Africa-Press – South-Sudan. A group of civil society activists in Juba appealed to South Sudanese citizens to cast their votes in the upcoming elections and choose the right people who will address their challenges.
South Sudan is expected to hold nationwide general election in December 2024 – in what could be the first public decision after the country’s 13 years of independence.
On November 3, President Salva Kiir reconstituted the Political Parties Council, National Constitutional Review Commission, and the National Elections Commission.
The restructuring of the key electoral institutions has been welcomed by peace guarantors and the civil society organizations in the country.
The bodies are prerequisite in the 2018 peace deal for the conduct of free, fair and credible elections at the end of the transitional period.
Zainab Osman, the Executive Director of Women and Youth Empowerment Initiative encourage the local population to vote and bring in the right people who will address the challenges they are facing.
“In the current situations, it’s the women who are putting bread on the table. So, they need to vote, and bring in the right people, so that the right people will bring in the right services to these women,” Ms. Osman.
She was speaking to Eye Radio on Friday during a roundtable discussion on inclusive governance and transitioning the country into a peaceful and democratic state.
“Number two, I am appealing to the youth who are going to listen to my voice, never allow yourself to be used because most of the politicians, who are sending you out there to go and create chaos, their children are not here.”
“You’re going to die. You’re the only child maybe to your parent, and if you die, you just become statistic. You’re going to leave your mother, father and parent to suffer.”
“So, everybody should up in large number to vote, and to vote to the rightful people and to avoid any form of violence because violence will not get to anywhere.”
Meanwhile, Michael Oca-ka-con Ocholla, Executive Director of Community Action for Change also said young people should be engaged in the electoral process to enable them to understand the importance of voting.
“My encouragement to the youth is, once elections are going to come in next year December, they must all come and vote because if someone say, I don’t want to vote, who do you expect to vote in this country?”
“Young people must come and cast their votes, civil society is supposed give them knowledge, if they don’t know have knowledge it will be crisis.”
“As mama said, we don’t want young people to get involved in violence because if you look at the post elections violence, young people say no, this one we didn’t want him, but the question is, did you vote?”
For her part, Grace John Kenyi, the Project Manager for Community Initiative Development Association, encourages women and young to join political parties to enable them contest during the upcoming elections.
“Now that we’re going to have that opportunity for both women and youth to go those spaces that we’re talking about especially the political space. Which requires all of us to participate when it comes to decision making,” she said.
She added that it is high time for young people and women to start selling their agendas to convince their follows to vote for them.
“So it’s time for the young people and women, to start registering into the political parties, coming out with the agenda, conceiving their fellow women and youth of what they’re going to deliver to the country, if they’re voted in.”
Last week, the Community Initiative Development Association, with funding from the US Embassy in Juba, sensitized the civil society leaders and Journalists on strengthening civil society for inclusive democracy in Eastern, Western and Central Equatoria States.
For More News And Analysis About South-Sudan Follow Africa-Press
