Rumbek to become south Sudanese “capital” following peace deal

NAIROBI, Jan 7 (AFP) — Rumbek, due to become the temporary “capital” of southern Sudan under a peace deal to be signed this weekend by the government and the main rebel movement, is a bombed-out town that bears witness to Africa’s longest civil war.

Located some 900 kilometers (550 miles) from the capital Khartoum, the town of several thousand residents was a key battlefield during the war between government forces and the rebel Sudanese People’s Liberatin Movement/Army (SPLM/A).

Much of the town is now in ruins with the legacies of war everywhere. The roads are unpaved and there is no running water or electricity.

There are no private cars in the town. The only ones in circulation are all-terrain vehicles owned by non-governmental organizations or the SPLM/A.

Most aid agencies working in southern Sudan are based in Rumbek, which since 1997 has become the de facto capital of the SPLM/A.

Alongside the town’s rudimentary airstrip, used as a playing field by local children, stands the hulk of a plane left there several years ago after it broke down.

Burned-out cars also dot the town’s streets.

Local women cope with just the bare essentials inside their households, cooking on open wood fires and fetching water from a nearby stream.

Rumbek will remain the headquarters of the SPLM/A for six months until July when it will be superceded by Juba, located 350 kilometers (210 miles) southeast.

Juba is southern Sudan’s largest city and is the only one with a paved road. It is to become the headquarters of southern Sudan’s government and parliament.

The city is currently controlled by government troops who are to withdraw in line with the peace accord.

Juba in the long run could become the capital of an independent southern Sudan if residents of the region vote for secession at a referendum to be held in six years.

According to the peace deal to be signed in Nairobi on Sunday, there will be a six-month pre-interim period during which the government and rebels will carry out preparations ahead of the official six-year transitional period starts, when the south commences running its own affairs.

The peace accord is to be signed by Sudan’s President Omar el-Beshir and SPLM/A rebel leader John Garang to end the devastating war that has claimed at least 1.5 million lives and displaced four million people since 1983.