The Muslim community in South Sudan’s Wau State in an extraordinary general conference on Monday elected a new secretary-general and two deputies for the State Islamic Council, four years after the killing of the last council leader.

The conferees elected the South Sudanese academician Bashir Dor Uchu as the new secretary-general and two deputies namely Mohammad Tamim and Mohammad Yusuf Abdel-Kair. Bashir Dor succeeded Sheikh Fuad Richard who was murdered in Wau town in 2012.

Reportedly, the Wau conference was convened in defiance of a refusal by the High Islamic Council in the capital Juba to endorse the event over insecurity and lack of budget.

Hundreds of participants advised the newly elected secretary general to adhere to the Islamic Shura (consultation), work honeslty, care for orphans and empower women and traditional Islamic schools. The newly elected leader was also urged to recover all Muslims funds that have been misappropriated.

The conferees also decided to approve a statement issued by the Shura Council in order to convene the general conference despite rejection by the head office in Juba. The state council accused the High Islamic Council of undermining the law, saying the council’s law mandates for an election within 60 days in case of any vacuum.

In the opening session, Mohammed Abdullah Suleiman, member of the Shura Council, read out their statement in which they accused the head office of appointing caretaker secretaries who misappropriated Muslim funds during the past four years.

According to a report in 2012, Muslims in South Sudan accounted for about 6.2% of the country’s population.

File photo: An Islamic leader in Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal during Eid celebrations, 2012 (Radio Tamazuj)