Survival of CPA requires political consciousness
An Analysis of continuous mutilation of CPA through sentiments
and systematic utterances
By Jervasio O. Okot*
Dec 3, 2006 — When the historic Sudan Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed in Nairobi on January 9th 2005 after intense negotiation, the sounds of guns and booms which characterized nightmare in Southern Sudan and the three transitional areas of Abyei, Southern Kordufan and Blue Nile for more than two decades finally came to a halt in a highly attended and publicized ceremony. This occasion drew top officials and reputable people from both giant and smaller nations, including the Middle East, Africa, Europe and America to confer verdict to the historic Sudan Peace deal. Nonetheless, these nations were here as living witnesses to the dawning of peace in the Africa’s largest nation which experienced the longest running civil war in Africa with the highest index of suffering.
This high level attendance however implies here that should there be any thing happening in future to undermine the implementation of the CPA, the world will definitely take necessary measures and go as far as questioning whoever would be responsible for the sabotage. The late Dr. John Garang de Mabior, one of the architects of the CPA reiterated during the signing ceremony that ‘Sudan would not be the same again’. This means that there will be no bloodletting, carnage, mayhem, killing, maiming, rape, looting, abduction, and burning of villages because the CPA has exhausted and addressed many fundamental issues. Sudan experts and political analysts added their professional voices, saying that if the CPA is implemented correctly and systematically; it would change the political play ground of the country. The late Dr. Garang emphasized this because the CPA is believed to be much more different from the previous peace agreements which were occasionally signed and dishonored in a broad-day-light by successive regimes in Khartoum.
The CPA is different because it attracts various arms of security which are to serve as watchdogs to the implementation. These security organs include the formation of Joint Integrated Unit (JIU) which is drawn from both SPLA and SAF on equal number thus, 12,000 from each group. This is clearly stipulated on Security Arrangement protocol. The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) which was mandated under UN Security Council Resolution 1590 is charged with the task of supporting the Government of Sudan and the SPLM/A in the implementation of the CPA. UNMIS is also tasked with facilitating the voluntary return of the refugees and displaced persons; providing de-mining assistance; and contributing towards international efforts to protect and promote human rights in Sudan. Initially, the mandate authorizes UNMIS to have up to 10,000 military personnel and an appropriate civilian component, including up to 715 civilian police personnel.
The other part of security is drawn from the SPLA and SAF because the CPA clearly mapped it out on Security Arrangement that the two armies will remain separate during the six year interim period. This was formulated so as not to repeat the experience of Addis Ababa Agreement of 1972 where the ‘Anyanya’ forces were demobilized and integrated into the rank and file of the Sudan Armed Forces. This integration of forces compromised the security of the agreement which later collapsed when Field Marshal Gaafer Mohammed Numeiri belittled the document and bundled it to the dust bin saying, it was neither a Qu’rran nor a Bible to be honored.
There are also other observers from IGAD member countries and the international community who are vigilant on the progress of the implementation of the CPA. The adaptation of Security Council Resolution Number 1590 on March 24, 2005, requested UN Secretary-General, through his Special Representative in Sudan, to mobilize resources and support from the international community for both immediate assistance and the long-term economic development of Sudan, and to facilitate coordination with other international actors, in particular the African Union and Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), of activities in support of the transitional process established by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and to provide good offices and political support for the efforts to resolve all ongoing conflict in Sudan. The human rights bodies too are part and parcel of this watchdog scheme.
The long war and the suffering of the people made Sudan to be aligned to the lists of poor nations while it has riches in abundant. Critics of the Sudan political system refute this conclusion saying that; Sudan is not all that poor as it is being perceived but it only lacks good system and governance to utilize the resources for the ultimate good of the people of Sudan which could have improved economic status of the country and her people. The world leaders expected the CPA which was still in its infancy to grow to sustainable stage.
With the attributes of war, unspecified number of people in the Sudan died while millions were displaced and property destroyed. The long war however contributed to ruining a generation of the Sudanese society. Political commentators say that a good number of Sudanese had no opportunity to go to school due to the prevailing circumstances. And the only way out for them to untangle this life jumble and frustration was by enrolling in military service without full knowledge of the reasons. Also, a cross section of them perished on the frontline to defend political ideologies perpetrated by the protagonists who wanted to build monolithic empire in the Sudan.
As a recap of the scenario which emanated from the involvement of the generation of people in the liberation war, the SPLM/A blew the trumpet for the struggle for dignity of the marginalized people of Southern Sudan, Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile. A big number of people voluntarily joined the struggle to free themselves from the bondage of the successive regimes in Khartoum which had contributed to grind down their future. This sentiment however, attracted a number of youths and middle aged personalities to resort into waging war of liberation in an attempt to end erosion of life which was being systematically advocated against them by the regimes in Khartoum. According to records and personal knowledge, the SPLA rarely forced people to join the liberation movement but the popular clandestine radio was giving reasons for the formation of the movement for which the marginalized people from South Sudan, Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile took their informed decisions and deserted their duties and obligations for the rank and file of the movement. The people could trek through harsh terrain for months to the training camps in the jungles and across the Ethiopian border just to get trained as fighters. The regime of President Megistu Haile Marriam was friendly because it has political wrangle with the former President Gaafer Mohammed Numeiri. President Mengistu was applying; the notion an enemy of your friend is a friend. In this context, SPLA was an enemy of Gaafar Numeiri and qualified them to be a friend to Ethiopia. The SPLA enjoyed the privilege being accorded to them by Ethiopia and the most of it was the access to the radio which contributed to the campaign for the building of SPLM movement. The same thing was applied to President, Colonel Muamar Ghadafi of Libya who also had a problem with Numeiri. According to records, Col. Gadafi donated some AK47 riffles to the SPLA and later when Numeiri was toppled, the SPLA continued with a liberation movement which Gadafi in turn fought SPLA for. This brought strain relationship. Despite waging war of liberation for 21 years, no SPLA soldier was given salary or token. This means that the war was typically on voluntarily basis for an aim to be achieved.
This political and military campaign drew a wide range of the fighting force for which the late Dr. John Garang de Mabior Commanded until his demised in a helicopter crash near his former residence of New Site on July 30th 2005. Nevertheless, the damage caused by Sudan war was too harsh to bring to mind. And in deed, the harshness of the war touched the hearts of the leaders in the conflict to give peace a chance so the Sudan could enjoy relative peace where happy giggling of children looms.
The successive regimes in Khartoum have been drawing the youths into the fighting force on religious grounds terming the armed struggle in the south as enemies of ‘Islam’. This has happened during the first ‘Anyanya’ civil war where the regimes in the north advocated for the annihilation of the non-Arabs and non Muslims from the Sudan. They were able to trail southern Sudanese in their villages, jungles and mountains for taking up arms to fight for their dignity. When you study this critically, one will find out that there was a divisive move that demarcated the Sudan on south-north conflict. The regimes were able to rally Muslims and the so-called Arabs from all over Sudan against the southern community who simply took up arms to express the marginalization which the system had all along directed towards them. The fighting force was drawn from a generation of the Muslims who were loyal to their faith. They were given doctrine of hate to the non-Muslims so as to score ideological goal.
When the regime of Omar el Bashir came to power in 1989 in a military coup, it worsened the involvement of the generation of people in waging war against the SPLM/A. It forced people to join the National Islamic Front (NIF) fighting force. The youths were raided in schools and the condition was put that for any youth sitting for his exams to the University, before he could be enrolled, he must first go to the battle field to fight SPLA. In this, the probability of one coming back to school was remote because a good number of them were shot and never returned to their families or to continue with their studies. Those who hailed from the Muslim faith were cheated that if they die, they would attain a golden ticket to heaven where ‘God’ will be proud of them for having killed the so-called ‘infidels’. The future of this generation was ruined because there was no chance of them to get jobs before participating in fighting for two years.
The youths on both sides of the fighting force suffered at the expense of those who wanted to clinch or ascent to power. Therefore, a generation has been wiped out in the Sudan war and the CPA could be a basis on which the Sudanese should think in line of sustaining the peace because we don’t want another generation to perish.
But 23 months on after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, things seems to be turning unpleasant as feathers are beginning to fade away from this Dove; exposing it to all sorts of danger, including even death but, no one expects the CPA to die. There is contempt of law, undermine of the CPA, games, sentiments and utterances.
The CPA has principally been signed by two major partners, the National Congress Party (NCP) and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). These two parties signed this pact on equal basis in which no party has every right to use its might to silent the other partner. The accord bestows the two former protagonists with equal powers in the navigation of the implementation of the CPA but not equal in ideas and ideologies. This is why the JIU is drawn on equal number. The NCP and the SPLM are two distinct parties vested with an obligation to challenge each other constructively on matters of concern; which include issue that may jeopardize the implementation of the CPA. This form of partnership is now being abused because one party seems to be assuming all the powers and shaping the future of the country according to its ideological vision. The other partner, SPLM is being undermined, bulled and often addressed as a junior partner in the Peace Agreement. This is absolutely dangerous to the implementation of the CPA because the proclaimed ‘senior partner’ will obviously use its utter powers to continue silencing the ‘junior partner’ on matters of anxiety. For this reason, they can contravene the law at any time and curl articles and clauses on the constitutions as they like to favor them in order to achieve their political mileage. This contempt of law is already happening in the ten Southern States of Upper Nile, Western Upper Nile, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Western Bahar el Ghazal, Warrap, Lakes, Jonglei, Western Equatoria, Central Equatoria and Eastern Equatoria.
The draft constitutions for thsese southern States have been sent by the Minister of Legal Affairs in the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) Mr. Michael Makuei Lueth to his counter part Federal Ministry of Justice for ratification, endorsement and issuant of certificates of compatibility with the Interim National Constitution but Justice Minister, Ahmed Al Mardhi refused to give his verdict and approval. The Federal Minister has been quoted as saying he would only endorse these constitutions on condition that some references to state boundaries, state capitals and the right of self-determination are to be scraped out from each of the ten constitutions. This refusal has already created a deadlock because Lueth could not agree with the Federal Ministry of Justice on the ground that the ten southern states cannot be run without assigned government seats and clearly demarcated boundaries. Mr. Michael Makuei said each state should know where its boundaries end as well as its government headquarters. The rejection of incorporation of the right to self-determination in the states constitutions, Lueth said that does not pose incompatibility or inconsistence with the national interim constitution because it takes no power from anybody. This controversy has made these ‘constitutions’ to laze under the desk of the Minister of Federal Government for several months. There is already some fear that the rigid position of the Federal Ministry of Justice and the controversy surrounding this matter would stir a row in all the ten southern states and might lead to political crisis between the two partners.
The Governor of Unity state in southern Sudan has lashed at the Ministry of Justice in the Government of National Unity for refusing to endorse the draft constitutions of the 10 states in southern Sudan. Speaking to Sudan Radio Service in Rumbek (SRS), the governor Taban Deng Gai said he personally disagreed with the Minister’s decision because it shows sabotage on the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. “I personally, do not know any reason why we should go to Khartoum and ask for the compliance of the states constitutions with the one of national constitution. These should be between the states and the Government of Southern Sudan constitution if the state constitution is in conformity with the Constitution of Southern Sudan, this entails that it is also in conformity with the Constitution of Southern Sudan”, Deng Gai said. He said that there is dire need for the 10 southern states constitutions to be endorsed so that laws are formalized in the region.
What does this rejection mean to the southern state governments? Are these state legally structured and recognized? What mode should be used to unlock the impasse? These are questions which every peace loving Sudanese, policy and law makers pose but without concrete solution. Nevertheless, the simple understanding of a constitution from an average point of view is an ‘engine’ of any set up, which include, government institution, trade unionists, religious groupings, political parties, organizations etc. These groups cannot operate without an engine to propel the vehicle for them to achieve the desired objective for which they were formed. They must have a constitution to enable the structure to operate professionally and legally.
Therefore, the refusal of the Federal Ministry of Justice to approve the constitutions of the ten southern states means that the states organs are not legally recognized despite the fact that there are already working government structure in all level, such as; Executives, Legislatures and Judiciary. If the budget of these states was to come directly from the central government, by now these states would have been rendered irrelevant in terms of development allocation. Though these states are legally irrelevant; the development budgets are allocated from the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) as part of the 50% wealth sharing revenue as per the CPA. Hence, the GOSS receives this from the central government through difficulties because it does not know how much grant total of oil revenue they are dividing with the NCP. With the on going political game of mutilation of the CPA and utterance, it might happen one time, one day that the central government, particularly NCP will decide overnight to scale down the 50% budget of the oil revenue for which each state receives through GOSS on the grounds that the states are not legally enacted and constituted. The state governments should watch out this trap, otherwise the political temples will be constitutionally brought to surface.
In a modern society, any sensitive issue like this normally opens up debate. The society must not just sit aloof but add their voices in giving pressure to who might be responsible for the sabotage of the ratification of their engine. There are many options to use, one is staging a peaceful demonstration in all the states and present a petition through the legal ministry of the GOSS who intern will relay the matter to the Federal Ministry of Justice. This is a contemporary means of raising issues to a deaf ear. The other mode of pressure is the involvement of the parliament of GOSS which is legally constituted and recognized by the central government to follow up the case in a strong voice so as it backs up the follow up already done by Minister Michael Makuei.
Reliable sources say the NCP is working over night to kill the existence of the SPLM as its sole challenger and partner to the peace agreement. They are meeting three times a day to strategize on how to frustrate the SPLM officials so as it is easy for them to also mutilate and kill the CPA. The source say, during the day, they meet with moderate groups whom they want to woe on their side to give them support. The second meeting is with their party members and the third one is held at mid night on the basement for key personalities of the party. This is where party position and statements are issued.
In an interview with London-based Al-Sharq al-Awsat on October 5th, the deputy leader of the ruling National Congress Party, Mr. Ibrahim Ahmad Omar uttered that, “If invading forces enter Sudan and the SPLM, the partner in government, welcomes them, there will be no national unity government and the Naivasha agreements will cease to exist.” The NCP deputy chair said if the SPLM talk about accepting the entry of international forces remains within a hypothetical and political context meaning conditions under which no invading forces would enter Sudan this will neither affect the partnership nor the Naivasha agreement. But in the event of the entry of enemy forces, and when President Al-Bashir and the armed forces are engaged in a real war with these forces, he said he would not believe that a group will say it is not concerned with what is happening there, let alone welcome the invading forces. He said his estimation, of the position of the SPLM on Darfur means that there is no national unity government. If the national unity government collapses because of this position, he asked, how will the Naivasha agreements survive? He further added “The majority is against international intervention, except the SPLM, the People’s Congress, the Communist Party, and part of the National Ummah Party. Some of these parties have an agenda to bring the government down.
The sentiment and utterances which emanated from the circles of the NCP decision makers has generated reactions from a cross section of people including key personalities of the SPLM.
The SPLM has warned those, in the ruling party, who try on the pretext of Darfur conflict to torpedo the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended more than two decades of war in southern Sudan. The deputy secretary general of Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) Yasir Arman said there are those who seek to use Darfur crisis to sabotage Naivasha agreement. Arman said there are different forms to realize this purpose. One of these attempts is attacks on the press freedom. He indicated that peace implementation is closely linked to the democratic transition in the country. He urged the Sudanese press to denounce abuse of power and to stand firm against any restrictions. He also slammed without elaborating the use of advertisement as arm to put pressure on the newspapers. SPLM official invited the political leadership to act with wisdom, saying statements on the CPA cancellation will lead to more confrontations in the country. The Secretary General of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement has reiterated that the ruling National Congress Party should accept the deployment of the United Nations peacekeepers in Darfur.
In an interview with Sudan Radio Service on his way to Norway for an official visit, Pagan Amum said deploying UN forces in Darfur is the only way to protect civilians in the region from armed militias. Secretary Amum also urged the NCP to avoid confrontation with the international community over the deployment of the UN forces to Darfur.
“We are calling on the national congress party to consent to the deployment of the UN forces and to avoid confrontation with the international community and therefore I take the threats by those leaders from the National Congress as inter-threat,” he said. The SPLM Secretary General said the SPLM is committed to the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
Meanwhile, a senior SPLM official in the federal parliament said the ruling party has no authority to abrogate the peace agreement, underscoring that SPLM will “protect peace even if it means going back to war”. The Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Atem Garang told Sudan Radio Service that the NCP, as a member of the Government of National Unity has no right to cancel the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
Mr. Atem further said that the SPLM will protect the CPA even if it means going back to war adding that there are elements within the NCP who undermine the peace agreement. Atem said Omar’s remarks amount to a declaration of war. “In the first place the CPA was not a donation from the NCP, which they can cancel. Any time. Therefore, the word canceling is the wrong word to use by Professor Ibrahim Omar. The agreement does not belong to the NCP. It belongs to Sudanese people, and the Sudanese people are the people who can say okay we want this, and we opt, or we prepare to fight. Then you mean you go back to square one”, Atem said.
Meanwhile, Atem said that SPLM would continue to support the deployment of the United Nations peacekeepers in Darfur to protect the lives of innocent Darfurians under constant threats from armed “Janjaweed” militias. He told Sudan Radio Service from Khartoum that the UN forces are already deployed in various parts of the Sudan and there is no need to deny them access to Darfur. Atem said only the UN peacekeepers can adequately protect civilians and promote stability in the region. He added that the mission of the UN in Darfur is not to arrest those people indicted by the international criminal court but rather to protect lives and promote stability in Darfur.
Alfred Taban wrote in Khartoum Monitor that: “It is with utter disbelief that Prof Ibrahim Ahmad Omar is still the third highest ranking person in the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) after his utterances about the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). The learned doctor, who was minister of higher education and scientific research and professor of psychology at the University of Khartoum, said that if the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) should support the deployment of UN troops in Darfur, the NCP would cancel the CPA. When he made his utterances, the SPLM leadership council, meeting in Juba had already passed a resolution endorsing the sending of UN troops to help bring peace to Darfur.
As if to leave nobody in doubt of what it intended to do, the NCP governor of Sinnar State dismissed Alawiya Kibeida, SPLM member and minister of health of the state. Alawiya had spoken against the professor for his threats. Because Prof Ibrahim has not been reprimanded, we take it that what he said is official NCP policy. The party wants to intimidate the SPLM into submission; it wants to punish the SPLM for its stand on Darfur. The professor’s threats are nothing short of a declaration of war. Anybody who wants to abrogate an international treaty that ended a war wants a resumption of war, pure and simple.
Alfred Taban said that “the SPLM must now consider the NCP as rebels who have turned against the national unity government and the CPA and should look for a partner who is credible and can implement the CPA. But first the SPLM should ask the NCP to say openly if it, as a party, supports the professor. If it reprimands the professor and takes legal action against him, then the issue can be put behind us. If it does not then the SPLM should respond by declaring the NCP a rebel party and move against it. This is self-defence, meant to deter aggression. It is a question of life and death. The SPLM should realize that its resolve to defend the CPA is being tested. If it fails to respond decisively to this test, then the CPA is finished and the south is in danger of being re-colonized. The SPLM and the people of the south are now being called fifth columnists. We all know what that means. From name calling to liquidation, we have been down that path before. The SPLM must live up to its responsibility of protecting the CPA and ensuring the survival of its people, the marginalized people of this country. It is now very clear many people in the NCP do not believe in the CPA and are looking for the slightest chance to scuffle this deal. Darfur has now provided them with that opening and unless the SPLM/SPLA stand firm, we may be back to war sooner than we thought”. This is serious and it must be having a serious connection to undermine the implementation of the CPA!
There are also some claimed explosions of radio in Juba which has been reported by Reuter’s news agency. These explosions marked another angle of condemnation and figure pointing to the NCP. According to the report, four people were killed in Juba and one in Lainya. The similar incidences were also reported in Wau, Tony, and Rumbek. In Rumkek a cyclist was blown as he was riding his bicycle. But all these have been denied by the government of South Sudan. In their reports, Reuters quoted a police statement saying that four people have been killed in south Sudan when explosives-laden radios and electronic equipment blew up. According to the report, Police called for vigilance and said they had launched an investigation.
According to Reuters’s report three people died in the southern capital Juba at the end of September after one person was killed in a similar blast a day after in Lainya, west of Juba. “My brother bought the radio receiver that killed him … here in Juba and left for Lainya. I was told by phone that on arrival he turned the radio on and was listening to one of his favourite stations when the radio blew up,” said Alex Wani. Police patrols discovered 10 more electronic devices containing explosives in Juba’s markets. They said the vendors appeared to be unaware of the explosives. “We were able to detect some TNT from 10 small radio receivers and tape recorders,” Captain Daniel Barnaba, who commanded the patrols, told Reuters. Police said they did not know the motive for the blasts and did not believe those killed had been targeted individually. People were urged by police to be on the alert in Juba which is trying to rebuild after a 2005 peace deal between the government and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement ended more than two decades of north-south civil war. “We were already informed earlier that some of the terrorists had smuggled some explosives here in the south, and we are still tracing them,” a senior security officer said, asking not to be named. “There is a need to be alert and vigilant, for we never know what will come next.” He did not say who he suspected was responsible for the blasts. Juba is the site of peace talks between the Ugandan government and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army sponsored by the south Sudan regional government. Those talks are aimed at ending a 20-year Uganda insurgency that has killed tens of thousands and displaced nearly two million.
After more than a week of the explosion, Southern Sudan police denied reports on radio explosions killing people. The allegations of explosives in radios are false, officials said.
Deputy Inspector-General of Police in southern Sudan, Maj-Gen David Akwier, and director of police, northern division in Juba, Col Philip Madut Tong, refuted the allegations that there are radios in Juba that are laden with explosives. The two also deny any casualties as a result of such explosive radios. “We heard of such rumors but our investigation finds no evidence of such explosives,” says Col Philip Madut. However, he says he did receive some radios in his office with some substance wrapped into a nylon paper, and sent them for analysis at the explosives unit in the military. The deputy Inspector-General of police, in southern Sudan, Maj-Gen David Akwier says the report of the explosive unit of the military indicate that the substance found in such model of radios is actually a mixture of cement and sand, and there is no explosive substance in it. He says the manufacturers probably put this material in the radio in order to add weight and balance the radio. In addition, the senior medical officer, Juba Teaching Hospital, Dr Salah Lado, and police superintendent at the medical police unit, Sergeant Major Emmanuel Lado, denied any cases of explosives victims at the hospital. Some media cited police officer, Capt Daniel Barnaba saying he was able to detect some TNT from 10 small radio receivers and tape recorders. Col Philip Madut says they do not know who this police officer is. A UN release, confirms the police denial of explosives. “UN inspected the radios and established that the unknown substance was small pieces of concrete that are used in the manufacturing process to balance the radio,” says the report.
According to the reliable sources from Juba, the old types of the wooden radios had littered in Juba markets over the recent weeks. The population was wondering because these types of radios had not been seen in the markets for many years. This raised a lot of questions, and people developed interest to knowing the motive of the importation of these radios. Some have already pointed figures to some of the southern politicians such as Gamar el Dowla Mohammad Suileman, and a Mr. Abdala who are working in cahoots with the NCP to create havoc in southern Sudan so as the population keep on living in fear and doing nothing tangible to frustrate them from enjoying the peace space culminated by the CPA. These key southern personalities are said to be kept in Khartoum while coordinating this ugly game through some of their activists on the ground. The population in Juba suspects Somalia being used for loading and dispatch of these explosives across Sudan borders. It has been reported that, there was already a suspicion of Somali origins entering Juba without valid papers. Some have been raided while hawking on the streets of Juba and others were involved on transport businesses. The Somalis and others were raided and loaded into two trucks and destined to Kenya borders. The issue of the Islamic Court in Somalia has become one of the justifying suspicions because the world has already labeled it as an advocate of El Qaeda network in the horn of Africa Region. The sources indicate that, the youths around Juba on the island of river Nile, known for as ‘Gezira’ who had purchased these kind of Radios transistors from the vendors in Juba markets have decided to hurl these radios in the river. This is serious and it must be having a serious connection to undermine the implementation of the CPA!
The same sources say that the presence of the ‘Ambororo’ herdsmen in thousands in the jungles of Western Equatoria and around Juba is posing serious issue. These are not southern Sudanese but the ‘Falata’ who are moving with thousands of cattle smashing farms of people. The hilarious part of it is when people talk to them; they pretend not to know any language at all. They look innocent but well-equipped with silencer guns, poisons and Satellite Phones. The question is, if these are mere herdsmen, why are they moving with all these equipments? With whom are they communicating with? And what is the intension of moving with poisons? It has been proved that some of these ‘Ambororos’ are well trained military personnel aided by the NCP to accomplish the mission NCP requires of them which nobody knows.
The sources say, in the recent months there were a group of the ‘Ambororos’ who came and stationed in Juba town and faked to be ‘poor people’ but an NCP official was sent from Khartoum to meet them. No body knows exactly the rationale on why this NCP official flew all the way from Khartoum to come and meet these so-called herdsmen. If these people were genuinely poor, Juba has so many humanitarian organizations for which through the GOSS appeal should have added value to the humanitarian need. A notable person in Juba say, the presence of ‘Ambororo’ all over has a sinister motive which requires serious research. The issue of Ambororo prompted the Bari youths to meet the President of the GOSS, Salva Kirr Mayardit who inturn said he was equally confused about the presence of the ‘Ambororo’ in the bushes of southern Sudan. He is reported as saying he has sleepless nights because of this issue but promised to find a solution to it in the near future. The littering of ‘Ambororo’ is one of the mechanisms of scantling the CPA and must be watch out! This is serious and it must be having a serious connection to undermine the implementation of the CPA.
As per the CPA, the oil revenue is divided on equal basis between the SPLM and the NCP. This means that Sudan produces sufficient oil. But because of the political game, there is claim that the fuel that comes from Khartoum to the South is deliberately poisoned. This fuel destroys the engines within a maximum of six months and in most cases in less than six months. The fuel carries toxic materials that shorten the life span of the car. The Government of South Sudan (GOSS), import most of their vehicles through east Africa, thus is Uganda and Kenya. These are modern and flashy vehicles. It’s also alleged that some cars from Khartoum endanger life when using Air Conditioner. This courses a long term effect on human life. This is serious and it must be having a serious connection to undermine the implementation of the CPA.
Some food items are not free of poison because many people on the opposite political divide have already proved it. The first prove was during the inauguration of the late First Vice President, Dr. John Garang de Mabior in Khartoum. The SPLM top officials were poisoned when pieces of broken bottles were sneaked in their food. Despite having come to East Africa for check up, nobody knows exactly whether these key people are free of long term effect of these broken bottles. This is serious and it must be having a serious connection to undermine the implementation of the CPA.
There is also claim of NCP still attached to the Lord Resistance Army (LRA). Some people are saying that the LRA are still being supported by the NCP. A close friend to an NCP diehard say the reason why the peace talks between LRA and Kampala is taking too long than expected is because the NCP is advising the LRA not to strike a deal but continue bringing issues as delaying tactics. Perhaps, Khartoum knows better why they are advising them to take long. This is also needed to be researched because it has political connotation gearing to undermine the CPA. A cross section of the peace loving Sudanese say that NCP cannot leave LRA because it had helped them in their war. According to records, LRA inflicted 95% casualties in southern Sudan rather than in the country they want to liberate. The LRA had killed more than 3,298 people in both Central and Eastern Equatoria States; including 394 people hacked to death in Lolubo, hundreds killed in East and West Lokoya and 34 slaughtered in Ikotos. Another 1,149 were killed in Magwi, and that the rebels forced two people to eat their brother. Later they killed the two in Magwi. Other atrocities alleged included human sacrifices in Torit county, rape, abduction of children and burning of villages. This was actually an achievement not for LRA but for SAF. For this reason; they cannot leave an alley without having contact with them. Other people say that NCP wants to use LRA to fight the war that they presumed with the UN forces in Darfur. This is serious and it must be having a serious connection to undermine the implementation of the CPA.
The NCP is also still instigating some militias in the south to continue creating havoc among the civil population who have managed to return to their home areas after the signing of the comprehensive peace agreement. A southern Sudan militia is waging attacks on civilian population in Jonglei State, said a senior southern Sudan official. He further accused the Sudanese army of instigating these militia attacks in the region. Hundreds of inhabitants from Jonglei State are displaced to Malakal, Upper Nile State, by the conflicts led by Maj-Gen Tang Ginya, a military leader allied with the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), accused the Governor of Jonglei State Philip Thon Leek.
“SAF is still destabilizing the lives of civilians in Jonglei, as the governor of the state, I urge the government of national unity (GNU) to stop SAF from persuading the militias to attack some places in my state. People are still suffering because of the presence of SAF in Jonglei, we the inhabitants of Jonglei made an inter-tribal conference which included the whole tribes of Jonglei and in that conference we pledged not to fight each other.”
According to the Juba Post, the governor adds that during the inter-tribal conference Murle tribal leaders pledged to end the abduction of children from neighboring tribes. However, reports from the local administration and NGOs warn the attacks by the Murle tribe occur in Akobo by the end of this month. The disarmament in the area has further compounded the situation thus leaving locals defenseless and vulnerable. As such, many would-be returnees are still hesitating due to reports of insecurity, Philip Thon says, “but now because of the conferences we made with representatives from all counties the state is under peaceful coexistence among the tribes. Had it not been the presence of SAF, Jonglei will be one of the peaceful states in southern Sudan,” continued the governor. Thon Leek says they have trained police forces to be deployed in all counties with common borders with other states of South Sudan such as Eastern Equatoria, Upper Nile, Unity, Central Equatoria as well as the Gambella region bordering Ethiopia. In addition, a peace conference held between Central Equatoria and Jonglei States was conducted to mark the end of the differences among tribes in Bor. Peace delegates have also been sent to Ethiopia to quell tensions between Anuaks from Sudan and Ethiopia.
Earlier, in an audiotape, Osama bin Laden urged militants to get ready to fight western forces in Sudan’s troubled region of Darfur; he also rejected the peace deal signed to end north- south war. Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden urged his followers to prepare for a long war against Western would-be occupiers in Sudan’s Darfur region, according to an audiotape attributed to him.
Bin Laden, also described the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed by the Sudanese government and the former rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement on 9 January 2005 as “an unjust agreement that allows the south to break away after six years from signing the deal”.
Following are translated excerpts from the audio tape related to Sudan, and broadcast by Al Jazeera television:
On Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement, Osama Bin Laden said, after “the Ottoman state was divided into tens of countries … Britain came to separate Sudan from Egypt and returned again to Sudan trying to separate its south so it formed an army from the people of the south and supported it with money, weapons and expertise and directed them to demand secession from Sudan, then the United States adopted this army with moral and material support through its international tools such as the United Nations and applied pressure on the government of Sudan to sign an unjust agreement that allows the south to break away after six years from signing the deal.” “Let (Sudanese President Omar Hassan) al-Bashir and (U.S. President George W. Bush) Bush know that this agreement is not worth the ink in which it was written with and does not oblige us in the least.
Call for Long-term War in Sudan’s Darfur Not satisfied with all these intrigues and crimes, America moved on to stir up more strife. One of the areas of the most serious strife was western Sudan, where some differences among the tribesmen were used to trigger a ferocious war among them that consumes everything in its path, in preparation for sending crusader forces to occupy the region and steal its oil under the cover of maintaining security there. It is a continuous Zionist-crusader war against the Muslims.
In this respect, I urge the mujahidin and their supporters in general, and in Sudan and the surrounding areas, including the Arabian Peninsula, in particular, to prepare all that is necessary to fight a long-term war against the crusader thieves in western Sudan. Our aim is clear: defending Islam, its people and land, and not defending the Khartoum government although there could be common interests between us. Our difference with it [the Sudanese government] is great. Suffice it to say that it failed to implement the shari’ah and relinquished the south. I urge the mujahidin to acquaint themselves with the territory and tribes of the Province of Darfur and the areas surrounding it. It has been said that the people who know a certain territory can conquer it, and that those who do not know a certain territory are conquered by it. It is worth noting that the region is about to see a season in which rains are occasionally abundant, which will impede movement and block dirt roads, which is one of the main reasons that delayed the (Western) occupation by another six months”.
Following the airing of this audio tape, the government in Khartoum did not come out clean to disassociate themselves from this statement because of its historical connection with Osama bin Laden in 1992. This connection made the world to look at Sudan as sponsor of terrorism. The sentiment of President Omer el Bashir regarding UN forces confirms that Bashir is still linked to terrorism. President Omar al-Bashir said Sudan has taken inspiration from Hezbollah and would battle a proposed international peacekeeping force in the Darfur region. The statements by al-Bashir appeared to strengthen Sudan’s resolve to resist a possible U.N.-backed force to end the bloodshed and ongoing refugee crisis. More than 200,000 people have been killed in the western region since 2003, when ethnic African tribes revolted against the Arab-led Khartoum government. “We are determined to defeat any forces entering the country just as Hezbollah has defeated the Israeli forces,” the official Sudanese News Agency quoted al-Bashir as telling an armed forces gathering. The U.S. repeated its demand for deployment of a strong and mobile U.N. peacekeeping force in Darfur. The top U.N. humanitarian official, Jan Egelund, said the situation is “going from real bad to catastrophic” after attempts to enforce a peace deal unleashed more fighting. “We are opposed to the deployment (in Darfur) of American, British or other forces imposed by the Security Council,” al-Bashir said.
A peace pact that ended a 21-year civil war in southern Sudan appears to be crumbling, with important pledges ignored or circumvented, according to a report by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The January 2005 agreement, if implemented, could signal a major change in Sudan, including power and wealth sharing and integrating security forces. But some of the basic tenets, including election planning and dividing oil revenues have not been met, as set out in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Khartoum government and the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, the report to the U.N. Security Council said. “While they are observing their security commitments reasonably well, the implementation of several other major provisions of this agreement has fallen behind schedule,” Annan wrote. “It is clear that implementing the CPA is a daunting challenge.” The United Nations has some 10,000 peacekeepers in the south to monitor the agreement and help train police, human rights workers and provide other services. It has set up a radio station where there was none but the Khartoum government has ignored an agreement with the world body and refused to allow broadcasts in the north.
Moreover, the U.N. Mission in Sudan, known as UNMIS, has not been permitted to monitor the oil-rich Abyei region. Sudan customs has also delayed the release “of a wide range of items, including food rations” and held some major communications equipment since February, the report said. In the impoverished south where paved roads are rare, some 370 km (230 miles) of roads have been repaired, contributing to the return of over 10,000 refugees, food aid to 3 million people and polio immunization of 4.8 million children, the report said.
But donors have not lived up to their pledges, committing $430 million of the $2.6 billion needed for reconstruction. Annan also said that multi-donor trust funds, administered by the World Bank, “have proved ill-suited to meet immediate post-conflict requirements.” Still, Annan said that a durable peace in the south would not take hold until the crisis in the western region of Darfur had been resolved. In recent months fighting has increased between rebels and government-backed militia, with the Sudanese military sending in troops and bombing villages.
I beg to state here that, it seems the peace agreement was not received wholeheartedly by the NCP because the utterances emanating from the top brass do not reflect the actual image of what the peace agreement is all about. It seems that there are some hidden agendas which keep on popping through sentiments and utterances when some key officials at the NCP rank feel that they are provoked. Nevertheless, any word that comes from a top party official usually reflects the view shared either formally or informally by the party members and can only be brought to light by brave and outspoken party members. In partnership, if the hearts work in apathy then this automatically indicates that there is something wrong somewhere which ought to be addressed and straightened.
After all, it does not require another agreement to be negotiated but just a matter of following up the stipulated articles and clauses because the CPA it self is a constitutional timetable where the parties to the agreement follow until a six-year interim period is accomplished. If the hearts of the former protagonists were really cleansed as per the CPA, I don’t think theses kind of utterances and sentiments would arise to generate questions and doubt. The document should have been implemented smoothly without raising any hitch. My simple understand about partnership is an act of joint venture and collaboration to achieve and realize a certain aim. And, for this case, partners work in agreement not in divergence. Therefore, NCP and the SPLM who are major partners to this agreement should implement the CPA and eschew another war that will take another generation of our youth for a ride. The SPLM should not continue looking at itself in an inferior angle but to keep NCP in check and balance in every word that comes from them against the CPA. Remember that when a rat bites, it blows cool air on the wound for one to get relax for it to continue biting and achieve its aim. Otherwise, if SPLM continue sleeping, NCP will also continue mutilating and delaying the implementation of the CPA while blowing cool air and eventually will achieve their objective. There is a fear that, the CPA could be ‘wrecked’ when this game is not encountered with political consciousness!
* The Author of this article is a Sudanese Journalist working for Relief Organization of Fazugli (ROOF) as Civic Education and Communications officer. He is also Managing Editor of the KAKAR Newspaper and a Correspondent for Mundo negro Magazine, Spain as well as a contributor for Sudantribune website. Mr. Okot can be reached on the following contact: Email: [email protected] or [email protected]