Sudan’s Kiir addresses census controversy
January 11, 2009 (MALAKAL) – Southern Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit addressed the controversy surrounding the forthcoming national census results during his speech in Malakal at the fourth anniversary celebrations of the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
Before the task had even begun, the issue had sparked controversy when two questions on ethnicity and religion were removed from the census questionnaire. Nevertheless, the census was conducted from April 22-28, 2008, but the results are delayed several times.
“In spite of difference over its preparation, the 5th Population Census was finally conducted peacefully with great dissatisfaction, particularly when two questions of ethnicity and religion were deliberately dropped out from the census questionnaire,” noted Kiir on Friday.
More controversy occurred when the Chairman of the Central Agency for Statistics, Yassin Al Haj Abdin, made a premature announcement downplaying the size of South Sudan’s population. After this announcement, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, which Kiir chairs, threatened to reject the census results. These events occurred during a South-South dialogue conference in November.
Critics point to poor implementation of the census and the fact that it was not effectively carried out in Darfur, where millions of people are displaced and rebel leaders controlling vast areas rejected to carry out the census.
Yet President Kiir’s speech Friday indicated that the south’s ruling party might take a more compromising approach to the issue. “Given the difference over the conduct of the population census, we need to look for a mechanism to manage the population census results and ensure a consensus around such results. I call upon the National Population Census Council and Southern Sudan Population Census Council to build a common consensus over the results of the census prior to their presentation to the Presidency.”
“In fact, what raised anxiety is the fact that even prior to the official declaration of the results of census, statements have been released even from responsible staff in Central Bureau of Statistics that projected Southern Sudan to be less than a third of the country’s population,” said Kiir, apparently referring to Abdin’s statements. “This is dangerous and it is a clear attempt to concoct and rig the results and I would like to send a clear message to such individuals that days of blackmailing and manipulation of facts have gone and people of Sudan shall not allow such practices to continue again.”
Kiir’s speech also made reference to several other potential flashpoints in the Sudan. “The implementation of the Protocol of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile remains a real challenge,” said the former guerrilla leader, referring to areas of central Sudan with a special constitutional status granted to them for the interim period between the 2005 peace agreement and a 2011 referendum allowing the South to opt for independence.
“The Protocol of the two areas was reached to address the political grievances and to provide a framework for solving other similar conflicts in other parts of Sudan. Failure to fully implement the protocol of the two areas and to provide peace dividends to the war affected population in these two areas poses a real threat to peace in Sudan,” he said.
Then addressing Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir, Kiir said, “Mr. President, we need to take upon ourselves in 2009 to ensure that the protocol of the two areas is fully implemented and to provide as well the necessary resources for the rapid provision of peace dividends in those areas.”
(ST)
Gatbentiu
Sudan’s Kiir addresses census controversy
The S.Sudan president needs to take a very great care on the out come of census results,since it was conducted early last year,the citizens were promised that the result will be released in Sept’08,up to now no result released yet.
Salva needs to know that the census results will determine the out come of the election,am seeing that Kiir himself did not say what will happen if the census result will not meets his expectation.
To wrong advisors of Kiir,please this time around you needs to adivse the South leader well,as your wrong advises are influencing the discission making of this country badly.
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Nyerere Alison
Sudan’s Kiir addresses census controversy
Dear your exellency mr. president i am happy that you have demystified the controversies surrounding the natinal census results. sir i am not a presidential advisor but got to say this as a south sudanese, sir the politics of down playing or under estimating of our number by the NCP is a dirty politics, we know that we are many compared to them, if not proven that our number is not what they are saying then this people will even steal the coming election on the claim that our people are few and they are the majority who ofcourse voted for ”the most wanted man”. sir play cool and deliver us out of this NCP mess, remember you’re aaron, moses deputy. Take us to the promised land.
Machokakol
Sudan’s Kiir addresses census controversy
There is nothing important other than setting plans before an attempt, especially when it comes to our leader’s mismanagement and lack of control over suspicious intruders (Northern’s).
Regardless of my approach, I just want to assure our leaders that, a table should be always considered during strategies time. For example, all minsters in Goss should have knowledge about census and be able to inform civilian who never new or heard census before. All these could have been done a year before census, not even in a day we are releasing our speeches about country’s development. It should be separate from the hears of those hunters (northern) because they might earn insubstantial figures from our little kids and they would therefore take it as our real scale.
As a true son of Southern, I’m pretty sure that our people will prefer the Southern region as the most inspiring place through their numbers, even if they are not aware of how benefit the population is.
Thanks Mr Mayardit.
By Machokakol