Sudan’s Misseriya reject Ngok Dinka campaign for Abyei referendum

October 10, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s Misseriya tribe rejected attempts by the Ngok Dinka to obtain international recognition of the outcome of a referendum conducted in the disputed area of Abyei and considered it a waste of time.

On 31 October 2013, the Ngok Dinka announced the results of an unilateral referendum conducted without the participation of the Misseriya, and said that 99.9% of voters voted in favour of the annexation of the contested area to South Sudan.

Both Khartoum and Juba refused to recognise the results of the referendum and considered it as illegal, while the Misseriya who also claim the ownership of the region threatened to wage war and invade Abyei with 30,000 of fighters.

In a press conference held in Juba on 1 October, Justice Deng Biong Mijak, a senior South Sudanese government official entrusted with Abyei file said they formed a high level committee comprising senior government and ruling SPLM officials and tribal leaders to carry out diplomatic campaign to convince the international community to recognise the result of the referendum his community conducted.

The Sudanese co-chair of the Abyei Joint Oversight Committee (AJOC) Hassan Ali Nimr, stated on Friday that the attempts of Nogk Dinka to obtain international and regional recognition of Abyei unilateral referendum is waste of time.

He further told the semi-official SMC website that “the unilateral referendum conducted by the Ngok Dinka in the region is not recognised, and constitute a breach of an agreement reached by the parties in Addis Ababa in June 2011”.

He further called on the South Sudan government to respect the signed agreements and work to implement it, and to not seek for other platforms to resolve the issue of Abyei.

Abyei was scheduled to hold a referendum to determine the fate of the border region in January 2011. However the vote was suspended because the two countries continue to disagree over the participation of the Misseriya nomads in the process.

Recently, the Sudanese electoral body has included Abyei among the geographical constituencies that will participate in the general elections of next year, considering the disputed region remains part of the country in line with the 2005 peace agreement.

(ST)