Former Western Equatoria State governor Bangasi Joseph Bakasoro says he wants to represent the interests and concerns of his constituents in the national parliament if elected, as he seeks the ruling SPLM ticket in the ongoing party primaries.
Bakasoro is contesting for the Tambura Constituency No. 8 seat in the National Legislative Assembly in Juba. He arrived in Yambio to participate in the SPLM primaries.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj in Yambio on Friday, Bakasoro said he would raise the needs and challenges facing his constituents if he wins the party nomination and subsequently secures the parliamentary seat.
“If I win the primaries and the election, I will be the voice of my people in my constituency and speak about what they need and the challenges and problems facing them,” he said.
He said he would also work to enact laws that promote development in South Sudan.
Bakasoro said he would compete against several other candidates seeking the seat, adding that he wanted to continue serving his people at the national level after previously serving as governor and holding other government positions.
“I left the position of governor to the youth. I don’t want to cling to one position. Young people have grown up, and they need space to be vacated for them. How will they get space if we stick to positions?” he said.
He described the parliamentary seat as a step forward in his political career, saying he had never served as a national lawmaker. He added that, having previously served as a national minister, he did not intend to return to contest for the governorship.
Asked what he would do if he lost the primaries, Bakasoro said he would accept the outcome and pursue other opportunities within the government.
“Life will move on. If you fail to win, you move on. The government is big; you can get something else. South Sudan is big, and the government has many opportunities,” he said.
Bakasoro said the security situation in Western Equatoria State is generally stable, despite security challenges in Nagero County and Bou, near the border with Western Bahr el Ghazal State. He said the challenges would not affect the ongoing primaries.
“The regional force is currently deployed to those areas, and it is monitoring the security situation. Hopefully, all will be fine. I will not go to Nagero, but I will go to Tambura. I will monitor the situation through the security forces there when I decide to go to Nagero,” he said.
He said he did not yet have a personal manifesto or campaign programme because the current process involved internal SPLM elections. He said he would develop a programme after securing the party’s nomination.
He urged SPLM members contesting various positions across the country to remain united, describing the primaries as an internal party process that should not create divisions or hostility.
He also called on unsuccessful candidates to accept the results, saying losing the primaries should not mark the end of their political careers.
“Some people behave as if it is the end of someone’s political career if they fail the primaries, but this is not the end. You can still remain in the SPLM. There are many secretariats and other positions, and you are still a member of the party, so it should not cause hatred and problems among us,” he said.
Background
Bangasi Joseph Bakasoro is a politician and former governor of Western Equatoria State who has held several senior positions in the national government.
He rose to prominence in the 2010 general elections when he contested the Western Equatoria governorship as an independent candidate and defeated the ruling SPLM nominee, Jemma Nunu Kumba. He served as governor from 2010 to 2015.
In August 2015, President Salva Kiir removed him from office. He was arrested in Juba in December that year and detained without trial before being released in April 2016.
In 2017, Bakasoro founded the South Sudan National Movement for Change (SSNMC), an opposition group that later joined the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA), a signatory to the 2018 revitalised peace agreement.
He returned to South Sudan in December 2020 and was appointed national minister of Public Service and Human Resource Development. In July 2021, he announced his return to the ruling SPLM.
In November 2023, Kiir appointed him minister of Presidential Affairs, a position he held until August 2024, when he was dismissed in a presidential reshuffle.
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