An Explanation on Formal Election of Caretaker Executive Committee for South Sudan General Farmers Association following Criticism expressed by former caretaker Chairperson published by The Citizen

South Sudan General Farmers Association managing committee currently elected by Provisional Ten States Representatives in Juba, does not forget your love and contribution for South Sudan General Farmers Association. Our thanks goes back to you, although time comes and time goes for change,  we should admit and do what is agreed and  desire by people.  Under any circumstances we must accept people.  We are sorry to miss you in your leadership career with South Sudan General Farmers Association. Garang  Mayoum, again we are sorry to tell you, our association is intended to adopt principles that sometimes ignore potential candidate and aspirants who have ambitions and ability of servicing their people, we were after democracy and justice to form South Sudan General Farmers Association. So leaders for the Association shall only come through election and that is democracy; and you should know that, Democracy does not service individual or minority interest, democracy is a principle that has been accepted and used as a tool of expression of the people’s will. Individual or minority opinion doesn’t work here, so democracy seems to be the only method used to eliminate a leader through election exercise.  We are sorry, if this principle hurt your interest, you were a candidate aspiring for chairmanship before and during the election. Election exercise was to be illegal under monitoring and supervision of the team from the office of the Chief Registrar, Ministry of Justice because your aspirations were turned down through democratic principles. What about your position in South Sudan General Farmers Association now as you were nominated to represent Northern Bahr El Ghazal state in the Association? You were a member of central council, and the central council members whom you are a member; was supposed to elect Caretaker Executive committee who shall manage the affairs of the Association and make sure that States offices are established, constitution is draft and this Caretaker Committee will call for General Convention. General Convention is where South Sudan General Farmers Association members from each state be nominated to come to Juba. At the Convention, there shall be reading of the draft constitution before the states representatives, later they shall pass their constitution and elect Executive Committee. Garang Mayoum, it seems your article on The Citizen newspaper backdated August 30, 2012, has drawn the attention of the farmers and readers of The Citizen Newspaper. Many enquiries may come both for you and the legitimate elected Caretaker Committee for the South Sudan General Farmers Association. You were supposed to be clear, and tell how you lost your seat as an assigned Caretaker Chairperson meant to organize election within fourteen days from the date you were entrusted.  You have isolated yourself from states representatives who nominated you as a Caretaker chairperson only to the organization of election, but you used the advantage of the power conferred upon you by your colleagues, the States’ Representatives. Your claim of being empowered by the office of the Chief Registrar has got no bases, because the letter from the office of the Chief Registrar you used in dilemma was to stop the election. You were nominated as a Caretaker Chairperson meant for election and the election should be done within fourteen days, the office of the Chief Registrar extended the period set by States Representatives for thirty (30) days and you did organize and prepare the ground for election that was scheduled on July 2, 2012. Here you were acting as a Caretaker Chairperson and an aspirant for the seat of Chairmanship, unfortunately the election was stopped through a letter addressed to you on July 5, 2012, it was stopped because Makur Joseph Lueth, who claimed to be the former chairperson has appealed against the office of the Chief Registrar before undersecretary in the Ministry of Justice. To stop the election doesn’t grant you any right to be a Caretaker Chairperson. The content of the letter was clear to States Representatives and you were advised by States Representatives who nominated you as a Caretaker Chairperson meant for election to form a provisional Executive Committee that shall manage the affairs of the Association until the office of the Chief Registrar’s advice to us to go for election. You were furious and unwilling to accept States Representatives proposal for the formation of  a Provisional Executive Committee. When you insisted to be a Caretaker Chairperson, at the end; States Representatives approached the office of the Undersecretary for the Ministry of Justice for clarification whether the letter addressed to you as a Caretaker Chairperson granted you the right of power to dominate majority or it meant for stopping the election? The Honorable Undersecretary for the Ministry of Justice was straightforward and he said the letter was to stop election and not granting you to be the chairperson. Honorable Undersecretary told us that the Ministry of Justice doesn’t impose leaders on groups; it is a particular group which elects its leader. The words of the Undersecretary were clear and at that situation; you became emotional and dissatisfied.You insisted to be Caretaker chairman although election was stopped. You used approaches and resisted to step down until a team under leadership of the Chief Registrar had a meeting with States Representatives in the South Sudan General Farmers Association premises in Munuki Block (A) along Bilpam road. Your claimed to be a Caretaker power was freeze before everyone eye at that meeting and your position as State Representatives was retained. Then a Caretaker Committee of four members was elected to manage the affairs of the Association immediately, this committee was mandated to make sure that each state should nominate two members in Juba who are members for South Sudan General Farmers’ Association and the total should be twenty (20) members plus three (3) women each from greater regions of the Republic of the South Sudan. Here automatically we have twenty three members. How was the nomination for these twenty three (23) members done? Each state was provided with nomination form, which bears the name of nominee(s), date of nomination, names and signatures of the nominators plus their consent for the nomination of the candidate for South Sudan General Farmers’ Association Provisional State Representatives and the nomination must be through the meeting of the state members to make sure that the nomination of the candidate(s) is collective agreement of the state members. The exercise was done by team from the office of the Chief Registrar and each state member who nominated their candidate (s) was interviewed and they confirmed the nomination of their candidate(s). Here you have become a potential candidate representing Northern Bahr El Ghazal in the Association. You are a member of the twenty three and the election of the leaders he claimed be illegal was a legal exercise of democracy. South Sudan General Farmers Association currently elected leaders who acquired legal status under monitoring and supervision of the team from the office of the Chief Registrar.  You claimed that, the election was supposed to be done by 890 members, you were nominated by your state members, and you accepted the nomination and became a potential member in the Association. By your nomination of being a member of the Twenty three (23), representing Northern Bahr El Ghazal State in the assembly of farmers, this assembly has the mandate to elect Caretaker Executive Committee. Although our record doesn’t tell us the total membership predicted by you, it didn’t happen in the world that all people everywhere in a country come to the Capital for election, you must know that farmers organization is at the start, you should contribute at the start as Northern Bahr El Ghazal state representative in the association. You shouldn’t assume that the General Convention may bring everyone to Juba, only representatives shall be sent to Juba by their respective states.  Again our record doesn’t reflect membership total of (890) as you claimed. If that were to be the total membership of the Association then, Garang Mayoum who claimed to be a Caretaker chairperson and during his chairmanship the Association has got that membership of (890), he must be brought to the attention of auditors because if that number were to be registered then South Sudan General Farmers Association would have a base at the grass root level. We do thank Garang Mayoum for bringing this to our attention, we will work out to make sure his prediction is justified.  Garang Mayoum was one of the eight (8) state representatives for South Sudan General Farmers Association who signed vote of no confidence against Makur Joseph Lueth who installed himself on the chairmanship seat without legal procedure. Garang knows very well Makur was not brought to power by the people, here we mean ten state representatives in Juba. He also knows the constitution that  Makur Joseph Leuth was not brought to the attention of state representatives, he ignored the state representatives and failed to convene a meeting and encourage misuse of the resources of the Association plus many others. Garang Mayoum was the one who took vote of no confidence to the office of the Chief Registrar.  If Garang Mayoum were to know why he signed and took the letter of the vote of no confidence against Makur Joseph Lueth to the office of the Chief Registrar when Makur claimed the association chairperson, we think that Garang was preaching democracy, and the vote of no confidence he signed against Makur which tells Makur that he was not elected and no legal election was done by state representatives.  Here we would like to thank Makur although he resisted stepping down for quiet a long period of time, he managed to handover the office to state representative after he received a letter from the office of the Chief Registrar. Here state representatives who signed vote of no confidence against Makur nominated Garang Mayoum to act as a Caretaker only for fourteen days to organize election. Unfortunately fourteen days were extended to one month by the office of the Chief Registrar, the extension of the election was an advantage for Garang Mayoum to interrupt the process of election exercise. He knows very well before stopping election that was scheduled for July 2, 2012, he had no single vote. Campaign indicators told him he had Zero vote. We are deeply sorry for Garang Mayoum because his leadership approach turned him down. Garang Mayoum was not in favour of the election, he wanted to impose himself as Makur Joseph Lueth. He was opposed by the state representatives although he insisted, the aspiration of the state representatives is now in place, and election of leaders through democratic representation of each state is now achieved. Now South Sudan General Farmers Association has legal status to voice farmers’ aspirations.