“Unity State caretaker commissioners defied presidential order,” Yau Yau tells party leadership

A delegation tasked with conducting Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) primaries in Unity State says caretaker county commissioners declared themselves county party chairpersons, contrary to a presidential order barring caretaker officials from contesting elections. David Yau Yau, who heads the SPLM High-Level Electoral Committee delegation, said the team encountered challenges and resistance from county commissioners during its work in Unity State. Speaking after a meeting with the SPLM leadership in Juba, Yau Yau said the committee had been unable to resolve the issue despite explaining the party leadership’s guidelines to the officials.

“In the work that we did in Unity State, we found that there were some challenges facing us in the counties where the commissioners themselves were involved in declaring themselves as the chairs of their own respective counties,” Yau Yau stated. “They [caretaker commissioners] are the very ones holding the portfolios of being the caretaker commissioners, so it is a bit contradicting the work that we did. And we were not able to resolve this with them,” he said. He added that the committee had been instructed to follow guidelines issued by the party leadership but encountered resistance during its assignment. Yau Yau’s delegation spent 12 days organising SPLM congresses to select candidates for governor and parliament, but left Unity State before completing the primaries. Tensions reportedly arose over claims that Caretaker County commissioners had been instructed to contest for SPLM county chairperson positions. In a report presented to the SPLM leadership in Juba on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, Yau Yau’s delegation said it encountered challenges involving commissioners who had declared themselves chairpersons of their…