this forum gathered paramount traditional leaders, diverse faith representatives, civil society, policymakers, and dynamic youth.<\/p>\n

Deng Deng Hoc Yai, a former Minister of General Education and Instruction and a professor at the University of Juba, called on South Sudanese to promote peace throughout the electoral period and put the country\u2019s future ahead of political differences.<\/p>\n

He urged citizens to make choices that would prevent the country from returning to violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cChoose peace over war. Choose reconciliation over war. Invest in the future,\u201d Deng said<\/p>\n

Deng also encouraged South Sudanese to approach the elections as an opportunity to strengthen peace rather than deepen divisions.<\/p>\n

“Choose ballot, not bullet. Peace is our choice, not war,\u201d said Deng<\/p>\n

Civil society activist Edmond Yakani and the executive director for program empowerment challenged religious leaders to use their moral authority to bring political leaders together and encourage them to examine the causes of South Sudan\u2019s prolonged conflicts.<\/p>\n

Yakani said Christian and Muslim leaders have the influence needed to facilitate honest dialogue among political leaders and help identify solutions to the country\u2019s political and social challenges.<\/p>\n

“Can we have political will where our religious leaders sit together with the politicians and ask themselves… what has gone wrong?\u201d Yakani asked.<\/p>\n

He said the Church has historically spoken on behalf of citizens and advocated for peace, adding that religious institutions should continue using their influence to push for peaceful solutions to political grievances.<\/p>\n

Yakani also raised concern over negative stereotypes between South Sudanese communities, saying limited interaction has contributed to mistrust and divisions.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes you hear negative stereotypes about other tribes. It\u2019s simply because you are not staying with them. Take a chance to stay with them before you hear stereotypes about them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He encouraged South Sudanese to interact with people from different communities instead of relying on stereotypes that can deepen ethnic and social divisions.<\/p>\n

The activist directly appealed to religious leaders to collectively engage political leaders and seek answers to the country\u2019s continuing challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cReverend, I\u2019m asking you. Sheikh, I\u2019m asking you. Can you, as the religious leaders, in a very peaceful way ask our leaders…what went wrong?\u201d Yakani said.<\/p>\n

He also challenged chiefs, elders, and traditional leaders to use their influence more effectively in resolving conflicts within communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur elders of today, who are chiefs, where is your wisdom?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

Emmanuel William Atit, Secretary General of the South Sudan National Youth Union, called on young people to reject attempts by politicians to use them as instruments of violence.<\/p>\n

Atit emphasised that the youth should instead become advocates for peace and stability in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should not allow ourselves to be used by politicians as a source of causing violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

He further urged young South Sudanese to stand together and promote peaceful political participation.<\/p>\n

The appeals come at a critical moment for South Sudan, where preparations for the December elections are taking place alongside continuing political and security challenges.<\/p>\n

UN officials have warned that unresolved political disagreements, insecurity, and weak implementation of peace arrangements could threaten the credibility and peaceful nature of the electoral process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sabri Dibaco South Sudanese leaders, churches, and civil society voices have urged citizens, political actors, and young people to reject violence and make peace, reconciliation, and responsible voting central to the country\u2019s upcoming electoral process. The calls were made during the South Sudan peace conference, under the theme \u201cBeyond[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":48729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news","category-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/South-Sudan-leaders-urge-citizens-to-choose-peace-ahead-of-elections-e1791555212152.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48728","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=48728"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48730,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48728\/revisions\/48730"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}