The Sudan’s national census was only a scam
Taban Abel Aguek
June 2, 2009 — I wish I was not born before the 2008 National Census – but at least and for the sake of history, I was counted for the first time in my life. However, I am burning with indignation just like those other Sudanese who rejected the results of the Census. It really torments the minds of all those whose feelings of eagerness and anticipation were turned into awful nightmares as mere mathematical additions and subtractions judged the count in an exercise that is meant to balance power and wealth but not the actual number of the living Sudanese, especially for the impoverished Sudanese in the South.
Reading carefully from the so called official results, I was reminded of an internet scam that befell a certain friend of mine last year when conmen in the web cheated him of his money and these were people he was not going to see again in his entire life. It is a long story which I can not give here in detail, but what I want to bring to knowledge was how this poor man was robbed of his 6,000 USD in one the funniest modern thefts – the way the South has lost census in a modern political style. I think he will not easily forget this because it has left him with a lot of agony, bitterness and humiliation. The South too will live to remember this. My friend who stupidly gave away his money in a simple theft was eventually ashamed to share the story with people although his disillusioned broken heart reflected anger on his face like a mirror. The stolen census that we waited for with zeal and zest had one important article in the CPA fulfilled but on the other hand, it has left us from the South with a dark shadow cast over our faces.
And now, South Sudan has been left by the roadside like a victim of robbery. The way someone can be looted in a complex spam is the way the South Sudan has been conned of the long awaited National Census, the medium set to determine power and wealth distribution. Behold! Maybe, South Sudan is quite very far from being liberated. There is an eerie sensation in the North that the South would build more confidence and increase the desire to bring radical changes in Sudan or even seek to lead an Islamic Sudan should they be encouraged by rising numbers. There is more reason than enough in this to cause the mess in the census results. I don’t know how many Southerners now feel a complete census boycott before it was conducted would have been better.
This is again one of big challenges in the life of partnership and it requires a pragmatic approach to check whether Southerners were counted or some results were only made up and slated for South Sudan. (There is nothing like allotment in census process but that was it) otherwise the populations were being distributed into the regions like groundnuts. It is well known across the whole Sudan that the most populated region in the South is Northern Bahr el Ghazal and currently Central Equatoria because of Juba as one of densely populated towns. Surprisingly hardly did Aweil reach a million. Yet it has always been in the lead among the Dinka. In Lakes State, there appeared One County called Wulu East. There is no such a place like Wulu East in Lakes State. I don’t know whether it is the website that carried the news that was wrong or the census commission. I think many gross self-showing mistakes were committed to alter the outcome of the census.
When I tried to compare the SPLM membership registration and the census outcome in some places I just felt as if there was no census conducted. I was a member of the SPLM Political Campaign in 2007. In Lakes, where I was dispatched with my team, we moved every county mobilizing and registering SPLM supporters. In Awerial County the SPLM members at the age of 18 and above registered were more than 30,000. The census was conducted a year after, after more children were born and when all people were counted and the population now stands at 47,000. This means after one year, with few more births and deaths, Aliab was able to add only 17,000 who are either under 18 of age whom we did not register or non SPLM members. Even from mathematical point of view, I don’t think one can believe this. Wulu for sure is the smallest county in Lakes State, Aliab (Awerial County) has six big payams and ranges a distance of more than 120 miles in diameter. With Wulu at 42,000 and Awerial at 47,000 it stands lucidly clear that everything about this census was counterfeited because Awerial is, in fact, about two times Wulu.
Dinka aside, the Nuer is a big big tribe and has been reported under 2 million. The Dinka is present in seven out of ten states of South Sudan. Without the slightest fear it is reported at a meager 3 million. Even if the census was not conducted within the required international standards, there is no way at all for the South’s population to stand at 8.2million that even Darfur, with only four states, is 7.5 million, which is only 700,000 people less than the South with ten states. I went to Khartoum two times and I moved a lot of places. Maybe I only know how to count trees but not people, however, the Southerners there, even if not counted properly, can still not be less than a million. Other densely populated areas that did not match their physical population stands are: Juba, Wau and Malakal. If the Sudan Armed Forces could do to the 7.5 million people of Darfur then what difference does it make for the 8.2 million people of the South? I am trying not to laugh…
From these, it is very clear that someone or a group of people sat on the table and made up some figures that can be added up to make a total of 8.2 million under the formula of (x-y) 10 = 8.2 (where x stands for what should be real figures and y for what should be subtracted from it and multiplied by ten states). So 8.2 was an imagined number which was set to calculate what should be allocated to each state in Southern Sudan. Any Sudanese who will accept the results of a corrupted census will live to be haunted by this later on in life. This is no longer a contest between the NCP and SPLM but a regional problem. Even those NCP hardliners who hail from the South may understand properly that their political interests in their party will be calculated at 8.2 or 23%. I know a few people can not do anything to gain political favoritism, but still, how high the monstrosity of political greed, the South is suppose to come first. Those who will speak with their mouths may be few but the truth will reign in the hearts of several others.
If there are Sudanese who are tired of Sudan then count me among them. Sudan has ever remained a country full of deceit, agony and worry; and led by tyrant, ruthless and undemocratic regimes, you only force yourself to accept that where we live is the earth not hell; and that life is only good but death may be better sometimes. If not then there is no way whatsoever that the country has to keep fighting, await fighting and prepare to fight all the time that whatever that is done is never done with faith and what happens is constructed to lean on others and geared at oppressing others with the intent of denying them truth and equality. So the Abyei protocol, proper wealth sharing and North-South border demarcation have a little to contribute to the cracks in the relationship between the Southern and Northern partners. The rest is a story of blindfolding, cheating and
Separation is slowly becoming inevitable. The population will not stand in the way of referendum. There are a lot of countries with a population less than one million let a lone 8 millions. Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Eritrea are among them. With eight million, South Sudan may be able to vote for secession and independence come 2011, if at all we can safely arrive there.
Southerners should have long understood that there is a lot of bullying going on. The CPA is more of a picture, in fact a curtain put in our faces, yet a lot of things happen in the darkness. Sensible people should stand in solidarity rather twist arms in quest for power, for there is no power when you have not freed your people. This can not be achieved through political divisions and formation of new and break-away parties but rather through devotion, hard work, courage patience and endurance. If anything can be done now that was not done before to ensure that census come out safely then do it now with the coming elections. I just fear the election will be an exact replicate of the 2008 National Census.
Taban Abel Aguek works in South Sudan. He can be reached at [email protected]