Nigeria, Sept. 15 -- South Sudan's cabinet last week approved legal amendments in preparation for the December 2026 elections. The day before, on 10 September, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan reported that the country lacked 'many of the safeguards and conditions for peaceful and credible polls' - an assessment the government swiftly rejected.

South Sudan hasn't held national elections since its 2011 independence, due to recurring cycles of armed conflict and political stalling. Now, major political and technical problems again preclude credible polls that would have ended the prolonged transition.

The country's first elections, scheduled for 2015, were delayed after civil war broke out in 2013. Since then, ...