Southern Sudan’s 55-Year Bloody Journey to Independence
This is apart from the other war relics that include crashed crafts, military vehicles and infrastructural decay. As one drives out of the airport, he is also confronted with an assemblage of about 12 military choppers, guarded by arms bearing military personnel. The airport looks like a military base with no functional conveniences. All these […]
This is apart from the other war relics that include crashed crafts, military vehicles and infrastructural decay. As one drives out of the airport, he is also confronted with an assemblage of about 12 military choppers, guarded by arms bearing military personnel. The airport looks like a military base with no functional conveniences.
All these welcome one to Juba, the headquarters of the Southern Sudan, the same city that served as a theatre of war for over 55-years since the first rebellion in 1955, five years after Sudan got its independence. Just like the airport, public utilities are in shambles. Apart from the five newly constructed roads, courtesy of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that gave the region some autonomy, all other roads are either pot-holed or are totally not motorable.
This, according to Lieutenant General Alison Manani Magawa (rtd), former Sudan’s Minister of Labour and an elder in Southern Sudan, was occasioned by years of neglect and destruction by Khartoum’s military forces during the region’s struggle for independence. He told Sunday Trust in Juba that, “our people have suffered. We lost about two million people in the war from 1955 to 2005 when the war ended. It is a sad story. Our men were killed or maimed; our women were widowed, our children orphaned and our infrastructure wantonly destroyed.”
A mission accomplished
The 9th of January, 2011 was a day long awaited by the southern Sudanese. Despite the abject poverty, disease and squalor, the people were excited and as early as 5 o’clock in the morning of that day, they were already on queues waiting to cast their votes that would actualise their dream of having an independent nation, the dream they hoped for in the last 55 years. Men, women, the old and the young were all out to decide their fate.
The former leader of the Southern Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA), General Joseph Lagu, told this reporter that “the mass turn out of people is an indication to their commitment to have their own country. We lost men and women in the struggle. We have suffered neglect; look around here, poverty is the national symbol. We are changing our destiny today. That explains the excitement.”
The Minister of Information of the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) and an official spokesperson of the government, Dr. Barnabas Murya Benjamin, explained to Sunday Trust in Juba that people were excited “because those of us who are still alive are happy to take a decision on behalf of those heroes who have lost their lives in the course of the struggle. That is Dr. John Garang and other heroes who have died in the course of the war just to ensure that there is posterity and a future for us. We are happy today that those of us who are 18 and above will take a decision on behalf of the fallen heroes and I can assure you they will take the right decision for them.”
He also thanked the people of Nigeria, saying that “on behalf of the people of South Sudan, the SPLM extends its gratitude to the people of Nigeria for their efforts in trying to see the realisation of what is happening today. We are grateful for their valuable contributions. And in the next journey, we hope that they will continue to be of valuable support as usual.”
In all the voting centres visited by this reporter, the people were seen dancing and celebrating as they peacefully cast their votes. At the late John Garang’s Memorial Mausoleum, where the President of Southern Sudan and 1st Vice President of the Sudan, General Salva Kirr, voted, many southern Sudanese where seen dancing at the grave of the late Garang, the leader of the Southern Sudan liberation movement, who died on June 30, 2005 in a chopper crash less than a month after he signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the decades-long war.
Moses Masak Turik, a Southern Sudanese living in Canada, who this reporter met dancing at the grave site of Garang said that “my joy knows no bound that a day like this has finally come.”
Another Southern Sudanese, Dr. Isaiah Dau, told Sunday Trust that “it is time to celebrate and reconcile. Our people need to look ahead and move our new nation forward, it is just the beginning.”
Why Muslims voted for separation
Contrary to general belief that the Sudan lingering crisis is fought along religious lines, Sunday Trust findings in Juba and some other parts of southern Sudan revealed that several Muslim communities in the region have voted for separation instead of the unity as canvassed by the government in Khartoum.
At-Tijjani Abubakar is a Computer Science graduate from the Open University of Sudan. He is a Fulani nomad who lives in Wao, Bhar Zhargan state of South Sudan. He told this reporter in Wao why they voted for separation alongside other people of the southern Sudan. “Contrary to general belief, the problem in Sudan is not religious. We are Muslim nomads and we voted for the self-determination of the southern Sudan region like many other tribes and communities. Therefore, it is not a religious affair as many people want to paint the situation,” he said.
He explained that the region is predominantly animist with pockets of Christian and Muslim populations. “We have been living for decades side by side with other people, notably animists and Christians without any problem. We go about our businesses and they go about theirs without problems. We live as good neighbours,” Abubakar said.
He said that as nomads, they live peacefully with their farming neighbours; and they never experience any form of discrimination because of their religious affiliations and beliefs. He said that, “I live all my life here in Wao and other parts of southern Sudan. I have never encountered any form of discrimination or abuse because of my religious belief or colour.”
He explained that he first encountered discrimination when he travelled to Khartoum for his undergraduate studies. “I felt terribly bad. I have never had any problem arising from my colour or religious beliefs until I went to Khartoum for my university education. While the people of Southern Sudan don’t discriminate against us because of our religious leanings; our brothers in Khartoum discriminate against us because of ethnicity. The whole problem between the south and the north is ethnicity, it is not religious,” he said.
“It is unfortunate that the Arabs fuel the passion of ethnicity. You are either an Arab or you forget about it. That is the situation. They are only bringing religion into the matter to inflame sentiments. But it is not religious. I graduated about a year ago but one can’t even think of securing a job in Khartoum because it is an impossibility. You have to be an Arab before you are recognised,” the south Sudanese said.
Explaining why he and his people voted for separation, Abubakar said that they “are expecting us to pack our people, animals and other properties and move to Khartoum having lived here for several decades? That is an impossibility. In fact, who is expecting you there? Certainly, not the Arabs who don’t even regard you as anything.”
He said that “whereas, here we have our democratic rights; we participate in politics and other things as citizens. We can’t go to Khartoum and live as second class citizens. We will have a better deal under the government in the Southern Sudan. We are better off here; we can’t be hoodwinked into the religious sentiments fabricated by the authorities in Khartoum. We know the real issues, which is why we want a country of our own by voting massively for separation.”
Abubakar said that he believed in justice and fairness irrespective of religious and ethnic differences. “Look at the level of underdevelopment occasioned by war and wanton neglect in the entire southern Sudan. You can’t tell me that is just and fair or it is being occasioned by religious injunctions. The fact is that Khartoum has deliberately neglected the south and its people because of ethnicity despite the fact the region provides the oil revenue the authorities in Khartoum it is the same thing in Darfur. It is about fairness, justice and equity. We belief that independence is capable of bringing back these attributes to us. That is why we all voted for separation,” he said.
Imminent problem of integration
Despite the mass turn out of the people of Southern Sudan extraction during the referendum as well as their exodus back to their ancestral land, another problem that is rearing its ugly head into the new African nation is that of integrating people who live outside the fringes of Southern Sudan.
Sunday Trust findings in Juba revealed that the ordinary people who live in the region view their brothers and sisters in Khartoum and northern parts of the country as something else. These people, who are mostly educated and have economic power, are described by their kith and kin back home as jallaba (indoctrinated Arabs).
Mr Johnson Manani (not real names) a southern Sudanese, is an officer with the Sudan military intelligence in Khartoum. He served as this reporter’s guide in Juba and other parts of Southern Sudan. This reporter observed how the southern Sudan military and police officers (usually rag tag and aggressive) engaged him in hot and aggressive arguments whenever we had an encounter with them at check points.
When this reporter asked Manani what was responsible for this open hostility, he explained that “you know the problem is that these people don’t look at us as their brothers, rather they call us Jallaba, meaning Arabs. They believe that we are Arabs because we don’t stay in the region and we are educated and pick jobs in Khartoum. That explains their hostility.”
When Sunday Trust asked him why he is moving around with his rifle (a short gun usually kept under the driver’s seat in the afternoon and beside the driver’s seat in the evening); he explained that “this people are crazy. They can stop us and even attack us anywhere. One has to be ready for them. I don’t want to take chances. I know my people. I know what they can do.”
Manani whose father is a retired general and former minister in Khartoum, was born in France and educated in Khartoum before he joined the military academy and rose to the position of a lieutenant in the Sudan’s military intelligence service. He said that even though he has to resign his appointment after July and come back to southern Sudan, the chances of him and his brothers getting jobs in the new country is very daunting.
“I have to resign from the service and come back home. But one thing everyone like me knew is that there won’t be jobs for us after the country takes effect in July. We all know that. In the last couple of days, you have also witnessed how these people look down on me as if I don’t belong here or I am an enemy. It is a pity they look down on us as Arab collaborators. They are illiterates and lack exposure. It is very ridiculous,” he said.
He told Sunday Trust after the separation, he and his brothers will return to the South and establish private businesses. “I have to leave Khartoum. As I am talking to you now, we are already planning to establish some businesses here. We have properties here; we are ready to convert some of them into business areas. We are looking into the security, agriculture and oil sectors. That is what we are planning to do,” Manani said.
This reporter gathered that there are over 50, 000 southern Sudanese currently serving in the military and police force of the Khartoum government. They are expected to resign and return to their ancestral land in July after the separation takes effect. It is observed that most of them, who were either born in Khartoum or abroad, will be affected by the Jallaba syndrome. It is one of the thorny issues the two governments have to sort out between now and July.
Also, Arabic is still the only language that links the over 200 tribes in the south.
We’ll overcome these challenges
All these problems are some of the challenges the new nation has to contend with, Dr. Barnabas Murya Benjamin, Minister of Information and the official spokesperson of the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) told Sunday Trust in Juba. He said that “absolutely there are challenges. You know it is a new journey which is driven by challenges. There are challenges for these same reason that our people went to war in the last 54 years. That is to say they should have shelter, water, education and security.”
“The challenges, like any other African country, are that of the ordinary citizens having shelters over their heads; women having a sound healthcare delivery system, food and education. Maternal mortality rate having been on the rise in the south but in the last five years, we have been reducing it. In fact, the challenges are many,” the minister said.
He explained that all the challenges will be addressed in due course. “Above all, there are issues of citizenship for southern Sudanese who live in the north and northern Sudanese who live in the south; we have to talk about that. We have to talk about resources and oil revenue and how these processes can go ahead. We have to talk about the national debt. The government of Sudan owes 40 billion dollars international debt. We have to really sit down and determine who pays what,” he said.
“I believe that we have challenges and we have a system on ground to take care of those challenges. You can see how far we have gone. In the last five years, there was nothing in place here apart from rubbles. But within just five years, see what we have done with very little money. While we voted today, we still remember that we have problems within the CPA and within Sudan as a whole. But we will resolve all of them. That is why we need continuous relations and cooperation with the north,” said the Southern Sudan image maker.
The spokesperson added that “we have to talk about the security arrangements. I can tell you that all these while, we have been discussing these issues and we have been making progress on them. Ultimately, what we are going to see is a viable friendly state in the south and a viable friendly state in the north.”
He added that, “that is why we warned our partners in Khartoum that they should resolve these issue and we should resolve these issues together. The issue of Darfur, you know is an imminent threat. Peace must be found in Darfur. There is a tendency of not having a viable state in the north which we don’t want to see. We need to work together. The fact that we will end up as two states doesn’t mean we won’t work together. This is because there are certain things in common between us that we will continue to do together.”
Benjamin said that cooperation between the new state and Khartoum is needed for the two countries. “There are many things that we need the cooperation of the state in the north. There is for example, the issue of trade. There is the issue of transport connection between the north and the south. There is the issue of security arrangement. We have the longest border about 2000 kilometres. That is why I said it is a new journey from the beginning,” he said.
“The challenges are manifold. For instance, even the northern Sudan the issues of Darfur, the issue of Eastern Sudan and even that of the Central Sudan. These are issues that everyone will be happy if they are resolved. On the political front, there are Islamic political parties with various ideologies scrambling for political supremacy. These are realities,” he added.
Southern Sudan is democratic
The Southern Sudan spokesperson explained that contrary to media reports, “we don’t have rival groups in southern Sudan. We have about 23 political parties. In the southern Sudan, we are going to have a multi-party democratic system where people have freedom to elect their leaders.
He explained that like other nations in Africa, the new state is multi-ethnic. “Yes, southern Sudan has several ethnic groups like other parts of Africa. But we don’t fight along ethnic lines. We don’t have political fights in Southern Sudan. What we have is the traditional cattle rustling, which has nothing to do with politics. We believed that this can be resolve through the police, through good governance and traditional leadership,” he said.
He said that, “you can see that we had one of the most difficult elections in the country where our people have to vote 12 times a day. We have an elected government in place as I am talking to you. We have an elected government in Juba here. We have elected governments in the 10 states of the South Sudan and we are not fighting. We are witnessing what is happening in Cote d’Voire today. We have seen what happened in more stable countries like Kenya because of elections but we have gone through elections but there is no fight. If it is political parties, we have several political parties. Presently, we have six political parties participating in the government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) now.”