I was recently asked to write an essay on the Sudans to clarify how they came to be and what is currently happening in both countries. For those of you who are interested hope this helps!!!
GOVERNANCE IN THE REPUBLICS
OF
SUDAN AND SOUTH
SUDAN
Sudan was a collection of small
kingdoms until 1820 when Egypt conquered the territory. They unified and controlled the north but the
south was full of swamps and disease.
This area remained fragmented, difficult to access, and was frequently
attacked by slave traders. In 1881 the
Mahdi, a Muslim religious leader, led a revolt to unify the western and central
regions. His followers continue to this
day as the largest political grouping known as the Umma party.
In 1882, the British invaded Egypt and
seven years later agreed with Egyptians to rule Sudan as a joint
protectorate. Both countries ceded
independence to The Republic of Sudan (ROS) in 1956. They reneged on an
agreement to set up a federal system between the north and south. This ignited civil war because southerners
demanded more representation, regional autonomy and, for some, complete
separation. With the exception of an
eleven-year cease fire, fighting continued until 2005 when the Comprehensive
Peace Agreement was ratified to guide development in the south. This culminated in a national referendum in
January 2011. 98.8% of the population voted to secede from the north and the
Republic of South Sudan (ROSS) was inaugurated on July 9, 2011.
The world’s newest nation began with
little infrastructure, devastation from 45 years of war and ecstatic jubilation. Almost all citizens were hopeful a new day
was dawning.
In December 2013, ROSS President,
Salva Kiir, alleged that a faction of the army loyal to Vice President Riek
Machar attempted a coup d’etat and put it down within one day. This sparked the South Sudan civil war that
continued intermittently until September 2018 when the Revitalized Agreement on
the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) was
signed. This war is far more complicated
than a conflict between two men. Several
powerful groups are suppressing other groups and excluding them from mediation
efforts. For six years 200,000 displaced
people have been living in church compounds and Protection of Civilian Sites
secured by the UN. Additionally, two
million people are refugees in Uganda and the ROS.
R-ARCSS requires Kiir and Machar to
form a transitional government by November 12, 2019. They must agree to the composition of the
number and boundaries of subnational states and unification of the army. While
faith-based groups are praying and working for peace, few people are relocating
from exile. Some men cross back from
Uganda into the ROSS to join a rebel group and increase its numbers. But the reintegration of all combatants into
one united army with a common purpose is far from reaching the goal.
Meanwhile, the ROS also suffers from
division and violence. The former
President, Bashir, was removed in April and on September 11th the
Sudanese Sovereign Council was formed to provide a transitional
government. Eight months of peaceful
civilian protests culminated in this development under the guidance of Abiy
Ahmed, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia and the 2019 Nobel Laureate for
Peace. Hamdock, the new Prime Minister
for Sudan, made his first official visit to Juba, ROSS, signaling the
importance he places on good relations.
He seeks to integrate trade, allow visa free access from the ROSS and
offer dual citizenship. These meetings
led to the ROS allowing the World Food Programme to visit Kauda in the Nuba
Mountains for the first time in eight years; a hopeful development.
Both countries must combat corruption. The Sentry has recently described the
hijacking of the ROSS by South Sudanese military elites, international
corporations, banks and governments. A case
in point is oil which provides 95% of revenue for the ROSS. Several countries, including Russia, South
Africa and China, have invested in this sector.
Dar Petroleum is the largest exporter of oil from the ROSS. This company has funded the lavish lifestyles
of government officials and provided direct support to militias causing mass
atrocities. Hazardous waste has been
dumped around the oil fields, thereby contaminating drinking water, while the
number of people suffering from cancer, birth defects and lung damage in those
areas increases. The largest shareholder
for this company is the China National Petroleum Corporation. Government leaders and their commercial
partners enjoy personal gain without fear of retribution because the state has
been captured and will not hold them accountable. The international community could combat this
by sanctioning not only individuals, but networks and companies.
The United States has accompanied
developments in both of these countries for decades, most recently with $4
billion in aid to the ROSS since 2013.
It needs to support the nonviolent change of government in the ROS which
took the lives of hundreds of civilians.
Civilians in the ROSS have even more reason to protest but are in survival
mode and are unable to organize and resist corruption, negative ethnicity and
inept governance.
The advice of Bishop
Kussala of Yambio/Tombura diocese can suggest a path forward…
In South Sudan we have come to know that
most of the people who are fighting are in the government and they have the
weapons, so to initiate the process of justice, first we need to stop the war,
organize the government, and then gradually the people can have the security to
be able to speak out.
https://allafrica.com/stories/201910090094.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_South_Sudan
file:///C:/Users/susan/Documents/South%20Sudan/TakingOfSouthSudan-Sept2019-TheSentry.pdf
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/506c8ea1e4b01d9450dd53f5/t/5d95e3f68bb633646340bd85/1570104322464/South+Sudan+-+Dan+-+October+2019+-+FINAL+update.pdf
https://time.com/5700917/south-sudan-bishop-peace/
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgxwDrldhbHHwPKdtfKFkqzTKlxNx?projector=1&messagePartId=0.1
