Thank tank says Jonglei inter-tribal fighting ‘dangerously politicised’
December 25, 2009 (WASHINGTON) – The think tank International Crisis Group (ICG) in a new report examines conflict in Jonglei state of Southern Sudan. The report asserts that “inter-tribal fighting, while not a new phenomenon, has taken on a new and dangerously politicised character.”
Titled Jonglei’s Tribal Conflicts: Countering Insecurity in South Sudan, the paper presents research on three main conflict cycles in the state: Lou Nuer against Dinka, Lou Nuer against Murle, and Lou Nuer against Jikany Nuer. The report implies that political competition at state, regional and national levels may be exacerbating tribal conflict.
Violence among tribal and sub-tribal groups is sometimes blamed on Northern military suppliers and coordinators. “Some patronage links probably remain between people in the North and clients in the South,” said the report. However, Zach Vertin, Crisis Group’s Horn of Africa analyst said that South Sudan’s semi-autonomous government must recognise “the primarily local nature of the conflicts.”
Jonglei in south-eastern Sudan was a major conflict zone during the civil war, fought over by government forces and government-armed militias, tribal militias, and larger insurgent groups like the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). Some parts of the state, such as Pibor County, were never controlled by SPLA during the civil war. The state is occupied mainly by members of the Nuer tribe, but also Dinkas and Murles.
“Politics and the personalities driving them in Jonglei may be linked to broader jockeying ahead of both elections and the referendum,” asserts the ICG paper. “Some see the contentious debates over state leadership as an attempt to undermine Governor Manyang and alter the ethnic balance of power. Objections were also raised over his appointment of five state ministers, reportedly because they were ‘secondclass SPLM’ and supporters of Vice President Riek Machar. This hints at broader competition for paramount leadership of the Nuer, an unofficial position held by Machar, the highest ranking Nuer in the GoSS.”
Specifically with regard to high-level leadership struggles within the Nuer, the report cites the power struggle among three powerful Nuers from neighboring Unity State. Governor Taban Deng Gai – said to be a close ally of President Kiir, a Dinka – is at odds with Vice President Riek Machar and SPLA Deputy Commander-in-Chief Paulino Matip.
Far from existing in a static environment, tribal leadership and tribal identity face broader, changing political realities. “If elections and the referendum are conducted as planned, there will be a new political dispensation in the South, and anything could happen. The Nuer will need to decide how they are going to come together and what role they want to play in the new South Sudan. In fact, cleavages in the current power structure already surfaced during the 2008 SPLM convention, in an attempt to unseat Machar,” states the report.
Other less well-known animosities at the Jonglei state level, between Bor officials and some Lou Nuer figures, are also discussed.
Nonetheless, the most lethal conflict in Jonglei in 2009 was not intra-Nuer but between Lou Nuer and Murle fighters. Clashes in Akobo and Pibor counties left more than 1,000 casualties, including a week-long battle that left some 750 dead. Attacks and counter-attacks involved thousands of fighters, according to ICG interviewees, and resulted in abductions, civilian casualties, and burned villages.
ICG researchers interviewed community leaders, politicians, development specialists, journalists, and others during their research. They interviewed the following officials, among others: the Murle figure Ismail Konyi, SPLA Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. James Hoth Mai, former SPLA Chief of Staff Oyay Deng Ajak, Deputy Governor Hussein Mar Nyuot, Governor Kuol Manyang, Maj.-Gen. Gatluak Deng, Deputy Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Pieng Deng Kuol, and Jonglei State Police Commissioner Riak Akon Riak.
The full paper is available at this link in PDF format.
(ST)