The Western Bahr el Ghazal State Youth Union elections scheduled for August have been postponed until the end of October due to heavy rains that have affected the movement of delegates across the state.
An executive member of the youth body said the current state youth leadership was elected in 2022 and it was recommended that its term expire after two years and that an election be held in August 2024 for the peaceful transfer of power.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Sunday, the chairperson of the Western Bahr el Ghazal State Youth Union, David Lawrence, said that a youth peace and reconciliation conference will take place in two months in Wau Town and the election of new leadership will be conducted after the conference.
“There will be a youth peace and reconciliation conference in two months and on the final day, there will be elections of new leadership for Western Bahr el Ghazal State Youth Union because the current leadership’s tenure has expired,” he said. “In that conference, we will work hard to solve issues facing our youth so that we can reach a clear vision for the youth in the state. The conference is supposed to start in August but it was rescheduled to the end of October due to the rains that blocked youth in many payams, especially those in Raja County and its payams.”
For her part, the Director General of the Western Bahr el Ghazal State Ministry of Culture, Youth & Sports, Mary Gabriel, narrated that the elections strategies and steps for the youth elections will first begin at the county level and then move to the state level.
“The youth elections will first begin in counties and after that, they will send their delegates to Wau Town to conduct State Youth Union elections,” she said, “The elections are intended for August, but we will consider their (youth) calls for the extension because of heavy rainfall, rough roads and challenges in the transportation systems and all.”