Western Equatoria Stands Up For Sudanese Separation

The Southern Sudan referendum voting was successfully concluded in Western Equatoria State with a record 100 percent voter turnout across the various polling centres in the state.

Vote counting is already underway and preliminary results indicate that the state residents have opted for secession.

A spot-check by Gurtong at Saura polling centre, about 7 kilometres from Yambio town, revealed that 1,691 votes were cast in favour of separation while 9 voters opted for unity.

In another centre in the Yambio town suburb of Gangara Emilia, reports indicate that out of the registered 2,481 voters 2,430 voted for separation, 16 for unity while 22 votes were declared invalid.

Similarly, in Pazuo all but one of the 2,164 registered voters chose secession.

The State Governor Joseph Bakosoro thanked the state residents and leaders for ensuring the successful conduct of the plebiscite.

“I thank everybody including the church leaders for making possible for most of the faithful to participate in the voting. “We have done our part by voting for separation … and if they (Northerners) want to twist the result it will be up to them and they will pay for the consequences”, Bakosoro said during a Sunday mass at the St Mary Catholic Parish.

From the first day, excited residents of Western Equatoria State thronged polling centres with the hope of forming the newest state in Africa.

The state had the highest number of registered voters amongst all the 10 states of South Sudan.