Members of the Red Army Foundation voted on Saturday to elect new chairman. (Photo: Courtesy).

The Red Army Foundation has elected Santino Makol Thon as its new leader after the former longtime chairman resigned and joined politics.

The ex-chairperson, Deng Bol Aruai quit his job last week and founded a new political party, named the National Democratic Alliance.

Bol resigned after nine years of service as head of the Red Army Foundation, an organization reportedly working to address social problems, especially among its own former members and young people in the country.

More than 300 members of the foundation voted in Juba to choose their next leader among four candidates in Juba on Saturday.

They were Santino Makol who got 141 votes, Deborah Chiditeam with 60 votes, Helicopter Mark with 57 votes, and Arcangelo Mawien with 10 votes.

“The results are out and one of the candidates won the elections with 63% followed by another candidate who got 22.4%. The candidate that won the elections called Santino Makol Thon with 141 votes out of 216 because there were 37 invalid votes,” said Marial Awol, the secretary of information for the electoral committee.

“The election was peaceful, the other side accepted the results and conceded defeat. We love one another, and we accept any result that comes out. Whoever has won the election is not the problem of the Red Army but all of our work together as one team.”