Former state Governors with the new caretaker Governors during the swearing in. [© Larco Lomayat]
By Peter Lokale Nakimangole
TORIT, 23 February 2010 (Gurtong) – The caretaker Governors will maintain law and order in their respective states until the conclusion of the April polls when new Governors will be elected and subsequently assume office.
The newly-appointed caretaker Governor of Eastern Equatoria State Brigadier General Johnson Juma Okot has urged the state residents to unite during and after the electioneering period.
Speaking upon arrival from Juba where he was sworn in alongside other caretaker Governors for all the South Sudanese states, Brigadier General Okot re-affirmed his commitment to peace and called for calm during the campaigns as well as during the elections.
“We will be the first citizens to vote for Lieutenant General Salva Kiir Mayardit and Yasir Arman for GoSS and GoNU presidencies respectively in the forthcoming general elections and I urge you to turn up in large numbers to vote”, he told the over 2,000 residents who welcomed him at the state secretariat in Torit.
He expressed optimism that the SPLM will emerge victorious in the elections and rule Sudan.
“ President Kiir and the South Sudan Legislative Assembly Speaker Wani Igga have both sent you their greetings and have called for peace as we prepare to get into power in the forthcoming general elections”, he said.
Brigadier General Okot said he will visit all counties in the state to spread the peace message in the run up to the elections.
He directed all traders and shoppers in Torit town to start cleaning the market centres immediately in a bid to maintain hygiene in the state capital.
“I do not want to see any litter including polythene bags lying anywhere in this town. Any traders and shoppers who do not heed this call will be dealt with accordingly, and I will personally ensure this is implemented”, he said.
He was received by the acting Governor Brigadier General George Echom Ekeno, the state cabinet, advisors to the Governor, the SPLM state secretariat officials led by Brigadier General Louis Lobong Lojore, all county commissioners and members of different ethnic groups who sang and danced to traditional tunes.
Meanwhile the Lakes State caretaker Governor Telar Ring Deng arrived in the state capital, Rumbek from Juba this morning.
He replaces former Governor Daniel Awet Akot who failed during the SPLM nominations.
Akot, however, is still the state SPLM chairperson as well as a member of the SPLM Political Bureau.
Interestingly, Deng and fellow member Aleu Ayieny had been relieved of SPLM membership by the party leader Salva Kiir in 2007.
The two were however, reinstated after consultations with the party’s highest authority, the Political Bureau.
(Additional reporting by Manyang Mayom and Larco Lomayat)