Ballot papers hijacked and burnt in Yambio
A truckload of voting papers has been burnt in Western Equatoria’s Yangiri and Yere Payam, according to the the State's High Election Committee (SHEC). Mr Lawrence Sulubia who heads the SHEC described the dark scenes as "appalling and a hindrance to a burgeoning democracy in Western Equatorial State". The destroyed ballot papers were being transported from Yangiri Town in Ezo County and Yere Town in Mvolo to Yambio for counting and registering. The driver of the truck managed to escape unharmed, but thousands of cast ballots were destroyed. Ballots that were cast at Yangiri 12 and Yere 20 polling centers, where the independent Gubernatorial candidate, Joseph Bakosoro, was predicted to receive most votes. The ballot papers were supposed to be retrieved and transported by UNMIS helicopters, however due to mechanical problem with the helicopters, UNMIS failed to collect the ballots papers last Sunday. Lawrence Sulubia said, he had instructed the Constituency Election Officer (CEO) to rent a car and transport elections materials to Yambio, however, Mvolo’s Commissioner had reportedly told the CEO does not need to accompany the materials, so it went only with the protection of one police man and one intelligence officer which turned out not to be sufficient protection to prevent the hijacking of the lorry.
Ballot papers like the ones burnt in the truck
According to Lawrence Sulubia, Justice Abel Alier, Chairman of National Elections has been informed of the burnt votes and SHEC has been ordered by the NEC to write an urgent report on the incident. Asked whether, SHEC will announce the results without Yangiri and Yere results, he said, no, we cannot announce the results unless we establish reference to the burnt ballot papers, officially. There were three result forms, one was displayed with scored votes outside the polling centers, one was supposed to remain with State High Election for reference purpose and, the other to National Elections Commission" He added that, "both forms have been burnt, preventing the NEC from knowing the exact results".
Exit poll results reportedly showed Col Bakosoro leading the incumbent by many thousands of votes in these two polling stations. Incumbent Governor Jemma Nunu Kumba who had refused to accept defeat is reported to have done this to nullify the results of Yangiri and Yere, to allow her to remain the state governor of WES. Evidence for this came from a source who claimed to have participated in the burning of the truck in Yangiri who told sudanvotes that they were instructed by the Caretaker governor to carry out the act. The source requested total anonymity, in fear of recrimination from his pay master. Our mission was planned two days ago when SPLM operations room showed Mrs Jemma to have lost to Bakosoro” he said.
An anoymous source was quoted as saying:
Our mission was planned two days ago when SPLM operations room showed Mrs Jemma to have lost to Bakosoro”
In Yangiri itself, the Chief Executive Officer of the town, Mr Natal Sakondo, is on the run after six unknown gunmen entered his brother’s compound in search of him, according to a female family member. They came at midnight, knocked at my door and forced me to show them where my brother was sleeping, I told them he left for Yangiri Payam,” She went on to say the gunmen asked for Sakondo’s driver, I told them he is not around, they insisted to enter all rooms and luckily my brother hid himself under the bed and the soldiers failed to find him. One of the armed men then reportedly said, "for four attempts we wanted to kill you, but you survived all, one day we shall kill you." The next morning after the incident, two truckload of soldiers were sent to Yangiri Payam, where they searched every house in Yangiri looking for Natal Sakondo. Many say there is a grudge between him and the state caretaker governor who accused him of having prevented Yangiri citizens from attending her campaign rally in mid March.
Imposed on the people of Western Equatorial State since 2008 by the SPLM top leadership, Jemma has earned very little respect from her people. Sources from SHEC also indicate that Jemma was mounting pressure on the staff who were doing data entry and since yesterday Jemma and her security apparatus pressed the SHEC to enter and announce the results without including the Yangiri or Yeri payams. Independent observers say that the conduct of Jemma Nunu Kumba has clearly involved rigging and using SPLA as a force for her own victory.
An example of this rigging is in Constituency 17, Gangura Polling Center where upon arrival, police officers in cooperation with the party agents of independent candidate, Col Bakosoro, had just captured a ballot box full of unused ballot papers and forms and also arrested the Constituency Election Officer, Mr. John Abdullah of constituency 17. The ballot boxes had been in the custody of Member of State Legislative Assembly (WESLA), Hon. James Bage. He runs for an SPLM seat in the WESLA and is also the Asst Campaign Manager for the incumbent Governor, Mrs. Jemma Nunu. His house has been under the surveillance of Bakosoro’s agents. The arrested NEC official had stolen the ballot papers and forms, which were to be used in Gangura before and during counting. He was quoted as saying, WES governor instructed him to do so.” After spending two days in police custody, the caretaker governor wrote a small note to the police to release John Abduallah, which is clearly a fraudulent and criminal act under Sudan Electoral laws.
Today, the security situation in Yambio remains very volatile, as many SPLA forces have been deployed and have sealed the town with nobody allowed to cross the town.
