Kiir: Is the North Making Unity Attractive? You Can Judge

Kiir: Is the North Making Unity Attractive? You Can Judge

The President of Southern Sudan government Salva Kiir Mayadrit blamed its peace partner the National Congress Party for not contributing to economic development in the semi-autonomous region making unity less attractive.

Salva Kiir made this speech during a meeting with the visiting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak who was in Juba on November 10 for the first time; and

Speaking about the self determination that should take place in 2011, “Kiir pointed out that this was the constitutional right of southern Sudan and Abyei people,” said Kiir press secretary Ayom wol in a statement received by email.

The priority here should be unity, and making it attractive to the people of Southern Sudan. This should be achieved by correcting whatever mistakes had previously been made, within the six-year interim period between the signing of the CPA in 2005 and the date of the referendum in 2011.

To do this, development must be brought to the South “to be seen by the people”. So far, he said, almost nothing had been done. Indeed, it had been a problem even for the South to secure the 50% of oil revenues to which it was entitled under the CPA.

Asking whether the North had made unity attractive, President Kiir said that President Mubarak, now having visited both areas, could judge for himself. As a signatory to the CPA, Egypt was looked to as a country that could play a leading role in ensuring implementation of the CPA. In addition, he said, Southern Sudanese looked to Egypt to help in finding a peaceful solution to the crisis in Darfur.

President Kiir concluded by listing some of the invaluable assistance which Egypt had provided to Southern Sudan, singling out the Egyptian Clinic, whose staff were among the crowds lining the streets of Juba to welcome President Mubarak today, and also the contribution over the years to educating the intellectuals of Southern Sudan, including HE James Wani Igga, Speaker of the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly. In response, President Mubarak, noting that he could recall a time when Egypt educated 2 or 3 times as many Southern Sudanese students as Northern Sudanese, pledged to provide further scholarship funds in order to strengthen the 300 scholarships already offered to Southern Sudanese students. In addition, he said that Egypt was prepared to send more doctors to Southern Sudan, if required.

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HE Dr Benjamin Barnaba Marial, GoSS Minister of Regional Co-operation (and himself a onetime beneficiary of Egyptian higher education) spoke briefly to enumerate the many areas in which Egypt was providing assistance to the Southern Sudan. These included:

? In the area of education, he mentioned the proposed branch of Alexandria University, as well as technical schools which had been established in Yei, Bor in Jonglei State and Munuki in Juba.
? For electricity generation, Dr Barnaba mentioned the expenditure of 160 million Egyptian Pounds on power schemes in Bor, Yambio and Rumbek.
? In terms of capacity building, 70 bank officers had received training in Egypt, as had 2 batches of police personnel, both commissioned and non-commissioned officers. Additionally, water and irrigation engineers had been trained and a group of legal personnel were due to receive training also.
? As to health, Dr Barnaba pointed out the good service offered by the Egyptian Clinic, and the plan to expand and upgrade the facility eventually into a teaching hospital; the designs for Wau hospital, he said, had been completed. In addition, the invaluable contribution to training of rural nurses was mentioned.
? In the area of irrigation and water resources, 20 million $US had been donated to southern Sudan for water projects.
? Dr Barnaba also paid tribute to Egypt’s relief support to the Southern Sudan, which included the loan of two C130 cargo planes for distribution of emergency relief to flood victims.
? In the area of security Dr Barnaba commended the contribution of Egypt to the training of personnel
? Co-operation in the area of information been extremely productive, resulting in the agreement to allow South Sudan TV to be transmitted over the Egyptian El-Nil satellite channel (NileSat), the training of TV personnel and a co-operation agreement with the Middle Eastern News Agency, which will allow news from Southern Sudan to be shared throughout that region.
? HE Dr Barnaba also appreciated the assistance which the Egyptian government had given with the establishment of the Cairo GoSS liaison office.

Dr Barnaba also spoke of the issue of outstanding projects agreed in 2003-2003 by the Arab League under resolutions 6279 and 6329. These projects were agreed with the Government of Sudan but were specifically earmarked for the Government of Southern Sudan, and they had not yet been implemented.

President Mubarak spoke briefly to close the meeting, expressing his pleasure in visiting Juba in the footsteps of President Nasser. He reiterated his government’s close attention to the Southern Sudan and its commitment to continue support for projects to improve conditions in the region and pledging to follow up the outstanding Arab League projects which had been mentioned by the Minister of Regional Co-operation.

After the meeting, the two presidents held a brief private meeting. After taking lunch in Juba, President Mubarak then left to return to Egypt, ending a brief but cordial visit, the fourth by a serving head of state since the signing of the CPA in 2005