Panthou is Southern territory
By Garang Kuot Kuot
July 26, 2009 — The long awaited ruling on the contested Abyei boundaries by the Hague based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) has finally come and passed thus bringing about a much needed relief. The ruling on Abyei boundaries had captured international attention while creating unprecendented anxiety among the wider Sudanese community both at home and around the world.
Days leading to the announcement of the Award, no one could tell the future of Sudan; for many, it was the beginning of another bloody and protracted military confrontation between the North and South of Sudan. Thank God both parties received and accepted the ruling with honour despite some feelings of dissatisfaction.
However, the nature upon which the ruling was done left more confusion among Sudanese masses than clarity. After watching a televised announcement of the Award beaming in all the way from the Hague, many were left wondering how it had ended. Understandably, the ruling was quite compex for far too many people to comprehend. It will indeed take long before a lot of people understand what has really been decided in the Hague.
This confusion is quite evident in Northern Sudan. The ruling was received with somewhat exagerated euporia particularly among the Northern circles who blatantly misunderstood court’s ruling as having allocated the ownership of Panthou/Heglig oil fields to the North. This misplaced understanding of the Award clearly overlooked the mandate of the PCA. The PCA was not damarcating the boundaries between the South and the North which would esentially determine the ownership of the disputed oil field at panthou. Instead, the court was only trying to identify and deliminate the boundaries comprising of the nine chiefdoms of the Ngok Dinka which it correctly did.
In effect, the PCA was very explicit about its mandate. In its press statement on the Abyei Award, the PCA articulated its mandate as pertaining to:
“Whether or not the ABC Experts had, on the basis of the agreement of the
Parties as per the CPA, exceeded their mandate which is ‘to define (i.e. delimit) and demarcate the area of the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms transferred to Kordofan in 1905’ as stated in the Abyei Protocol, and reiterated in the Abyei Appendix and the ABC Terms of Reference and Rules of Procedure.”
Nowhere in the statement or in the final Award has the court made any mention of its mandate having to do with the demarcation of the North-South border. That being the case, where then did the Northern elites get this notion that Panthou/Heglig oil field is allocated to the North? The court’s decision to leave the oil fields outside what constitutes nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms does not necessarily allocate them to the North.
The history of Panthou oil field is still fresh in our memory. It wasn’t long ago when Khartoum regime forcefully evicted residents of Panthou upon the discovery of oil there and renamed the area as Heglig thereby giving false impression that the area belongs to the North. The name, Heglig, was coined and forced on to the national map in 1999 as a prelude to the planned annexation of this area to the North. It is needless to add that Panthou, illegally renamed Heglig by the NIF/NCP in 1990s, is an ancestral territory of Ruweng people of Unity State.
The fact that the NIF/NCP intends to annex parts of Southern Sudan peacefully or forcefully is getting all too obvious. Already, the head of government delegation that attended Abyei proceedings at the Hague, Dirdeiry Mohamed Ahmed, is making highly misplaced assertion that South Sudan would not longer get any share from the Panthou/Heglig oil revenues. Yes it is quite evident that the NCP’s interest in Southern is not its people but resources particularly oil. Nevertheless, the good ‘ambassador’ must be asked: who allocated the said oil field to the North? I thought the ambassador would be wary of the fact that the victims of his regime who were forcefully removed from Panthou/Heglig, with many of them killed and entire property destroyed, are still putting up as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in some parts of Greater Upper Nile and beyond. These IDPs might be forced to open a lawsuit against the regime for the atrocities inflicted on them and which continue to be manifested through this attempt to annex their ancestral land.
Northerners shouldn’t make unnecessary claim over the ownership of the Panthou/Heglig oil field because Abyei Award doesn’t demarcate the North-South border but only defines the area that constitutes nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms. Dirdeiry, of all people, should have read and clearly understood the court’s ruling before misleading the Northern masses that they have been allocated the Panthou oil field.
The question on whether or not Panthou/Heglig belongs to the North or South of Sudan should be left pending until North-South border is demarcated. The best Northerners can do at this point in time is speeding up the demarcation of the border. Otherwise, Panthou/Heglig was not and will never be part of Northern Sudan. It will remain Southern territory unless taken to the North through forceful measures which seemed unlikely given Southerners resolve to defend and protect their God given land.
Finally, I very much appreciate the SPLM leadership for making it certain that the ownership of the Panthou/Heglig oil field has not been decided yet. SPLM need to remain strong in its defense of our territorial integrity knowing full well that the whole of Southern populace stand solidly behind the leadership in this regard.
Garang Kuot Kuot is a Director of Resolutions and Establishment in the General Secretariat/Council of Ministers, Northern Bahr El-Ghazal State/Aweil He can be reached at: [email protected]
* This article originally appeared on http://bechamilton.com
DHARCHEP
Panthou is Southern territory
Hey Mr Garang Kuot Kuot,
Thank you so much for your article about Heglig. For your information is that, I wants to correct something from you and the person who told you about it. First, do you know where HEGLIG is located in Southern Sudan? Okay, if you know that HEGLIG is in Unity State, do you know who are the inhabitant of Heglig? Unity State compose of Nuer Ethnic Communities, Dinka Ruweng of ALOOR community of Abiemnom(Biemnom County) and Dinka Panaruu Ethnic Community of (Panrieng County). Now, as you are a reporter of this issue, do you know who are the native community of Heglig amongst those three communities which I had mentioned above?
Let me tell you one thing here Mr Garang Kuot Kuot. HEGLIG is a territory of Dinka Ruweng Community of ALOOR with it headquarter Abiemnom County. Sometimes, other Dinkas communities call its headquarter as BIEMNOM just in short. The Paramount Chief of this Dinka Ruweng of Abiemnom county is call as CAMILLO KUOT KUR. Camillo Kuot Kur was the chief of this Ethnic Dinka Ruweng of ALOOR community. But, when Camilo Kuot Kur was killed by the Arabs in Abiemnom county of Dinka Ruweng in 1981, his son Kur Kuot take over his leadership according to the Dinka norms of laws. Kur Kuot, the son of Camillo Kuot Kur, proceeded his father ministration until he was killed again by the Arabs in 1983 when Jafaar Nimeiri sent his troop for the first time to Abiemnom county of Dinka Ruweng of ALOOR community. The reason why Jafaar Nimeiri sent his troops to Abiemnom County of Dinka Ruweng was because in order to take control of the Oilfield Higlig. To be honest with you, Dinka Ruweng of ALOOR community is a small Ethnic group consists of SIX Sections in which we call them sometimes as clans”. These SIX clans or sections of Dinka Ruweng of ALOOR community are as follow:
-Mijuan
-Amaal
-Abaang
-Manteng
-Thiyeer
-NgongChill
These are the SIX clans which make up today what is call Dinka Ruweng of ALOOR community in Unity State. So, this is what I want to explained to you clearly because sometimes people don’t give accurate information like what happened when the people of Abyei annexed this territory of Dinka Ruweng of ALOOR community to their area of Abyei. As a matter of fact, the three top leaders of Abyei Deng Alor, Luka Biong Deng and Edward Lino denounced that Heglig is not a party of Abyei, but a part of Unity State. My question is that why they put it on the map of Abyei first of all? Deng Alor and his other Dinka Ngok allies tried to be cunning in order to take Heglig as their territory, but the right of Dinka Ruweng of ALOOR community prevent it to be happen and that is why Luka Biong and Edward Lino confessed it throw their mouth that Heglig is belong to Unity State.
Heglig, first of all, is Arabic word, but the people of Dinka Ruweng of ALOOR community in Unity State call it as TOOR ALIINY”. TOOR, in Dinka language mean; a place where trees doesn’t grow or a place where there is no trees. ALIINY, is an elder man from “Manteng” clan which I have mentioned above. What happen is that, when Aliiny decided to make a visit to Panaruu in order to see his aunt, he died in TOOR because of thirst and dehydration as well. So, as a matter of fact, people of Dinka Ruweng of Aloor community thought that Aliiny had arrived to Panaruu safely and the people of Panaruu thought that Aliiny was still in Ruweng of Abiemnom. So there, the confusion araised, but when people of Dinka Ruweng of ALOOR community went in order to search for him, they found him dead in a TOOR with his spears on the floor. As from that time until today, people of Dinka Ruweng of ALOOR community call this as “TOOR ALIINY”, but Arabs called it as Heglig.
My concern and the reason why I comment and responds your article is because whenever people don’t use the right name on the right place, it affect people very much. You can take example Mr Garang Kuot Kuot, if I call you Chol Chan for instance, will you be happy? I think you will not be happy because I’m not using the right name on you. So, in this point, I want to tell you that the name you used whether it was been told to you by Benjamen Majak Dau or any other Dinka Panaruu personel, that name is wrong and wrong. PANTHOU is not one of the Dinka Ruweng of ALOOR Community territory, but it is belong to Dinka Panaruu. Dinka Panaruu is different from Dinka Ruweng of ALOOR community. Just take it like DINKA ABIEM OF THE PARAMOUNT CHIEF MALONG YOOR and DINKA AGUOOK OF THE PARAMOUNT CHIEF MUON AKEEN. So, this two Dinkas Communities in Northern Bhar-el-ghazel are different, but they are called Dinka Bhar-el-Ghazel. In the same vein, Dinka Ruweng of Aloor community, Dinka Ngok of Abyei, Dinka Ngok Lual Yak, Dinka Dongiol, Dinka Paweny and Dinka Panaruu community are all counted as DINKA PADAANG. To be honest with you Mr Garang Kuot Kuot, Panthou in which people call it Heglig is not belong to Ruweng of Aloor Community. It is belong to Panaruu and at the same time, it is the homeland of Benjamen Majak Dau, who said that Heglig is a coin. Heglig is not a coin, but a name of the one of our elder from Dinka Ruweng of Aloor Community in Unity State.
Lastly, the history of Dinka Panaruu and Dinka Ruweng of Aloor Community can not be discussed on this website, but to tell you some awareness clues with which you can digest and put it in to consideration when you tried to report some issue like that. As I wrote this article of mine to you, my top agenda is not because of OILs in Heglig, but the land. The land is belong to Dinka Ruweng of Aloor Community not Dinka Panaruu. Every community surrounding Dinka Ruweng of Aloor community of Abiemnom county in Unity States such as Dinka Panaruu, Dinka Ngok of Abyei as well as Arabs except only Nuer, wants this land because of Oil. My point is not oil, but the land. If Dinka Panaruu, Dinka Ngok Abyei and Arabs in the North as well, wants the Oil in Heglig, then let us wait for Election and if the SPLM/SPLA win the Election, then I and my fellows people of Dinka Ruweng of Aloor Community in Unity State, we will call all of these two communities including Arabs from the North in order to excavated this oil of Heglig and take it wherever they want it to be put. The problem of Oil is become as a disease to some of the other axullery non-Dinka Ruweng. I know that Majak Dau, is the one who did it because he is a Minister in the Parliament and he want to annexed this land to Panaruu. I myself who wrote this comment to you, I have been in Panthou of Dinka Panaruu. So, I know it very well. Mr Garang Kuot Kuot, I write this article just to inform you that Heglig is a territory of Dinka Ruweng of Aloor community in Unity State and not for Dinka Panaruu. So, that name “Panthou” is wrong and wrong. Mr Garang Kuot Kuot, if you feel maybe my word seems to antagonize you, please feel free and contact me by writting. I will appreciated whatever so far you want to convince me. But, remember that “Panthou” as Majak Dau wants to claimed as Heglig is not Heglig. It is a wrong propaganda from the people of Dinka Panaruu. Whoever want to know about the history of TOOR ALIINY of Dinka Ruweng of Aloor Community in Unity State in which Arabs people from the North call it as Heglig is highly welcome. Thank you so much Mr GARANG KUOT KUOT and those who will read this article of mine.