The
chairperson of South Sudan’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has disclosed
that the total cost of conducting the census is approximately $100 million, a
budget that was approved in February 2024.
However, Dr.
Augustino Ting Mayai said the funds have not yet been fully provided, yet the
country is preparing to conduct its first-ever elections in 2026.
"The budget that we require is roughly about $100 million, and that was approved in February last year. We were then advised by the Minister of Finance that $38 million would be released right away for us to begin the planning process. We have not yet released that," Ting said, highlighting how crucial it is to secure enough funding to move forward with the national survey.
Ting
emphasized that, despite these funding delays, the Bureau remains committed to
completing the census and providing the data necessary for vital political and
economic decisions.
"If the
resources are provided, say, tomorrow or even by the end of next month, we
should be able to provide the information needed for elections before
elections," he echoed.
However,
securing the necessary funds is not the only obstacle. The Bureau has also
faced challenges in maintaining infrastructure and staffing.
In a further
complication, Ting stressed that the Bureau was working to secure political
backing to make the census a priority, including waiting on a formal
declaration from the President to kick-start the process.
"We are
also waiting for the president to issue the declaration and form the committees
that will govern the process itself," he remarked.
Despite these
challenges, the chairperson expressed optimism that the census could still be
conducted within 16 months, provided the necessary resources are released.
The official
suggested that one option for dealing with potential delays is to proceed with
elections in stages, prioritizing votes that do not require updated population
data.
“The
elections that do not necessarily require the district or population counts,
such as the governors and the president, could go ahead. The parliamentarians
could wait for the census to be conducted,” he emphasized.
“The third is
basically going back to the 2008 census, which has been contested given that it
is old. And the last one is just to create a list of those who are eligible to
vote. This is an issue that you will not be able to create representative
constituencies based on population counts.”
The
population census is one of the key provisions in the 2018 revitalized peace
agreement.
The bureau
has been preparing for a new census since the country's last one in 2008.
The Bureau's
mandate is to generate, compile, analyze, and publish data to inform policies
on the economy, society, health, and the environment.
It is also mandated to conduct surveys and censuses.