Emmanuel Adil, governor of Central Equatoria State and Aldo Ajou Deng, a senior SPLM party member and also member of Council of State in Juba during the CES SPLM secretariat rally in Juba on Monday May 9, 2022 - Credit | Office of Governor [CES]

A senior member of the SPLM party has called on South Sudanese to embrace and own the constitution making process as the country prepares for 2023 elections.

Aldo Ajou Deng made the remarks during the launch of the SPLM Central Equatoria state ‘Awareness/pre-campaign’ from 9th – 16th May.

He says this is paramount for a better future.

“We must own our constitution when we go to elections, the constitution of this country is the one that will reflect our unity,” Ajou made the remarks in Juba on Monday.

Aldo Ajou also called on South Sudanese to embrace the spirit of diversity, saying the people have come a long way to have an independent country.

He called on South Sudanese not to forget about their past.

“We cannot avoid the regional diversity, we are diverse regionally because there is nothing wrong if I say I’m Equatorian, there is nothing wrong if I say I’m from Bahr el Ghazal, there is nothing wrong if I say from Upper Nile and this is what we are and at the end we are one nation,” Ajou said.

“Unity of equal, equal people, we own our unity in diversity, our diversity is not tribal, our diversity is regional, your past is what you own and your past is what tells you to own this country.”

He said South Sudanese should shun tribalism and live in peace.

South Sudan is diverse with 64 different ethnic groups.

Anthropologists have traditionally categorized the peoples and tribes of South Sudan under six distinct groupings.