South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has replaced election commission head Abednego Akok Kacuol with commission Secretary General Gabriel Bol Deng, roughly three months before presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for December 22. The vote would be the country’s first national election since independence in 2011. The change comes as South Sudan remains affected by frequent inter-communal violence, despite a 2018 agreement that ended a five-year conflict in which thousands were killed. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said last week that safeguards and conditions for peaceful, credible elections were absent. UN commissioner Barney Afako said voters’ rights must be protected through free participation, fair competition and credible adjudication of electoral disputes.