South Sudan’s new election chief has defended his neutrality after journalists questioned whether his ties to President Salva Kiir could affect the credibility of the country’s planned general election.
National Elections Commission (NEC) Chairperson Gabriel Bol Deng said he and Kiir hail from the same community of Awan Chan in Gogrial West County, Warrap State, but rejected suggestions that his background would influence his work overseeing the 22 December election.
Deng has also previously held a senior administrative position in President Kiir’s office, serving as deputy chief administrator for finance and administration. Before his appointment as NEC chairperson, he served as the commission’s secretary general.
“The president hails from my area, first of all, as people of Awan. We did not say, ‘You people of South Sudan, this is Salva Kiir. You take him as your president.’ Did we do that? No,” Deng told reporters in Juba on Tuesday.
He said his performance in office, rather than his place or community of origin, should determine how he is judged.
“It is up to the people of South Sudan to judge me by my leadership, but not on the locality of where I come from, and not on the tribe that I come from,” he said.
Deng said he would be guided by the transitional constitution and national election law in carrying out his duties.
“Salva Kiir is the president of the Republic of South Sudan. He came through his own contributions,” he said. “For me, I will be guided by the Constitution and the national electoral law.”
President Kiir appointed Deng to head the NEC last week, replacing Prof. Abednego Akok Kacuol about three months before the scheduled vote. No public reason was given for Akok’s removal.
Deng defended his appointment, arguing that a qualified citizen should not be excluded from public office because he comes from the same area as the president.
“Who is this person when the capable person from that locality, a citizen like everybody else, got an opportunity to say, you turn a blind eye to this person,” he said.
“It would have been very bad if he had appointed me from a different institution. But I was the engine of this institution.”
Public service record
Deng also cited his personal and professional history as he defended his record in public service.
“First of all, I’m a civil servant. I’m serving the public. I’m serving you, the citizens,” he said.
He said he joined the Sudan People’s Liberation Army’s liberation struggle as a teenager in 1987, when he was about 15, and was trained as a member of the Red Army.
He recalled being deployed in the Juba area during fighting in 1992 before later receiving permission to study in Kakuma, Kenya.
Deng described himself as one of the Sudanese children who became internationally known as the “Lost Boys” after fleeing the war and spending years in refugee camps in the region.
He said members of his generation were encouraged to pursue education so they could eventually help build an independent South Sudan.
He later studied in the United States and trained as a mathematics teacher. He said he holds a master’s degree in mathematics education.
“I’m a professional mathematics teacher. I have a master’s degree in mathematics education. But because I have served, I have a vision to serve our country,” he said.
Deng said his actions in the coming months would provide the basis on which his leadership of the electoral body should be judged.
“So, it is up to you to judge, the media, the people of South Sudan, my action in the next three months,” he said.
The amended National Elections Act, signed into law by President Kiir on Monday, separates the elections from the completion of a permanent constitution and a national population and housing census.
It also allows the incumbent president to remain in office and exercise his constitutional powers during the election period.
The 22 December election is scheduled to be South Sudan’s first general election since independence in 2011, after repeated delays under the transitional arrangements established by the 2018 peace agreement.
With voter registration yet to begin, the NEC has less than three months to complete registration and other preparations before polling day.
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