By Hou Akot Hou
Sudan People Liberation Movement [SPLM] party in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State convened an urgent party meeting on Tuesday to counter looming defection fears.
The party cadres gathered at the SPLM’s secretariat in Aweil.
According to witnesses, clad in red garments and t-shirts, the gathering was just to allay fears among members that their followers were drifting away to other opposition groups.
This worry arises followed defection of some senior members of the SPLM in Aweil to the SPLM-IO, last weekend.
Addressing a meeting ahead of the SPLM conference scheduled to take place in Wau, Mangar Mou Anyar, blamed some members for always being impatient, not waiting for remedies for their concerns.
“Some of these colleagues in the SPLM youth league want to get employed, and we don’t have opportunities in the party,” he said.
“So, when they see that, they begin to go away and insult the party without being objective, and elections have not come yet. This is unfair of them.”
Governor Tong Aken Ngor, the SPLM state chairperson, also challenged some members for employing tactics to use the party as an institution for begging for survival.
He didn’t, however, name those individuals who failed to do their duties in the party but begged.
Tong warns against going against the party’s objectives.
“Some come and ask in the party office where Ayaga, the secretary for the party, is. And the aim is to give you something for food and shirts. Even this red shirt I am putting on is being fought,” Tong said.
He revealed that there is going to be a conference for greater Bahr El Ghazal in Wau on SPLM issues scheduled for June 27, and it is going to be opened by President Kiir.
On hearing the speeches of the governor and the youth league members, one of the defectors, Gabriel Bol Dut, took to his Facebook timeline to hit back, as seen by this outlet,
Mr. Bol blasted the leadership of the party for failing to address the grievances that members are facing, saying, he had been asking for medication abroad but fell on deaf ears.
“I have been asking to go abroad for treatment, but these SPLM high officials, including Tong, go out for treatment,” he said.
“What is special about such members? Dut questioned.
“That is why I and my colleagues stormed out of such a party and joined the party of Comrade Dr. Riek Machar Teny, which is working without tribalism. It is a reputable party,” he said, pouring out his anger.
Dut noted that division is high in Aweil, where people discuss the party’s weaknesses and strengths, with blame games being carried on in areas where jokes and affiliations are enhanced.