Abyei’s final status linked to improved ties with Sudan: Kiir
September 28, 2022 (JUBA) – South Sudan President Salva Kiir has linked settling the final status of the disputed region of Abyei to the improved relations with Sudan from which it seceded in July 2011.
“South Sudan’s foreign policy to Sudan supports cooperation between our independent republics. The government is currently committed to supporting the ongoing transformation of Sudan’s governance structure for both bilateral and regional stability,” he said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
The South Sudanese leader, in the September 27 statement, explained why his administration was not using hostile approaches to resolve the situation in Abyei.
“My fellow South Sudanese, and in particular, my people of Abyei, I want first to acknowledge the heightened frustrations expressed by the Abyei community worldwide. The seeming non-movement of South Sudan’s government on Abyei’s final status is not purposeful but rather a response to the challenges arising from the developing situation”, said Kiir.
He added, “When my comrades and I raised our voices and picked up arms and pens to fight for the actualization of South Sudan, the Ngok of Abyei courageously fought alongside us. The 2013 referendum results revealed what we already knew, the Abyei’s communities envisage (see) themselves as south Sudanese. I want to assure you that achieving the final status of Abyei is a top policy priority for the government of South Sudan”.
The final status of Abyei has stalled, causing frustrations among the citizens, some of whom are wishing the government of South Sudan and President Kiir to endorse the 2013 referendum results.
Kiir says he would not make a unilateral decision, but would work together with Sudan and the African Union to ensure the 2005 protocol on Abyei and African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AU-HIP) for Sudan and South Sudan proposal is implemented so that the matter is settled amicably.
“As your president, and on behalf of the whole government of South Sudan, I am committed to the return of Abyei’s displaced families, the right to self-determination outlined in the comprehensive peace agreement and the African Union high-level implementation Panel, and to decisively reaching the final status on Abyei”, he argued.
The South Sudanese leader’s statement expected to make a strong position on the status of the area has now received a lukewarm welcome, with some seeing it as a strategy to amicably end the status.
Others agitated for an aggressive approach, including accepting and endorsing the 2013 community referendum and taking an aggressive approach as a way to claim the ownership of a border region transferred to Kordofan in central Sudan in 1905 from Bahr el Ghazal in present-day South Sudan.
The delay in the settle the final status has caused frustrations, persuading intellectuals, and opinion leaders in the area to make different proposals in an attempt to find a solution to the final status.
In his May 2022 proposal, Francis Mading Deng, a prominent son of Abyei suggested that Sudan and South Sudan should grant the area a self-governing status, detaching it from the two neighbouring countries, with the United Nations providing security and maintaining law and order until such time the region decides on its own fate.
Neither Sudan nor South Sudan has responded to Deng’s proposal
The former UN diplomat explained that making his native region of Abyei independent of Juba and Khartoum could help achieve lasting peace, security and stability.
This, Deng argued, would help bring services and development opportunities closure to women and youth of the contested area. It also will enhance their participation in public life and thereby bring peaceful coexistence between the Ngok Dinka and neighboring communities.
The proposal received mixed reactions, with some in support and others opposed.
(ST)