NEC hunts for funds for 2023 poll
The South Sudan National Elections Commission has raised concern over a lack of funds to conduct its activities to ensure free and fair elections in 2023.
Yohanes Zamol, the Secretary-General of the Commission, raised the issue with the committee on legislation and justice during a meeting last Friday.
The purpose of the meeting was to review the budget of the National Election Commission (NEC) at the end of the transitional period in 2023.
Yohanes briefed the committee on legislation and justice on the challenges facing the NEC, stating that the commission is almost crippled at both the national and state level owing to the lack of funds granted by the ministry of finance.
“We went for a long time without receiving anything from finance regarding operations as we carried out our activities. So this time we are happy. Maybe the 2022/2023 budget will be forthcoming so that we can carry out our activities.”
The chairperson of the committee on legislation and justice, James Mabor, pledged the committee’s commitment to supporting the commission in obtaining the necessary budgetary allocation to carry out its functions effectively.
“I hope the main part of the budget cover what we are advocating for, and we requested that they also keep in touch with us through their reports, which we hope we will see regularly.
“Meanwhile, they should also prepare for the next financial year’s budget, which we expect to come very soon, especially in 2022 or 2023,” Mabor stressed.
During the budget review process for the fiscal years 2021–2022, many government spending agencies pointed fingers at the ministry of finance. The majority claimed that the approved budget for their institutions, including the South Sudan National Elections Commission, had not been released by the ministry of finance and planning, favouring some institutions.
However, the national election commission was given SSP 65,411,199 in the fiscal year 2021/2022, with 37,370,444 going to wages and salaries and the remaining 28,040,675 going to goods and services.
In addition, the committee on finance and planning, which is in charge of reviewing the budget, revealed that they have discovered several anomalies and budget indiscipline where the ministry of finance was the main perpetrator.
To avoid delays in payments and poor outturns at the end of each financial year, the committee suggested that all government spending agencies should have their budgetary allocations transferred into their accounts regularly.
Stopping wastage
They also recommended the ministry of finance and planning to implement the public procurement and disposal of assets act to avoid concerns of overspending and malpractices in debt management and financial records, as well as the public financial management and accountability act.
However, the Minister of Finance and Planning, Agak Achuil, hailed the legislature’s approval of the budget for 2021–2021, stating that it would now allow the ministry to remedy past mistakes and draft the next budget on time.
The National Elections Commission (NEC) was established in January 2013 in Juba by government officials and representatives from the international community to oversee the electoral process in South Sudan.
