CEPO commends NEC appointment of returning officers, decries lack of female recruits By James Chatim

Civil society body Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) on Thursday welcomed the recruitment of Returning Officers and their assistants across the regions of the country, but critices the Commission’s failure to meet the 35% women quota.

CEPO Executive Director, Edmund Yakani said the organization’s pre-election domestic observation mission observed that the recruitment process across the 10 states and three administrative areas was credible, transparent and merit-based, desppite lacking women appointees.

On Wednesday, NEC Chairperson Gabriel Bol Deng appointed State Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers to serve in all the ten states and three administative areas.

“We would like to take this opportunity to appreciate and to welcome the transparent and credible recruitment of returning officers and assistant returning officers by the leadership of the National Election Commission as a step in the country’s preparedness to hold elections for December 2026. The process has met the standard of being credible, transparent, and merits were seriously taken into account through very transparent interviews,” he said.

Yakani said Returning Officers play a central role in the democratic process to ensure election is administered effectively and in accordance with the law, and that experience of voters and candidates is positive.

Highlighting the officers’ tasks, including to publish notice of election, administer nomination process, printing ballot papers, publish notice of polling station, appoint presiding officers and polling clerks,

maintain postal voting, verify and count votes, and declare results, Yakani said the officials should steer clear of their role, warning against impartiality and electoral malpractices.

“We will observe your actions daily, whether your actions meet the standard of you being impartial as required by the law. Remain as nonpartisan; don’t lean to any political party or entertain any political party or associate yourself with any political party,” he added.

Despite praising transparency, CEPO expressed disappointment that no women were recruited as Returning Officers.

“We are so disappointed that with a transparent and credible exercise, females have not applied for the position of the returning officers meeting the required qualification, which I term them as merits. And this has made for us to have a zero female returning officers recruited for South Sudan elections,” Yakani said.

“Out of 13 Returning Officers, all 13 are men. Out of 13 Assistant Returning Officers, only 2 are women and 11 are men,” he criticised.

CEPO appealed to NEC to enforce the 35% affirmative action for women in further recruitment, including presiding officers and polling clerks.