The conflicts over natural resources versus South Sudan ungovernability

By Deng Yiech Bachech Deng

April 12, 2009 — For those who are used to following any political developments in South Sudan very closely, there is nothing new that may catch them by surprise regarding the pointless recent ethnic conflicts that unfolded among the tribes of Jonglei and Lakes states in South Sudan. Many renowned and knowledgeable political and security analysts from well-established institutions, including the United Nations personnel based in the Southern Sudan, civil rights advocates and concerned Sudanese individuals in Diaspora have raised this particular issue more than one since 2006. This intra-and inter-ethnic rivalry among tribes is not a new thing in these states, because these communities have lived in harmony for centuries and have had a tradition of resolving their disputes traditionally, despite the odds. For a sound mind, albeit raiding is not a new phenomenon in the region, the recent increase in raiding can be attributed to the lack of natural resources, for example, relative food shortages, disparity in access to land and water resources; and ultimately the breakdown of traditional rules/norms and precarious ethnicized politics.

So people shouldn’t pass judgment by calling those innocent tribes names. They love peace like any other people. We better first understand the causes of cattle rustlings or raids that, in turn, lead to such unnecessary deadly conflicts. After all, their livelihoods have been disrupted by government interventions allegedly believed to provide security and deliver services that would help people stay afloat. However, government has failed them big time.

It would make sense if our high ranking public officials—especially the politicians—think and act in a way that satisfies the herds they claim to govern. That’s to protect life and regulate individual people’s behaviors and actions so that peaceful coexistence and mutual respect and integrity between diverse tribes are achieved. This is why governments were formed in the first place. Otherwise these people will have remained in this unfortunate state of affairs—a chaotic, boorish, ungovernable, inhabitable environment—for posterity where no responsible and accountable government to protect people and their properties, as Thomas Hobbes had prophetically and philosophically envisioned 400 years ago.

I don’t want to indulge in historical, political and philosophical theories of conflicts or wars to put my point across as this would not make sense at all; but I would rather focus on the practical matters of public concern. The whole country (South Sudan), as we know it, is gravely ungovernable. And as a matter of fact, the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) had given many people a ‘false’ hope and inspiration, thinking that having our own government stationed in Juba in place would change things for the better as opposed to the uncaring successive political/military regimes and their leaders, basically those stationed in the North Sudan. To our dismay, nothing happens yet. Our own government has betrayed its people.

When I read all the daily news about frequent skirmishes among certain communities, particularly in the Lakes and Jonglei states, this often reminds me of the Charles Darwin’s piece, The Origin of Species, that “food, weather, and other animals have complex relations that shaped the struggle for existence, and another one is ‘a place in which to live—the environment”. And that “Each [man] lives by a struggle at some period of its life that heavy destruction inevitably falls either on the young or the old during generation or at recurrent intervals”.

For instance, Jonglei state is environmentally inauspicious due the complexity of its ecological and social conditions. The tribes inhabiting this locality have complicated social and political organizations—notably societal structures, functions and orientations dictated and influenced by the conditions of the environment.

The Nuer (Lou, Laak and Gawaar) and Dinka Bor in Jonglei state have many things in common because these societies are sedentary and pastoralists. Their seasonal migration patterns occur only during brief autumn, winter and spring months. Those months are the critical seasons where they come into conflicts with each other over resources control, such as access to water for drinking and green pastures for their cattle as well as access to fishing ponds and wildlife hunting. It’s to be noted that swarms, ponds and lakes are traditionally owned by certain communities and this is reflected in the naming of these watersheds and territories. So whoever moves to another’s territory has to abide by traditional customary laws or rules set by the local people who own the territory. Those customary rules include fishing, hunting or cultivation rights of access because some rivers may require spiritual blessings/rituals performed by spiritual leaders before the resources available are exploited. If any of local rules or norms are violated, this may cause conflict. The Nuer and Dinka Bor know the significance of such symbols and meanings attached to those customs, but the current young generations seem to defy those important customary rules and ignorantly mix them with their youthful pride and power of guns. Besides, the ownerships or tenures of community lands and water sources are jeopardized by state and federal governments’ takeover, without providing alternatives to those communities. As such, the dispossessed communities are pushed to the edge, thus making them vulnerable to use only few lands and water points. And this is where conflicts over limited resources set in due to overcrowding.

So how can we find solutions to problems caused by cattle raids (that I now think a fight over inadequate resources)? Government intervention is the only solution, right? But think a minute!

First, the government in Juba is ungovernable. Second, the armed and police forces (SPLA), which can provide security, are weak, unfunded or underfunded; and worst of all; they are undisciplined, corrupt, unprofessional and tribal. Third, the lawmakers (or Their Excellencies as they love this name) are not only corrupt but also incompetent to strategize plans that would help save lives. Fourth, the fake federal and state authorities (e.g. ministers, governors, commissioners) undermine and weaken elders’ traditional ecological knowledge, customary authorities and laws. Fifth, the voice of local civil rights groups in the South as well as in the Diaspora is not recognized. And to make matter even more badly, the Diasporas are often threatened, intimidated, blackmailed and demoralized to the point that the already outspoken, well-educated and nationalist individuals, whose intellectual contributions to the country, have stopped writings about issues affecting the country. Have you heard or read our popular aspiring and adored Mr. Pagan Amum Okiech recently ordered the closure of Internet forums bearing SPLM’s name? It’s a controversial issue. Some consider it as a gateway to authoritarianism and other consider it as a protection of intellectual property right of the SPLM. Be your own judge. Whatever the case may be, if the SPLM Diaspora forum or its equivalents will be shut down as Mr. Pagan summoned, the party will deprive itself of supporters one way or another.

The author holds a BA Honors in Political Science (University of Saskatchewan) and a Masters of Science student in Sustainable Energy Development (University of Calgary), Canada. He can be reached at [email protected].