Back on the Ground in Torit

When Maynor and I landed on the airstrip in Torit yesterday at about noon the temperature was already almost 100°. Last night was a hot one. There has been no rain now for several weeks, so please say a prayer.

There is less activity in Torit than usual. The noise level is lower and there are fewer people on the streets. A lot of soldiers and police are dispersed throughout the town. Many shops in the market remain closed. Apparently the combination of Easter and elections caused a lot of people to leave town and wait till the results are announced to come back. The children are now back in school, too, which also helps account for the quieter atmosphere.

The addition of two extra days of polling to compensate for logistical problems has delayed the counting of ballots. We are now being told that the results will be made known on Friday. I spoke with a number of local people about their experience of the election. Overall they seemed positive about having been able to vote for the first time in so many years. They witnessed significant “irregularities,” though, which included ballot stuffing, attempts at the polls to influence or manipulate their choice of candidates (or, more accurately, the choice of the party for which they were voting), threats and intimidation. There was one report of an election-related death in the village of Lafon. I was surprised to find out that two of the youth who have participated in our programs ran for the Eastern Equatoria State assembly as candidates affiliated with one of the smaller parties.

At least here in Torit the situation certainly does not seem to be the “powder keg ready to blow” that some news reports have described. The most sensitive and potentially volatile aspect of the election locally is the closely contested race for governor of Eastern Equatoria State. It pits the official Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) candidate against the popular former SPLM governor who was removed from office and passed over as a party nominee and so ran as an independent. What makes the matter more complicated is that each of these candidates is from a different tribe, which has divided support along rival ethnic lines. There was even the report of an arrest of someone accused of threatening to incite a riot should the candidate from his tribe lose. That seems to be an isolated incident, though.

Please continue to pray that the calm that has characterized the elections thus far continues after the results are announced later this week.


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