High Court suspends Union of Journalists elections in Juba
The elections were planned for Thursday this week, according to a timetable released by the Electoral Committee
A High Court in Juba has suspended elections for the Union of Journalists of South Sudan after a section of journalists filed an injunction over alleged violations of the body’s constitution.
The elections were planned for Thursday this week, according to a timetable released by the Electoral Committee.
According to the court order, a section of journalists calling itself Members of the General Assembly of the Union of Journalists of South Sudan petitioned the court against the National Committee of Union of Journalists of South Sudan and the Electoral Committee of Union of Journalists of South Sudan.
In the court order, Judge Manyisto Amosa Wajia of the Juba High Court directed the defendants to “stop any Election activities until the final disposal of this Administrative review before the High Court – Juba.”
The Electoral Committee of the Union of Journalists of South Sudan and the National Committee of the Union of Journalists of South Sudan have not publicly responded to the court order.
The self-declared members of the General Assembly of the Union of Journalists of South Sudan have welcomed the court order, describing the injunction as “an important and responsible step that will contribute to upholding the rule of law.”
The group accused the current President of the Union, Patrick Oyet, and Secretary General, Majak Daniel Kuany, of trying to avoid accountability by attempting to conduct elections before presenting financial and administrative reports to the General Assembly.
The group further claimed that the leadership attempted to conduct the elections without obtaining approval from the General Assembly for the formation of the Election Committee.
“We strongly reject attempts by the leadership of the Union, represented by the President, Mr. Oyet Patrick, and the Secretary-General, Mr. Majak Kuany, to circumvent the right of the General Assembly to accountability and oversight by insisting on proceeding with the electoral process without presenting the financial and administrative reports to the General Assembly, and without obtaining its approval regarding the formation of the Election Committee,” read in part the statement issued by the group.
Eye Radio cannot independently verify the claims, and the two officials have not yet responded to the accusations.
The group has called for the General Assembly of the journalists’ body to address the crisis.
“We have also consistently called for the General Assembly to be enabled to exercise its oversight role in accordance with the Constitution and the principles of democratic trade unionism,” the statement added.
