The secretary general of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), Akol Paul Kordit, has urged people in Lakes State to support President Salva Kiir Mayardit in the upcoming general elections.
Kordit was speaking at an SPLM rally at Freedom Square in Rumbek on Saturday, which was attended by state officials, traditional leaders, youth and women’s groups and party members from across Lakes State.
The SPLM is currently the most visible political party carrying out public mobilisation activities ahead of the elections, with other political parties yet to mount comparable nationwide campaigns or public activities.
Kordit said the SPLM, under the leadership of President Kiir, had decided to participate in the elections and return political power to the people.
“In the SPLM party, we have resolved to support Comrade Salva Kiir Mayardit as our flag bearer, but the rest will go through primaries,” Kordit said.
He said the elections would give citizens an opportunity to hold their leaders accountable.
“We will not re-elect anyone who did not perform well,” he said.
Kordit also called on South Sudanese to end conflicts among themselves and support the SPLM leadership ahead of the elections.
He described Lakes State as the “home of the liberation movement” and praised its contribution to South Sudan’s independence struggle.
Lakes State Governor Madhang Majok Meen also urged residents to vote for President Kiir.
He said there is no one in Lakes State who could compete with President Kiir and called on him to support Kordit, who is from Lakes State.
Governor Madhang also praised the SPLM secretary general, describing him as a leader who had represented the state at the national level.
The SPLM secretary in Lakes State, Asunta Bawouda James, said the party would begin registering members across the state as part of its preparations for the elections.
She said the registration exercise followed directives from the party’s national leadership to strengthen its structures ahead of the vote.
“We will immediately start registration across all corners of Lakes State and stand ready for the upcoming elections, with Comrade Salva Kiir Mayardit as our only candidate,” she said.
She said the party would target every boma for membership registration, with youth and women’s groups expected to lead the exercise.
Traditional leaders at the rally also expressed support for the SPLM and President Kiir.
Sabit Kuac Manyiel, the paramount chief of Rumbek Central County, said chiefs and communities in Lakes State are ready to support the party.
“All the citizens in Lakes State will vote 100% for Salva Kiir Mayardit in the December 22 general elections,” he said.
But he also used the rally to raise concerns about drought and livestock disease in the state.
Manyiel said a lack of rainfall had affected crops such as sorghum and groundnuts, while an unidentified cattle disease was killing livestock in rural areas.
“Cows are the source of our survival in the rural villages in Lakes State,” he said, appealing to the SPLM leadership to raise the issue with President Kiir.
He also called for transport support for voters during the elections, saying chiefs lacked vehicles to transport people from rural areas to polling centres.
He proposed that each payam should be provided with a pickup truck to help transport voters during the election period.
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