Three South Sudanese officials have joined a high-level regional election observation mission for Uganda’s upcoming general elections on January 15, 2026. The mission is organized by the African Union (AU), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD). The delegation, officially known as the AU–COMESA–IGAD Election Observation Mission, arrived in Uganda on Friday, at the invitation of the Ugandan government and the country’s Electoral Commission.
The mission is composed of 84 short-term observers from across Africa, tasked with assessing the credibility and conduct of Uganda’s elections. South Sudan is represented by William Kolnyin Deng and Mangar Alit Kecuol, both officials of South Sudan’s National Elections Commission (NEC), alongside Taban Phillip Patrick Attara, a South Sudanese representative to the IGAD Youth Forum for Peace.
This marks an important regional effort aimed at promoting democratic governance and electoral transparency in the Horn of Africa, a region often marked by political instability and conflict. Notably, South Sudan has not held an election since its independence in 2011, and the participation of its officials in the mission demonstrates the country’s growing engagement in regional democratic processes.
The joint observation mission is led by Goodluck Jonathan, former President of Nigeria, with support from Ambassador Shemsudin Ahmed Roble, a member of the COMESA Committee of Elders, and Commander Abebe Muluneh Beyene from IGAD. The team of observers is spread across Uganda to monitor critical election-day activities, including the opening of polling stations, voting procedures, polling station closures, and vote counting.
The mission will assess Uganda’s elections against national laws and international standards, including the AU Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections, the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG), and the International Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation.
In addition to monitoring election-day procedures, the observers will engage with Uganda’s Electoral Commission, political parties, the media, civil society organizations, and the international community, to ensure a comprehensive evaluation of the electoral process.
The AU–COMESA–IGAD Election Observation Mission is expected to issue a preliminary statement on its findings on January 17, 2026, in a press conference in Kampala. A final report will be released within a month, after Uganda’s Electoral Commission announces the official election results.
For South Sudan, the inclusion of NEC officials and a youth peace advocate in the mission highlights the country’s growing role in regional democratic processes, even as it prepares for its own long-delayed elections.
