By Yang Ater Yang
Lakes State Civil Society Organizations Network (CSON) in election of new leadership, entrusts Angelina Adhel Malual as chairperson and Abraham Matur as Secretary General.
Rev. Elijah Magel Mahnom, chairperson of the electoral committee, confirmed a smooth election process.
“We made the election, and the election went smoothly” he said.
Twenty-two Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) participated in the polls, with each organization sending two delegates, one of whom had to be a woman.
Five candidates initially contested for Chairperson Post, but one was disqualified for not meeting the eligibility criteria.
In the election Results Chairperson, Angelina Adhel Malual garner (54.7% of votes) while the Secretary General, Abraham Matur scooped (78.6% of votes)
Adhel, a program officer at DARD organization, expressed her excitement about the win and highlighted the significance of her victory as the first woman elected Chairperson of CSON in Lakes State.
She emphasized the importance of women’s participation in leadership roles and vowed to advocate for gender equality and be a voice for the voiceless.
“We are tired of this statement that women always are just there to be given a chance, but you have to compete. It is my pleasure and the women outside there, come out. You know we have a lot of opportunities. We cannot be given 35% without us actively participating in every field that we are supposed to be represented” she expressed.
Daniel Laat Kon, the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) Coordinator in Lakes State who contested for Chairperson, accepted the results and congratulated the winners.
He acknowledged the need for change within CSON and called for the new leadership to be more active in addressing issues of governance and human rights violations.
“The general assembly has decided and one of the reasons why I was contesting was a little bit I want change. This leadership has been with DARD for the last nine (9) years and if the general assembly decided for the network to be led by one organization, then I have no objections”.
“They need to be hard, and they need to come out and condemn some of the issues that are related to humans right and all these because this is the time that civil society needs to wake up.” Kon stressed.
The outgoing leadership will organize a swearing-in ceremony within a week to formally transfer leadership to the newly elected officials.