Newly elected Chairperson of South Sudan Bar Association. (-)

Advocate Arop Malueth Monoon has emerged victorious and becomes the chairperson of South Sudan Bar Association in the Wednesday elections, which was preceded by heated campaigns and adjournments.

The electoral committee declared Malueth’s Advocate Alliance winner after it secured 719 votes out of 1,421, gaining the trust of 645 voters in Juba, 8 in Aweil, 25 in Renk and 41 in Wau.

The results automatically made Malueth’s running mates Emmanuel Abraham and Stephen Martin as Deputy Chairperson and Secretary General respectively.

Their Reform and Prosperity competitors trailed 19 votes as the group attained 638 votes in Juba, 15 in Renk, and 11 and 36 in Aweil and Wau respectively.

“We had mentioned that the number of voting cards was 1,400, but after reviewing, we were confirmed that the number was 1,421, with one invalid card,” said the chairperson of the electoral committee, Judge Kulang Jeroboam, announced the result.

Kulang added: “The organizing committee announce the victory of the Protectors’ Alliance in the Bar Association elections.”

However, Advocate Mut Turuk, one of the leading candidates of the Reform and Prosperity group, which has the election, questioned the integrity of the elections and said they would challenge the results

“It became clear to us that the Elections Committee was not neutral, as 21 votes appeared, and the committee did not announce how these 21 votes appeared,” Turuk said.

“In other words, where they came from, as well as the way the results were announced, prove to us that there were some elements in the committee that were colluding.”

“So, we in the Reform and Prosperity Group reject the result and will we challenge the election results in court.”

Addressing the media after the declaration, Malueth, the newly elected South Sudan Bar Chairperson, commended the election as free and fair, while expressing his gratitude about the process.

“It’s a historical day. We won the election through the program we introduced to the lawyers and they supported and voted for it,” he said.

“The election was done in a transparent and fair manner, and we all were there including the monitors.”

Some observers who spoke to Eye Radio after the election results expressed their satisfaction with the democratic exercise, describing it as peaceful and transparent.

“First, the election happened in a good and conducive environment. We have been involved in the Bar Election from the beginning to the end of the voting process,” said Dabek Mabior Arok, Acting Chairperson of South Sudan Civil Society.

“The process of counting the valid cards went well There was a small mistake in the number which we believe as Observer is a technical issue that can be resolved.”

On her part, Doris Poni, from Department of Rule of Law at the UN Mission in South Sudan, reiterated that the election was generally transparent.

“In the beginning, we observed some good practices as being accurate and on time for starting the process the voting registration was very transparent,” Poni said.

“There were few regulations here in terms of just names and spelling errors were very slim. So, I applaud both parties for their tremendous effort.”

In recent years, the Bar Association has grappled with crises of multiple factions led by different individuals who claimed to be the legitimate leaders of the association.

A Supreme Court ruling on March 2024, addressed legal concerns by dissolving former Bar Associations and setting forth a roadmap for conducting credible, free, and fair elections for the South Sudan Bar Association.