Watchdog names Gen. Rin Tueny of Lakes as ‘governor of the year’ for fight against child, forced marriage

JUBA – A South Sudan civil society watchdog will this evening award the governor of the county’s Lakes state recognizing him as “State Governor of the Year 2022” for reducing inter-communal violence and overseeing the enactment of a law prohibiting forced and child marriage.

In a statement extended to Sudans Post this morning, the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) said it will present the award to the governor during the closing session of the 6^th Governors’ Forum in Juba today.

“Today, during the closing session of the 6^th Governors Forum, CEPO will be awarding Lakes State as (State Governor of the year, 2022) on the bases of reducing deadly armed communal violence in the Lakes state secondly for taking practical action of enacting state law for prohibiting girl forced and early marriage in the state,” CEPO said.

Edmund Yakani, the Executive Director of CEPO, said the award, the first of its kind, would now be given to state governors on annual basis to motivate them for better service deliver to the citizens which he said will help in the reduction of violence.

“The award is first of its kind and it is meant to motivate state governors for excellent work during their terms of service and will be awarded annually starting with Governor Rin Tueny this year,” the prominent civil society activist said.

Yakani said the award is not politically-motivated and that the governors’ nomination of governors vetting was a lengthy process and further congratulated the Governor Rin Tueny whom he said has also been informed by the watchdog of pending concerns ranging from continued human rights abuses and issues of financial transparency.

“The process for nomination of the Lakes State Governor as recipient of CEPO State Governor of the year award, 2022 took long process of verification against his political leadership commitment on matters of public interest,” he said.

But in spite of the award, CEPO raised the governors’ attention to respect for human rights, improvement of working relations with the civil society, and transparency and accountability in matters of public funds which the watchdog said is essential for a successful leadership.

“CEPO encourages other governors to work towards winning the CEPO State Governor of the year award, 2023,” he said, adding that the process next year will be subjected to public nomination and vetting.