The Civil Society Network in Eastern Equatoria State which comprises 55 organizations on Saturday convened a general assembly that elected a new executive body.

The elections were scheduled for 25 October but were delayed due to lack of resources according to the outgoing chairperson of the outfit, Charles Okullu Cyprian, who called on the general assembly to be supportive to each other while working to improve the livelihoods of the communities.

“We were elected in July 2017 but in 2020 when we were trying to organize elections, the general assembly pushed us to continue and we accepted and continued with the work,” Okullu explained. “We kept pushing for elections but due to lack of resources, we could not organize them. Today (Saturday) we were able to come together, consult with the general assembly and we produced new members.” 

He said during their tenure in office, the outgoing executive was able to visit all the cantonment sites which was not easy because it required resilience and cooperation. 

“We do not want conflict between the civil society and the government,” Okullo said. “We need to complement each other and work towards improving the livelihoods of our communities.”

For his part, Onen Charles, the newly elected chairperson of the network pledged to work with the government at all levels towards creating peaceful coexistence among the people.

“For us as civil society organizations, we pledge to work with our government at the state and different levels, including at the national level, to achieve peace and implement the peace agreement,” Onen pledged. “The former chairperson will be able to prepare his handover notes or report and then they will work with me and we will move the network forward.”

Meanwhile, the executive director of the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission in the state, John Odongi, called on the civil society network to work together for common goals.

“You are working under the umbrella of civil society network of Eastern Equatoria State and not as individual organizations,” Odongi said. “Charles (Onen) has enough experience and he has been working in several positions and good enough we elected him as the chairperson and I hope we will support him.”

The general assembly elected Onen Charles as Chairperson, deputized by Ajok Grace. John Bush was elected secretary-general.