Fourteen years after independence and still no national election. Now South Sudan has scrapped its whole government just months before polling day.

President Salva Kiir signed an amended law on Monday, September 21, that removes five vice presidents and dissolves parliament plus national and state governments. He stays on with full constitutional powers until a new president is sworn in on 22 December, with caretakers in place.

On the ground, it felt tense. Soldiers blocked ministries in Juba, staff were turned away and told to return next week, and UN agencies told people to work remotely. That is the human reality behind the politics.

This is the world’s youngest nation, oil-rich but aid-dependent, with about nine million people needing humanitarian help. The last civil war from 2013 to 2018 killed an estimated 400,000 people. If this vote fails to look credible, it risks more instability.

South Sudan became independent in 2011 and has never held a national vote. Elections have been postponed twice, and the transition has been extended several times. The current setup was a power-sharing deal from 2018 that brought Kiir and rival Riek Machar together. Machar was sacked last year, charged with treason and is now under house arrest.

Money is tight too. The elections body says it needs $250m, about £190m, but has only received $21m. Last week Kiir sacked its chair Abednego Akok Kacuol and replaced him with Gabriel Bol Deng.

The monitoring body RJMEC says the country is in a critical phase with key tasks unfinished. The last 24-month extension was due to run to February 2027. Now everything is pulled forward. Kiir is so far the only declared candidate, and his main opposition group, SPLM IO, has warned it will treat anyone registering voters in its areas as a prisoner of war.

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