SPLM continues intimidation

With Sudan’s general election just two weeks away now, pre-election frenzy is sometimes turning into intimidation. The ruling SPLM party is waging a war of intimidation against the independent candidates and yesterday an independent election rally was violently disrupted by the County Commissioner of Mvolo.

The last three months of the election campaign have seen a massive rise in the popularity of the Independent candidates. Col Joseph Bakosoro arrived at Yeri Payam Friday evening and was received by hundreds of people who met them about 4 miles from Yeri centre. And then on Saturday morning, Mr. Bakosoro and other independent candidates held a rally in Yeri which was attended by thousands more supporters. After the rally in Yeri, the group proceeded to Mvolo where they witnessed a sad attempt to intimidate them by the state commissioner Mr. Wilson Abraham.   Mr Abraham had turned up at the rally and told the organisers to stop all the activities and tell everybody to leave the area. As the discussion was going on between the commissioner and the organizers who had apparently informed the commissioner about the rally on three different occasions, he then stepped out of his car and reportedly asked his body guards to bring his gun with him. While he was going towards the place where Mr. Bakosoro and other independent candidates were sitting, the commissioner said in loud voice; bring my gun, I will shoot them (independents) in the head”.

 bring my gun, I will shoot them (independents) in the head” :  SPLM State Commissioner Mr Wilson Abraham

Mr. Wilson continued by saying; you go and tell your Kiir” and at that point it was proven that the commissioner was acting under the influence of alcohol because his behavior was not reasonable. He gave orders to the police to chase away the independent candidates but they declined to obey his orders so it meant that the commissioner started to act like a policeman himself. Eye witnesses said that, he came near the cars of the independents in front of a lodge where they were supposed to stay overnight and asked the drivers to drive the vehicles away or he will shoot anybody still sitting in the car. The drivers then drove off and the commissioner started chasing the vehicles in his car for about three miles out of town.

 
Another example of independent candidates being threatened was in Karika County where Mr. Majur Babur the caretaker of the State Ministry of Education warned people that anybody who is seen talking to or listening to independent candidate will pay a heavy price". He continued by saying that "all independent candidates are criminals and people should deal with them like criminals.”

Speaking via satellite phone from Mvolo, Angelo Bakote, the campaign managerof Bakosoro said, "the independents condemn in the strongest terms this constant intimidation of independent candidates by government executives and ask human rights groups to investigate such cases"   She went on to say "we are afraid that these incidents may provoke violence, something they (independents) do not want to happen, as they are looking forward to free and fair elections"