Senior southern officials impressed by referendum conduct

January 19, 2011 (JUBA) – International and national observers monitoring the referendum on independence of Southern Sudan have expressing their satisfaction that the exercise has been peaceful and credible.

Senior officials of the semi-autonomous region, who were on the ground during the voting, have also described the seven-day voting period as one of the most peaceful moments the region had ever witnessed.

In accordance with the peace deal signed in 2005 between north and south, 3.9 million Southern Sudanese casted their votes from 9-15 January and had the opportunity to either choose to confirm the current unity of Sudan or opt to create a new independent state. Preliminary results from various centers across the region, north Sudan and the Diaspora have already indicated an overwhelming vote for secession.

In a meeting on Tuesday in Juba reviewing the nature of the conduct of the referendum and sharing personal experiences with a team of the United Nations Panel chaired by Benjamin Mkapa, former President of Tanzania, senior officials told stories about the voters determination to cast their votes as well as the peaceful, free and fair atmosphere, with which the voters casted their votes.

They said even the daily cattle raiding which caused much of the region’s insecurity prior to the vote suddenly stopped throughout the voting period. Cattle raiders were also said to be busy queuing up to cast their votes.

In Tonj East county of Warrap state, some voters had to travel from remote villages for two days to reach the polling stations. The minister of Labor and Public Service, Awut Deng Acuil, who was on the ground casting her vote in the Tonj East constituency narrated her personal experience of what transpired.

She said she was very much impressed by the level of determination shown by the voters. She gave an example of a breast feeding mother who had to walk for two days from her village with a baby on her back in order to cast her vote. When asked about the difficulty of walking for two days the woman replied that she would have preferred to die on the road while moving to the polling center than to be absent from determining the future destiny in the referendum.

While in Akobo County of Jonglei state, the minister of Legal Affairs and Constitutional Development, John Luk Jok, said he had discovered another factor that helped voters mobilize themselves to come out and vote in big numbers.

He explained that this was about a particular message of a Nuer Prophet, Ngundeng Bong, which voters had to interpret and were determined to fulfill at the polling stations. He said that some of Ngundeng’s messages or myths had been interpreted by voters as endorsing voting for separation.

According to voters in Akobo, Ngundeng warned of the coming suffering of his people for generations until they finally come together and fit in one hand. Luk said when the voters in Akobo learnt that the symbol of secession was one hand, they immediately interpreted it as the very ‘one hand’ Ngundeng was talking about. Being absent or voting to the contrary to them would mean inviting a curse upon oneself, he said.

The Vice President, Riek Machar Teny, had to queue for three hours at a polling station in his home town of Bentiu in Unity state, before he could cast his vote on the 9 January. He said voters in the town began to celebrate on the eve of voting day, 8 January, while some also began to queue at 10:00PM, sleeping at the polling stations.

Machar further explained that by the time he arrived to the polling station in the early morning of 9 January to cast his vote he found that hundreds of voters had already lined up, some waiting from the previous day. He said he was then impressed by the enthusiasm of the people to cast their votes and therefore decided to follow the order of the queue instead of bypassing them to the tables of the polling officials.

The Vice President expressed his appreciation to the police forces that were protecting the polling stations and keeping order during the polling, despite some of the logistical and financial difficulties they might have faced. He congratulated the citizens of Southern Sudan for having voted to choose their future destiny in a free way.

ARAB LEAGUE OBSERVERSATION

Officials also said the claim by some of the Arab League observers that some officials of the polling staff were directing voters to vote for the symbol of secession were unfounded. These, they said, were the routine reminders of voters about the two symbols of unity and secession during the polling. However, some of the Arab League observers might have decided with whatever motive to only capture with camera as evidence the finger of polling official when pointing to the secession symbol after he or she had already pointed to the unity symbol in reminding the voters about the two symbols.

Another Arab League observation was that some under-age young voters were detected. The observation was earlier brushed aside because as polling officials said it was the ID documents that indicate the age of a voter, even during the registration exercise, and not the size or height of a voter, or how young or old one looks.

According to the timetable set by the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC), preliminary overall results for the whole of Southern Sudan will be announced on January 31, followed by the combined preliminary results of southern Sudan, northern Sudan and the Diaspora on February 1.

Meanwhile individual polling centers, counties and states shall continue to announce their respective preliminary results before the end of January.

(ST)