South Sudan’s flag to be raised at AU HQ next week

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

August 4, 2011 (ADDIS ABABA) – The flag of the newly born Republic of South Sudan will officially be raised next week before all AU member states at the headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to officially mark the admission of the country as the 54th member state of the continental bloc.

South Sudan officially proclaimed its independence on 9 July, and was recognised by the UN on 15 July, as the 194th member state after the general assembly unanimously voted in its favor. The AU admitted South Sudan on 27 July.

The Government of South Sudan (GoSS) Liaison office in Addis Ababa on Thursday said the AU will hold a flag-raising ceremony for the new member state.

South Sudan is the first nation to be admitted to the AU in almost two decades after Ethiopia’s former province, Eritrea, gained independence in 1993 and joined the continental body.

“The flag for the Republic of South Sudan will be raised in the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa next Wednesday, August 10, 2011” David Dang Kong, deputy head of the GoSS mission, told Sudan Tribune.

“The South Sudan flag-raising ceremony will be attended by all members of AU” he said adding “it will be a great day for the people of South Sudan”.

South Sudan’s independence comes after a plebiscite resulted in a landslide vote in favour of secession from the north.

Despite the peaceful North-South Sudan divorce, the two countries still need to engage in post-split negotiations to settle a number of pending issues such as citizenship, border demarcation, currency and oil-revenue sharing among others.

Another sensitive issue is the fate of the contested oil-producing Abyei region which is currently being monitored by a UN mandated Ethiopian peacekeeping force, which will eventually number 4,200, until a final and binding solution is secured over the disputed region.

The governments of both states resumed their post-split negotiations in Addis Ababa on Saturday and reached an agreement to allow a border-monitoring support mission.

The latest agreement marks the first intergovernmental accord between the two states since South Sudan gained independence last month.

The two governments have reaffirmed their commitment to the agreement signed on 29 June 2011 to the establishment of a Joint Political and Security Mechanism (JPSM) to oversee security of the common border between the two states.

The AU which commended the new progress said in a statement “that the mechanisms provided for in this agreement, including third party monitoring and verification, will contribute towards the construction of peaceful relations between the two States.”

The AU High-level Implementation Panel pledged to continue support the two states in implementing this agreement and in their efforts to complete negotiations on a range of issues that will support their mutual viability.

The AU Commission Chairperson, Jean Ping, welcomed the agreement. He said the agreement will make a significant contribution to enhancing security between the two states and will fill the vacuum that has been created in security mechanisms since the end of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), on 9 July 2011.

He added, it will also allow the people of the two countries to go about their daily lives in greater security and safety.

(ST)