A three-day training of SPLM’s youth league on the election process has kicked off in Torit, Eastern Equatoria State.
The training, which started on Monday, is organized by the party under the theme, “Service Delivery, Unity, Peace and Reconciliation Are Achievable Through Elected Government”.
Some 173 SPLM youth cadres from four counties in the state are in attendance.
The training seeks to prepare the youth to actively participate in mobilization and civic education at grassroots levels ahead of the forth-coming general elections in the country.
Jacinto Matia Mboro, SPLM Deputy Secretary for Peace and Reconciliation at the national level, told Radio Tamazuj that the training is a step to educate the party’s youth on elections and mobilization strategies.
He said SPLM is fully prepared for the upcoming elections and called the party’s youth to commit themselves to its vision of peace, unity and prosperity.
“Elections is a process and we have made a step, this is a first step and this step should be taken seriously. You should mobilize our people so that our governor, members of parliament, county commissioners and county counselors win the election by 80 percent,” Mboro said.
German Charles Ojok, State Secretary for SPLM, said strengthening the youth can be equated to strengthening a whole nation. He further appealed to more youth across the state to join the party’s youth league.
He said: “Any country without the youth is a dead country, the youth are the future. Without the youth there can be no development. I urge you to give your time to this training. In SPLM, we encourage that power should be taken through elections, your presence here is to prepare your people so that they have tomorrow, let the people choose the people they want and this should not be through appointments.”
Dr. Magret Itto, Deputy Chairperson of SPLM in the state, encouraged the participants to closely identify with the party.
She said SPLM emphasizes on the need to strongly support and prepare the party for the general elections.
“Our identity as SPLM is very important, we must be proud of our identity, SPLM gave birth to this nation. Our forefathers, your grandfathers were all SPLM. We should be proud that we brought South Sudan as a country so we must all be proud and with heads up. If there is any program for SPLM party, make sure you wear your red uniforms, identity is very important,” she said.
Sadiq Emmanuel Lomogo, Chairperson for SPLM Youth League in the state, thanked the SPLM secretariat for the training, saying it will strengthen the party.
He urged his members to deeply engage on matters that benefit the party and its people saying South Sudan depends on SPLM for service delivery, peace and unity
“The continuity and the strength of a political party depends on the empowerment of its youth. Today marks another step towards building a strong and inclusive political party. During this training comrades, I encourage you to engage deeply with the issues that matters a lot. Our society depends more on SPLM, and this is the time we must fight for the interest of our communities,” Lomogo added.