Thousands of Sudan’s People Liberation Movement (SPLM) Party supporters on Monday converged at the party’s secretariat in Torit to validate their support for Salva Kiir’s candidature for the December 2024 elections.
SPLM organized the one-day rally under the theme “Your humility, leadership, and wisdom bind us together.”
According to officials, Eastern Equatoria State SPLM Party members will on 25 May trek in huge numbers to Juba to endorse President Kiir’s bid.
In December 2022, the SPLM party’s Liberation Council nominated Kiir as the party’s flag bearer for the presidential elections slated for December.
Governor Louis Lobong Lojore who also doubles as the chairperson of the SPLM Party in Eastern Equatoria State said the long-awaited date for the endorsement of Kiir has now been confirmed.
“The great Equatoria endorsement rally for His Excellency Comrade Salva Kiir Mayardit as the SPLM flag bearer for the 2024 General Elections under the theme “Your humility, leadership, and wisdom bind us together” as the SPLM flag bearer is confirmed,” he said.
On her part, Hellen Aliardo, the chairperson of the SPLM Party Women’s League, said women in Eastern Equatoria endorse Kiir for the presidency.
“The women are ready 100 percent and I want to say that if anything succeeds in Eastern Equatoria, it will succeed in the whole of South Sudan because Eastern Equatoria is number one,” she stated. “The women are 100 percent for the endorsement of Salva Kiir Mayardit and I am sure all our comrades in the whole of South Sudan are watching women in Torit.”
“The Women League in Eastern Equatoria is not sleeping,” Aliardo added.
Meanwhile, Sadiq Emmanuel, the chairperson of the state’s SPLM Youth League, expressed the youth’s readiness and urged party members to mobilize citizens to support the endorsement of Salva Kiir as flag bearer.
“We are ready for a fight, a fight without blood, a fight for elections and we the SPLM have all accepted to endorse a man of peace, our president and chairperson of the party, His Excellency Salva Kiir Mayardit, as our flag bearer for the elections,” he said. “Our role is to mobilize people because there are many people who have rebelled from SPLM just because the devil entered them. It is our role as SPLM to bring them on board. We know the number going from here might be small but for our youth, if you have a means, if you have a vehicle, bicycle find a way to reach Juba.”
Dr. Magret Itto Leonardo, the Eastern Equatoria State chairperson of Kiir’s endorsement committee, reaffirmed that the Eastern Equatoria SPLM Party Chapter will be in Juba on 25 May for Kiir’s endorsement.
“Salva Kiir Mayardit 2024. I stand here as the chairperson of the committee for endorsement going to Juba,” she said. “I want to see that those who are going to Juba are ready. Everybody is ready for that day and we want to tell all the people in Juba that Eastern Equatoria will be in Juba also.”
The rally concluded with a call on members and SPLM Party supporters to jointly converge in supporting the endorsement of Salva Kiir as flag bearer and presidential candidate in the December polls.