By Kei Emmanuel Duku
An anticipated elections and general assembly of Aweil Local Football Association on Thursday morning delved in confusion after South Sudan Football Electoral Commission and Appeal Committee officials were denied entry.
The confusion followed removal of some candidates for various positions at the Aweil Local Football, by the electoral committee.
The affected candidates and their supporters demanded explanations from both the Appeal committee and the electoral committee however by election time.
Meanwhile, the appeal committee had not issued a verdict on the case consequently resulting into the delegates walking out from the voting venue while others blocked the electoral officials from accessing the venue.
Alul Daniel Madut, former South Sudan Football Association Spokesperson and contestant for the position of President Aweil Local Football Association, accused the electoral commission and the Appeal Committee of conspiring with his competitors by staying together in the same hotel and carrying out every election activity jointly.
Madut noted that insisting on the elections will be comprised of the outcomes of the results and asked the committee to suspend the elections and SSFA to form an independent credible, fair, and transparent committee that will oversee the general electoral process.
“How do you expect the results to be free and fair when Dominic Dumo Abuga is 24 hours at Kush Hotel with the electoral committee members? So we don’t want this committee because they are not fair and I believe this committee has a special interest in coming and presiding a scam election and selecting persons who represent their interest not of the general assembly and we reject their motives” said Madut.
Madut further accessed Dominic Dumo Abuga and his campaign committee of daily interacting with Albino Kuek and Bak Athian, the chairperson of the electoral committee and Chairperson of the appeal committee at Kush Hotel where the electoral commission is operating.
Madut also protested the inclusion of Nyuol Kuot Nyuol’s name on the final list of voters’ register despite his name not appearing in the initial list of candidates eligible to contest for the presidency of the Aweil Local Football Association.
He also said the appeal committee decided to remove the names of 7 football clubs that were his staunch supporters, something Madut described as a calculative move to deny delegates from the clubs their democratic rights.
“Aweil United, Ghazala FC, and Christ Community FC were removed from the list of clubs to vote ahead of the general assembly and instead decided to bring their candidates Nyuol Kout Nyuol but they instead said the time is limited which as delegates we objected to but if they insist and later this election turns rowdy they should be held accountable” added Madut.
Madut argues that the ideal way of conducting an election should have started with the presentation of administrative and financial reports for the last four years, however, the electoral committee is insisting on conducting elections first followed by the reports.
He further added that the general reports are critical because the delegates wanted to know how the association has been spending finances they have been receiving from the different entities in the last four financial reports.
Meanwhile, Adel Kuol Deng, a strong supporter of South Sudan Football accused the South Sudan football governing body-SSFA of modelling in the electoral processing by excluding the names of Alul Daniel Madut and delegates members from his clubs from the list so that he failed the election and a candidates of their wins the elections.
Kuol urged Aweil Local Football Association delegates, candidates, and the electoral commission and Appeal Committee to seek peaceful means of resolving the disputes for the growth and development of football in Northern Bahr el Ghazal