Good News for Southern Sudan: Separation

The purpose of this reflection is to share my thinking about secession / separation of the South Sudan. Consequently, the intended readers' are people of South Sudan. Having said that, I would like to begin my reflection with the quotation from one of the Sudanese Intellectuals who said "uneasy relationship between the Southern Sudan and the Northern Sudan has since independence in 1956 been a thorny issue in the body of politic of the Sudan.

The worst period of this uneasy relationship was between 1955 and 1972 (1983-2005 ) when civil war raged in the Sudan and almost tore to pieces the largest and potentially the richest country in Africa"( Elias Nyamelell Wakonson).

It is almost certain that partition of the Sudan, North and South will take place. It is a matter of months if not years. In the year 2011 there will be two Independent States in the Sudan, South and North.

This prophecy is based on the registration which endue in the Sudan, South-North and other countries such as USA, Kenya and, Uganda. Thus registration indicated that the majority of the people favored secession rather than attractive unity. So it is right to proclaim Good News for the people of South that separation for which they had struggled for almost 50 years is seeable. It is on the horizon. Of course most people in the Northern Sudan, such as "religio-political" parties are not happy for the fact that South is separating from the North.

However, the Northern leaders and people will have nothing to blame, but themselves. They have more than 50 years to make unity attractive to the Southern Sudanese people but were not able. The emphasis of Northern Religio-political leader was to impose Islamic religion and Arabic language on the people of the South - the policy was for Arabization (culture) and Islamization (religion) of the South. The first Prime Minister of the Sudan is reported to have said "South Sudan is necessary for prosperity of the North". He did not think of human and economic development of the South, but of exploitation and using good land of the South for the enrichment of the North. He could not think of the people of the South as human beings who have the rights, but slaves which have to be used for development of the North. Historically, the economy of the North was developed by slaves working without pay in farms and gardens along the river Nile or in the houses without pay. My friend Adam has experience of working as a slave in Mahdi Estate in Omdurman. I do not want to go into story of Adam who lived as slave in the Northern Sudan beyond Independent day. The point I want to make is that North is not happy about separation but it is also afraid of it. We think both parties, SPLM and NCP are afraid of separation for different reasons some of which can be indicated as follows:-

a)National Congress Party (NCP, which is the partner of SPLM in administering Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) has many reasons to fear separation. Some of these reasons can be lighted up thus. The one has to do with the movement of Islamic Religion. Southern Sudan has six borders with 5 African States namely: Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Zaire, and Central African Republic. When South becomes Independent Country it will block those borders from Khartoum. It will have one border that is border with the South. It is viewed by Khartoum that this separated South will slow down the movement of Islamization and Arabization of Central Africa .But Southern Sudan Itself will continue to be Islamized and Arabised by its sons (Wani 197-8). Never-the-less; in the independent South Sudan, there will be freedom of religion and thoughts, equality, social justice, and democracy. Unfortunately, South Sudan will have to consider that Arabic language will be extensively in the South Sudan for trade and communication purposes. It will take a long time to develop alternative language. Arabic language is now lingua fraca for the South. Government Ministers and Governors when they address the people they are force to use Arabic language which is the uniting language for the South. Without being present in the South as colonizers, Arabs or Northern Sudanese will colonize the South through their language, culture and religion. This is a fact which the South will live with for a long time.

b-The second point is the Islamization and Arabization of the Southern Sudan itself: this of course is not new thinking by Islamist and Fundamentalists. It is something which is rooted in the formative history of the Modern Sudan. Lesch brought up the case of Arabization and Islamization of the South when she stated that, "Islamists also assume that the people in the South would have naturally adopted Islam through the gradually expanding contact. In time, Southern people would have recognized the superiority of Islam over their primitive religious beliefs and would have preferred Arabic as the lingua franca. (Lesch: 1998:27).

c-The third point for which the Northern Sudan is terrified about separation has to do with three regions, namely Darfur, Southern Kordufan and Southern Blue Nile: these regions are yet to settle their conflicts with Khartoum. The fear is that when South separates from the North, this action may influence, could affect their thinking about their own future. They may opt to go with the South and form federation or confederation. If these three regions choose to go with the South, what then will remain as Northern Sudan? May be it could opt to become part of Egypt and to form Nile Valley. Federation or Confederation is not strange idea or new idea. The thinking concerning unity with Egypt is found in the formative political history of the Sudan. The party National Unionist Party (NUP) was formed with the help of Egypt in the hope that when Sudan become independent country, it will unite with Egypt and the two countries might form the unity of the Nile Valley. That unity did not materialized, but time has come now to activate it, because South Sudan is separating from the North, but since North Sudan has been Arabized and Islamized, it can without difficulty form some links with Egypt

d-The fourth point for which Khartoum is afraid of Separation is the potential agricultural good land , and minerals and Natural resources the South has: when it says " In addition to its well-known oil and natural gas reserves, Southern Sudan has vast untapped reserves of gold, iron, and diamonds"(Sacramento News page 132 June 27,2010).Talking to some oil people working in the South, they indicated that North has oil under its ground, but it does not want to bring it out . It is working on the Southern oil; probably with the idea that when one of the South runs out, the North will return to its reserves. This, of course, amounts to greediness. It is not within Abrahamic religion which says greediness is a sin in the Bible (Islam and Christianity have followers in the South and the North).

e-Fifth and Final Point: is that all Northern parties and people, to some extend do not want separation for different reasons mostly religious and psychological. National Congress Party (NCP) fears that it will be blamed by the other parties in the North, especially Umma and NUP that it was their time when the South separated from the North. NCP may pay for it religiously and politically (there is no separation between religion , and politics in Islam).To substantiate the point, Nureldin Satti, one of the Northern Intellectuals stated the point clearly when he said "the Party NCP will not accept that its name goes into history as the one that let the South slip away". However, NCP must be counseled by its advisors that there is nothing to fear about "slipping away" of the South. If there is somebody to be blamed it is the Governments of Sudan (North Sudan). Because since 1956 to 2004 Northerners talked about unity of Sudan but South was not included in that talk about unity, it was unity under Islamic Sharia Law in which South Sudanese people were treated as second class citizens, Ahlal-Dhimma (protected group). They were treated as outsiders. So if there is somebody to be blamed that body is the Islamic State in the Sudan for which Dr Turabi is quoted to have declared that " the Country (Sudan) is --- an Islamic republic for all effective purposes regarding the implementation of Islamic Injunctions in the political, economic, social and cultural fields. At present Islam is ruling in Sudan, Islamic values prevail in society and Islamic injunctions are being implemented in all fields". Quoted by Lesch in her Sudan Contested National Identities, page 130. Probably if there is a single person to blame for encouraging South to go its way that person is Dr Turabi. Also on another occasion because, he stated that "he would prefer the South going its own way, encouraging the South to go disjoin with the North"

I think there should be nobody to blame for the secession of South Sudan from the North. If there is anybody to be blamed, must be God himself for he was the one who intervened to save the people of the South Sudan from enslavement, torture, oppression and discrimination under Islamic Sharia Law. God's intercession on behalf of Southerners could be compared with his intervention on behalf of the children of historic Israel when they were in historic Egypt. God declared "I have seen how cruelly my people are being treated in Egypt; I have heard them cry out to be rescued from their slave-drivers. I know all about their sufferings, and so I have come down to rescue them from Egyptians and bring them out of Egypt to a spacious land one which is rich and fertile ---" (GNB Exodus 3: 7-8) . Basically all predictions indicate that South Sudan with intervention of God is on its way to Independent. This is turning point given fact that South Sudan is "going its own way. There should be no fear or blame or criticism for the fear that the North has is true fear itself. However, North is not only one which is afraid of the consequences of separation, but South which has been calling for separation for more than 50 years. But she is afraid of the events which will result from separation with the North. As far as the South is concerned, separation will present great challenges: note the following points:-

1- South Sudan will receive separation with great joy, joining with Dr King Jr in the mid air, the victorious cry ,free at last, free at last. South Sudan is finally freed at the same wave-length, South Sudan will also receive separation with trembling and fear, fear of uncertainty about the future of Independent South Sudan. It will have to face critical post-referendum problems. Some of these problems existed before the referendum. For example, the conflict between GOSS and other groups within the South. This is still alive. It will be inherited by the government of Independent South Sudan. It could, if you will, be liking to Independent of the Sudan which began with security problems in the South. These problems did not end until the signing of Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005. Unless South is led by Government committed to peaceful coexistence and wealth sharing.

2-The South is fearful of the fact its budget for the near future will mainly be based on oil. Expert asserted that 98% of the budget of South Sudan comes from oil. It is suggested that Southern Sudan is the only country in the world which based its budget on one item-oil. If the price of oil goes down, the budget will be off balance and creates crisis. To have income from other sources such as forestry and agriculture will take time to develop. Agriculture production requires hard work for which most people in South Sudan are not keen to undergo it. Although South Sudan will have money from oil, its development and social activities such as economic development, social development will require outside assistance. Development cannot be undertaken with the idea of "catching up. That development progress will not succeed. The right kind of development is the one which is based on the needs of the people. In his book The end of poverty , how we can make it happen in our life, Sachs stated that most people in the world --- would accept the fact that schools, clinics, electricity, ports, soil nutrients, clean drinking water---are basic necessities not only for life of dignity and health but also for economic productivity" Sachs 1995:227. Are our needs included by Mr. Sachs? If they are, how are we (South Sudan Government going to meet these needs. we may have money, but do we have the capacity for carrying out development needs of our people?

3-The fear of losing constitutional lucrative Government jobs: the news of disjoining South from the North will be received with great joy, prayer, dancing and celebration from all South Sudan people, old and young, children, and women, boys, girls, and men. There will be celebration all over the South.

However, when these entire settle down people will, realistically, begin thinking about the changes which separation bring. It will bring mixed bags of things to South, bad and good. People will receive them differently. Separation, because it is for the whole South, it will demand that the present Government of SPLM be changed so that members of other parties are accommodated in the Government. So it becomes then Government of National Unity. The formation of new Government for the South will bring fear and trembling for those who are holding constitutional lucrative government jobs at all levels of GOSS.

4- View from African Socialism or Sudanese Socialism: however, the constitutional post-holders will not be happy about the change, but the whole extended family and tribe will be unhappy about change because a person or leaders on who "have access to the resources of the nation-state" is no longer there. This disappointment or anger may lead the whole group to review attractive unity as being better or may find its way to the bushes of South Sudan. This is not new. It has been done before and it could be done again. But the God of peace may not allow such thing to happen in an independent South Sudan.

Moreover, people of South Sudan should be aware that some of the people, who will take over the power in new Independent South, know the way to bushes or forest. They were in the bush and going to the bush will not solve the problem. The best is for everybody to cooperate in building new Southern Sudan for which all people of Southern Sudan struggled for half a century. We must thank God for giving us our land. Now, new Southern Sudan is seeable it is on the horizon as we receive it, we must join with Dr. Martin Luther King ,Jr saying that " free at last , free at last" and can conclude by saying that thank you God by giving us our land and by freeing us from slavery, discrimination and Islamic Sharia Law, Amen.

Rev. Ezekiel Kutjok, moderator of Dolieb Hill Presbytery, Upper Nile State, Malakal