Unity state: Mayom County commissioner urges citizens to vote for separation

By Bonifacio Taban Kuich

December 2, 2010 (BENTIU-MAYOM) – Voter registration for South Sudan’s independence referendum is going well in Mayom, Unity state, according to the county’s commissioner, Colonel John Madeng Gatduel. After a bitter election campaign and disputed results the commissioner said he was happy with the turnout so far.

Voter registration began on November 15 and was extended until December 8 to cope with inaccessibility in some areas and some centers running out of registration materials.

Gatduel told Sudan Tribune on Thursday that the turnout was very high after the county task force committee mobilized and carried out an awareness campaign.

Mayom county’s referendum commissioner said that 75,601 voters had registered in his county.

He urged all citizens of Mayom county to make use of the extra week to register if they had not already done so. Gatduel also urged them to vote if they had registered as a 60% turnout of registered voters is needed for the vote to be valid under the 2009 Referendum Act.

The referendum is the cornerstone of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in Kenya Naivasha between the north and south ending over two decades of civil war.

He said, there was a big difference between last April’s general election and the referendum as “we vote for people at the election, but this time we are going to vote for our determination of South Sudan”, he said.

Gatduel call upon men, women and youths to preach the message of separation to those who are out coverage for notifications in advance before the arrival of polling days.

He also appreciated the role south Sudan’s Vice President Riek Machar Teny had played in uniting the state and the south’s ruling SPLM in the state ahead of the vote.

Last month Machar visited the state urging citizens of Unity state to put aside past differences and come together for the sake of the south’s upcoming referendum on independence.

On his visit Machar called for unity in the state and asked that the grievances of April’s general elections results be put aside. The fallout of April’s election was particularly bitter in Unity state after Angelina Teny – Machar’s wife – failed to win the governorship of Unity state in the elections losing to the official candidate from south Sudan’s ruling part the SPLM.

After the acrimonious vote, Gatluak Gai, began a rebellion in Unity state, which some in the Government of Southern Sudan believe was backed by Teny, according to the Small Arms Survey.

A report by the research group said that: ‘While Gatluak and his forces have not launched fresh attacks in Unity since June 2010, the area of the state where he initially operated continues to be insecure and the situation will likely remain unstable in the run-up to the referendum.’

Salva Kiir Mayardit the southern President issued an amnesty in October in an attempt to encourage the rebels to reunite ahead of the referendum.

Mayom commissioner Gatduel says he recognizes the greater role being playedby the government of Southern Sudan to resolve the issues created by the elections.

(ST)