A two-day youth convention held in the area of Abyei concluded Saturday with an election of Chol Lual as the new leader of the youth union in the contested region.

Last week, a delegation of the South Sudan National Youth Union arrived in the area to organize the event.

Justin Urio Ajongo, a secretary for state affairs at the South Sudan National Youth Union, told Radio Tamazuj on Sunday that the event concluded and that the new head of the Abyei youth union and other officials were elected.

 “Actually, the first day (Friday) was all about opening remarks, so the second day (Saturday) was the day when the constitution was read, and after the reading of the constitution we successfully went for free and fair elections and the chair-elect is Chol Lual,’’ Ajongo said.

He revealed that similar youth conventions would take place in Central Equatoria and Northern Bahr el Ghazal States soon.

For his part, the newly elected youth leader, Chol Lual vowed to work closely with the youth to address many challenges facing them.

“I did not expect that the elections will come with such results, so this is an indication that I am popular among the youth. I will work closely with the youth,” he said.

Mawien Ajuba, a local observer, said the election process was free and fair. “At first, I thank Radio Tamazuj for the coverage. Regarding the arrangements done by the steering committee for the Abyei youth union, all the preparations for the electoral process were done successfully. All the candidates expressed themselves freely.”