Unity state’s Angelina Teny refutes explanation on Bentiu stadium incident
March 19, 2010 (JUBA) – The independent candidate for governorship of Unity state, Angelina Teny, has refuted reports which suggested that supporters of the SPLM-Democratic Change of Dr. Lam Akol Ajawin involved in the disrupted rally at Bentiu stadium on Monday.
Speaking to Sudan Tribune on Thursday from Unity state’s capital, Bentiu, Angelina said the disruption of Salva Kiir’s rally was caused by internal SPLM division in the state, particularly between the campaign teams, and had nothing to do with the SPLM-DC as alleged.
She explained that the argument was between President Kiir’s campaign team and the state campaign team for the Caretaker governor, Taban Deng Gai, over the fate of her supporters in the stadium.
She further explained that her supporters who constituted overwhelming majority at the stadium were chanting slogans in support of Yasir Arman, for the President of the Republic of Sudan, Salva Kiir for the President of the Government of Southern Sudan and Angelina Teny for the post of governor of Unity state.
“My supporters who were the majority in the stadium to receive the President were chanting slogans in support of candidatures of Yasir Arman, Salva Kiir and myself. That disappointed the few supporters of Taban Deng Gai who were in the stadium,” she explained.
Salva Kiir’s state campaign team, chaired by Dr. Joseph Manytuil, saw nothing wrong with Angelina’s supporters who also approved the presidential candidatures, but that did not go well with Taban’s campaign team because, to them, their choice for governorship was substituted for Angelina by the majority chanting in the stadium.
Dr. Joseph Manytuil Wijang is currently the minister of Health in the Government of Southern Sudan and chairman of the SPLM in Unity state.
Angelina further explained that the official SPLM secretariat in Unity state supported her candidature while Taban Deng was being supported by a handful of party officials who defied the secretariat’s decision.
The independent candidate said she had overwhelming support in the state as she had already covered many of the counties during her campaign. In her Thursday’s campaign in Koch County headquarters, over 6,000 people turned out to receive her, she said.
But that did not end there without harassments by the security organs, she added. In Koch, Angelina said keys of three vehicles for her campaign team were forcefully taken from drivers by the security organs and two people were arrested on the pretext that the authorities were not informed about the rally in the county.
“That was not true because we had obtained a permission letter from the state Elections Committee office before we conducted the rally,” she explained.
“Up to now these two people from my campaign team are still under detention,” she added.
Angelina also said that in Guit county, soldiers shot live bullets to disperse a huge crowd that was receiving her for a political rally. The people however ignored the shootings which ended after the intervention of the United Nations personnel and the rally went on successfully. No body was hurt.
Educated in Great Britain and speaks both fluent English and Arabic, Angelina, who is also the current state minister of Energy and Mining in the Government of National Unity, observed that the incumbent Caretaker governor’s team was unhappy seeing her overwhelming support among the people across the state.
Despite being disowned by the SPLM Political Bureau’s decision along with her other independent colleagues in the ten states, she said her presidential candidates are Salva Kiir Mayardit and Yasir Arman for the presidency of Southern Sudan and Republic of Sudan, respectively, and mobilizes her supporters to vote for them.
(ST)