Bakosoro influence splitting NMC, claims party official

Some members of the SSNMC Party allied to the party’s secretary-general  Maj. Gen. Moro Issac Jenessio have attributed the party’s woes to the influence wielded by former party leader Joseph Bangasi Bakosoro.

The SSNMC Secretary of Information and Spokesperson Luka Agok Arialbek said the former leader could be using cronies left in the party to plot a come-back in the future.

This is after the splinter group declared Clement Juma Mbugoniwia the party’s interim chairman despite the recent installation of Jenessio as Bakosoro’s successor.

“We are aware of declaration as interim chairperson, because we know he actually [declared] support for former chairperson Bakosoro,” Mr. Arialbek said.

“Bakosoro wants to use Juma to destabilize [the party] so that he can make his way back to the party in case he fails to get what he went for,” he added.

The SSOA affiliate party has been rocked by wrangles as factions fight each other over the take over of the chairmanship.

Elections

In their extraordinary convention held in Juba on September 25,  the SSNMC elected Maj. Gen. Moro Isaac Jenessio as the successor of the former chairman Bakosoro following his defection to the ruling party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).

However, a dissenting group led by Clement Juma Mbugoniwia opposed the criteria on which the election was conducted saying it did not meet democratic standards.

Following their press release on September 30, 2021, the breakaway group installed Mbugoniwia as SSNMC’s new interim chairperson to lead the party in the implementation of Revitalised Peace Agreement in the country.

The group last week accused the SSNMC acting chairperson Ishag Elias Ibrahim and secretary-general Mr. Jenessio of deciding to conduct an election when members of the party were in the moment of grief planning the burial of a party leader.

“The SSNMC worldwide are dismayed [by] what transpired on Saturday 25, 2021, at Regency Hotel, Juba, where the Acting Chairperson together with the Secretary-General decided to conduct the election of the new chairperson when members of the party were at a funeral mourning the death of one of the founding members Simon Archangelo Ngbidiigi,” the group protested in the statement.

“Based on the facts and constitutional issues raised on this statement, we hereby conclude that the 25th September 2021 Election doesn’t meet basic standards of a democratic election that include but is not limited to being free and fair, therefore, we consider the said election to be null and void,” Juma stated.

 “We hereby conclude that September 25, 2021, election does not meet basic standards of a democratic election that includes but is not limited to being free and fair, therefore, we consider the said election to be null and void.”

In the response to Juma’s claims, Gen. Jenessio’s group described Juma’s statement as mere frustrations and baseless allegations and called on the public to discharge the claims.

“Our elections were free, fair, and transparent and this was witnessed by media houses, some SSOA leaders present in Juba, and representatives of other political parties/movements who attended the historical event,” they added in a statement.

However, upon his declaration as interim chair, when contacted, Juma claimed his installation came on September 30 as reflected on the press statement, adding the Juba Regency event empowering Jenession was ‘null and void’.