Machar calls on Abyei citizens to go home and prepare for envisaged referendum

July 21, 2013 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s vice-president, Riek Machar Teny, has called on sons and daughters of Ngok Dinka chiefdoms of Abyei to return home and prepare themselves for the expected referendum exercise on self-determination in October this year.

In accordance with the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed by Juba and Khartoum which ended 21 years of war between the two regions of the former one Sudan, the Ngok Dinka people of Abyei were supposed to simultaneously conduct the plebiscite in January 2011 when the people of South Sudan were deciding their destiny and voted for independence.

The exercise in Abyei failed to take place due to disagreements between Juba and Khartoum over who can take part in this crucial vote. While Juba says only the Ngok Dinka – who belong to the greater Dinka ethnic group in South Sudan – should vote, Khartoum wants the nomadic Misseriya tribe to equally participate in the vote.

The two sides have also failed to agree on the composition and leadership of the temporary Abyei administration, that will organise the conduct of the envisaged referendum.

Sudan has demanded the formation of a joint Abyei administration and recognition of the Misseriya as residents of the area and for them to participate in the referendum vote, without limiting their rights to access water and pastures.

Under the mediation of the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP), chaired by the former South African president Thabo Mbeki, the two sides tentatively agreed to the possibility of conducting the referendum in October this year if they could thresh out the outstanding issues in time.

In a campaign to mobilise the people of Abyei to return in preparations for the referendum, the leaders of Abyei community in Juba on Saturday organised a ceremony, which Machar addressed as the chief guest.

During his speech, the vice-president challenged the citizens of Abyei to show their seriousness by returning to Abyei and participate in the registration for the expected exercise.

The law requires that a citizen of Abyei must register within the Abyei area three months before the conduct of the referendum.

Most of the Ngok Dinka people are believed to have been scattered all over South Sudan, while some are still in Sudan.

Some are holding senior positions in South Sudan’s government, including the recently sacked minister of cabinet affairs, Deng Alor Kuol and the Inspector General of Police, Pieng Deng Kuol.

Machar, however, told the thousands of the citizens of Abyei gathered in Juba that the mobilisation was not for war with Khartoum, but was meant for a peaceful and lawful exercise of the referendum.

SUDAN REJECTS AU PROPOSAL

Sudan last year rejected a proposal submitted by the African Union mediation aiming at breaking the deadlock over Abyei referendum, saying it ignored that the eligibility of Misseriya was the main cause of discord.

Khartoum, in its rejection letter, said the proposal should abide by the 2005 peace deal which provided a specific protocol on the future of Abyei and the 2010 Abyei Referendum Act.

Meanwhile, the Misseriya Arab tribe recently renewed their rejection AUHIP proposal for holding a referendum in Abyei area this October. The Misseriya’s paramount chief, Mukhtar Babo Nimir, told the pro-government Sudan Media Center (SMC) website that a referendum without engaging them will be doomed to “failure”.

(ST)