Renewed marginalization in Southern Sudan

By Abraham Awolich

May 25, 2007 — First of all I would like to make it clear to everyone who will read this article that this is my personal opinion. It is not politically motivated, it is only an opinion which transcend from the general frustration of our people particularly in Awerial County. This in away is not a general opinion of the Awerial County, this is my own analysis of the situation based on my own observation. So I should bear all responsibilities or questions pertinent to the content of this article and no one else.

A voice of discontentment from Awerial County

As I watch the activities of the Government of Southern Sudan and that of National Government and the progress that is being made, I feel confident that the government of the people will one day deliver services to all our people. However, when I see the growing disparity and marginalization of our people in accessing public services, I am growing impatient and I think I can no longer wait but to express my concerns and dissatisfaction with the reconstruction of roads and deliverance of services. I thought marginalization was something that they do only in Khartoum but it appears that it is going to happen also in Southern Sudan. Before it happens, we must speak out against it.

For the last year or two, I have been following the development and improvement of roads in Southern Sudan and I look at the priority roads, I can see that the road leading from Juba to Rumbek is not constructed or upgraded. This road is the life line for the towns of Terekeka, Tombe, Moni, Kalthok, Minkaman, Dor, Awerial, Bunagook, Adior and Yirol. As we all know, our people depend so much on the Nile and majority of the Bari people, the Mundari, the Aliab Dinka, the Atuot and the Chiech settled on the west bank of River Nile. If the government really cares about delivering services to its people, this road should have been made a first priority road and should have been constructed or cleared since last year. I made a phone call yesterday just to check on everyone in the village and I found that only in my village in the past four weeks; we have lost 10 members of our village to cholera. And as I was talking to the commissioner and his team, they told me that they were going to start the SPLM campaign in the villages. I don’t know what they are going to say. For me, services must precede political campaigns. Why are we interested in scoring political points in this area and we failed to address the dire needs of our people?

The Depth of the Problem

A year ago, I went back home and my first transit point was Juba and my final destination was the town of Kalthok in Awerial County. This was in March 2006 only few months after the arrival of the SPLA forces into Juba city and about 9 months after GOSS was formed. I rented a car and the only way that goes to Kalthok is through Terekeka. I was told that the total distant from Juba to Kalthok was 105 miles. On a regular upgraded road, it should have taken 6 hours. Instead, it took me two days and this was in March; it was the beginning of the dry season. Not only did it take me two days, but also when I reached the destination, people were in the middle of cholera out break. One family lost all members because they did not have access to any services. Also, there was no telephone or anything to call for emergency response. It took two weeks for the health team in Juba to arrive and by the time they arrived, a village of less than one thousand people had lost almost fifty members. It was tragic and I tried my best to help but I was helpless given the fact that I did not have any medical expertise nor did I have any medicine for that matter.

The failure of the governments at three different levels is what I termed as a renewed marginalization within Southern Sudan. The government of National Unity bears some blame because they should help the Government of Southern Sudan particularly in areas that are difficult to build. The Government of Southern Sudan failed to recognize the importance of this road therefore, ignoring our people to die like wild animals while services are being delivered to other areas whose roads were considered priority roads. The government of Central Equatoria failed to recognize the plight of their people in Terekeka and Tombe for not advocating to have the road cleared and upgraded. The government of Lakes State failed tremendously allowing the upgrade of only Rumbek Yirol-Shambe road and forgetting the people of Awerial County. This is disturbing because if you look at the population affected because of the lack of this road, it is more than the population in Juba. It is clear that the peace dividend is meant to benefit a handful of communities while others are allowed to die from cholera as if they had crossed the border illegally only to end up where they are today. This is a clear act of marginalization and neglect for the people of Awerial County in Particular.

Why this Road is Important

This is road is important for four reasons:

If you look at the map of Southern Sudan, Awerial County is a triangle which borders the former regions of Bharelgazal, Upper Nile and Equatoria. It is in the heart of Southern Sudan. If there is instability there, it will affect almost all the three regions.
The temporary road that exist functions only for three months: March, April and May then it stops. Can you imagine living isolated from the rest of the country for 9 moths? This is exactly what happens to people in Awerial County from May to February every year. They are cut off from services from any form of contact.
If at all there are businesses in this area, where do you think they will get goods or sell their goods without roads? This road is the economic life line of these areas and it absence means that no economic activities, therefore, very poor standard of living
If there is disease out break in July, how can you reach these people? It takes weeks or months during the dry season to reach these people, how long will it take during the rainy season to reach them?

I think these four points constitute the essence of development in every county and every state. This is clearly how places get marginalized and this is how unequal distribution of resources occurs. Our people do not have a single clinic, no single school, no single business center, no single government office in the whole county. Illiteracy rate is almost 99.9 percent and the mortality rate is almost twice the birth rate. If I can guess, the life expectancy must be as low as 30 years in this area. This in fact is a blatant neglect which must not go without investigation.

Appeal

I am appealing to the Government of Southern Sudan, the Government of National Unity, Lakes State Government and the Government of Central Equatoria to respond immediately to the needs of our people in Awerial County, Yirol East, Terekeka County and other marginalized areas. There is nothing more important than that road from Juba to Rumbek via Terekeka, Minkaman, Awerial, Bunagook, and Yirol. If this road is not built, the development in these areas will take almost fifty years without progress. Just as an example, our late leader died having never visited this area although it was under SPLA control since 1983. I believe the current president has never been there either. Even the Governor of Lakes State rarely goes to the area. This is simply because it is not easy to go to. Terekeka County is better given the fact that they have river transportation but that is only Terekeka but places like Moni, Tombe and other villages do not access anything. If it is difficult to construct roads, river transportation must be improved so that people in Tombe can access their goods by river in Tombe, people in Kalthok can access their goods and services by river in Panbank, and people in Minkaman, Wunthou, Paterew, Achum, and Gutthom can do the same by river. This is very important if we really care about these people. No development without communication and transportation and this is why these counties lack all the basic human services.

Finally, this is my first article of many series regarding this situation. Something has to be done. We can no longer trust decisions that are made in Juba which only produce benefits for a few while neglecting the most affected communities. We all understand the challenges that the government is facing but placing priorities must be done with prudence and the neediest places must be given priorities. There is no other place in Southern Sudan after CPA that is like Awerial County and every blame goes on the lack of the main road connecting the county to Juba, Yirol, Rumbek, and Bor. The county is like an island where prisoners spend their terms in the form of disease infections and suffering from isolation. If this road is completed, the economy will grow faster in this area which will improve the living standards there by reducing diseases. In addition to roads, clinics must be established particularly in Pap a place that is bigger than Juba city in area. I can say it is the largest village in Southern Sudan with a population of over 100,000 with no access to water, clinic and no schools. Why?

* The author is the President of ALCOM. He can be reached at
[email protected]