July 9, 2011, South
Sudan independence was met with great jubilation across South Sudan including
the people of Southern Kordofan, Blue Nile and of course the beloved people of
Abyei. In all corners of South Sudan, there was a sense of redemption and
fulfillment of a more then century’s dream of a free people.
That July 9, 2011, the
fate of 10 states of South Sudan was secured and hope of a free Southern
Kordofan, Blue Nile and Abyei was on the horizon as millions of people have put
their faith in the total fulfillment of the protocols on the resolution of conflicts
in Abyei, Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile which signed on May 26, 2004 in
Naivasha, Kenya. According to section
1.1 through 1.2.5 of the Abyei’s conflict resolution protocol, Abyei was to be
accorded special status during the interim period pending simultaneous
referenda to be held across Sudan especially in Southern Sudan, Abyei, Southern
Kordofan and Blue Nile— after which Abyei was to decide on its future.
Interim period ended
and CPA Protocol on the resolution of Abyei conflict was not implemented and to
some extent forgotten as Abyei people who have given everything they have for a
cause of freedom remained subjects of a regime which is something they never thought would happen again after
the 2005, inking of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement(CPA). In addition to
suffering in the hands of Arabs, Abyei people seemed to have been forgotten by
South Sudan government on numerous occasions.
As boring it might be,
allow me to delineate few examples of the blunders of why I considered South
Sudan and its leaderships to have forgotten Abyei and its people.
Since 2008, the
policies and actions of South Sudan government have been disappointing in respect
to Abyei and its people. One of the SPLM and or government of South Sudan
betrayals on Abyei at least on a large scale started when Sudan Armed Forces
(SAF) ransacked Abyei killing innocent civilians as well as displacing fifty
thousands of vulnerable children and women from their homes (Reeves, 2011). Of
course, the so called SPLM as a governing party didn’t come to Abyei aid. Instead, SPLM blindly turned the CPA protocol over Abyei conflict resolution to
Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague without evaluating its potential aftermath. SPLM of course thought international arbitration
would simply resolve Abyei status once and for all. Oh man, the SPLM and its
leadership terribly fumbled the ball and it never recovered it ever since.
Instead, The Hague Arbitration ruling complicated what was already a volatile
situation. The Arbitration Court ruling of course reduced Abyei to 9
chieftaincies while putting Panthau or Heglig status in limbo. SPLM of course
was not happy with this ruling, but, naively accepted it as a final binding
resolution. Making the matter worse, Abyei local people were not adequately
informed of The Hague’s ruling that Panthau and other areas like Aguot area/oilfield
(Bamboo oil areas) were not going to be parts of the new Abyei area under the
2009 Hague Arbitration ruling (Reeves, 2011).
The second notable
incident of SPLM ignorance or inaction took place in May of 2011 when Khartoum
seized Abyei and the subsequent Bashir’s declaration on May 24, 2011 that, “Abyei
is North Sudan land. We will not withdraw from it” (Reeves, 2011). As if nothing happened, SPLM didn’t militarily
stand up to Khartoum’s aggression on Abyei nor did SPLM and its leadership
voice any real concern as Meserriya terrorize Ngok’s people as well as
occupying Ngok home-land which they still occupied as of this writing.
The third notable
betrayal of Ngok people took place on May 4, 2013. On that dark day, Kuol Deng
Kuol, the Paramount chief of the Dinka Ngok was murdered when his convoy was ambushed
by the Meserriya tribesmen, a notorious group that Khartoum uses over and over
again to carry out its genocidal campaigns in both Darfur and Abyei.
The unfortunate death
of Chief Kuol Deng Kuol shocked the conscience of the entire country. Yet, the
action of the Kiir’s government was abysmal. According to Bulabak Kuol Deng, a man who succeeded
Kuol Deng Kuol as a paramount chief,
reported that Kiir and his government has assured him that, “ it was a
matter of time before the issue will be resolved” (Radio Tamazuj, 2013). Though
Kiir gave an emotional statement on SSTV following the death of Kuol Deng Kuol,
a year and half later, we are still waiting from President Kiir to fulfill his
words on Abyei conflict resolution and justice for the slayed Chief Kuol Deng
Kuol.
Forward to October 23, 2013, Makuei Lueth, Kiir’s government minister of
information and broadcasting went on SSTV and declared that, “the government of
South Sudan is not a part of the activities ongoing in Abyei (the minister was
referring to October 30, 2013 Abyei Referendum). He went further by declaring
that it is a work of a pressure group from Abyei and not the government of
South Sudan" (Sudan tribune, October, 23, 2014). Many people thought the
minister misspoke. However, the minister echoed the same unfortunate words
after October 31, 2013 that government of South Sudan doesn’t recognize the
Abyei referendum despite the overwhelming vote (99.9%) by Abyei people to join
the South Sudan.
Right there ladies and gentlemen is when some of us realized, Kiir’s
government has forfeited Abyei and its beautiful people to Bashir. It was that moment that President Kiir’s
government openly betrayed Abyei and its people by not faithfully adhering to
the implementation of CPA provision on the resolution of Abyei conflict which
left people asking. So now what? How would Abyei issue be brought back to
public attention?
The now what and how questions are what compelled me to write this
article. I got concerned with the silent of our government on the issue of
Abyei. Furthermore, the recent Khartoum pronouncement last month that Abyei
will officially participate in Sudan’s 2015 general election raised another red
flag. Instead, of a strong condemnation from President Kiir himself or other
top officials on Khartoum’s provocative
statement about Abyei participating in Sudan’s 2015 general election, Kiir’s
press secretary, Ateny Wek Ateny issued a watered down statement downplaying
Khartoum’s decision to allow Abyei to
participate in Sudan upcoming election. That got me worries for this was how
Juba’s position which led to Juba refusal to recognize the October 30-31, 2013
Abyei Referendum metamorphosed.
Ladies and gentlemen, it was July, 2013 when Kiir exactly pushed for
Abyei voters’ registration and even went on a nation television to persuade
Abyei people to go back home to register to vote. Just only two months and half
later, Kiir government warned South Sudan journalists not to talk about Abyei
referendum. The reason was that this might incite unnecessary reaction from
Khartoum. It seems like the president was more worried about Khartoum’s
reaction and the only way to avoid unnecessary Khartoum’s reaction was to throw
his people under the bus.
You have succeeded Mr. President, however, the ghosts of the Abyei’s
people and that of 2.5 million dead martyrs are hovering on your shoulder. You once said during Garang’s funeral in Juba
that your vehicle, the SPLM has no reverse gears. Where these many gears have
quickly came from? A gear that breeds
corruption, a gear that harasses and kills journalists, a gear that silences
political opponents, a gear that terrorizes citizens in Juba and other major
towns across South Sudan, a gear that makes South Sudan expatriates suspects
when they visit their own country, a
gear that widens interethnic divides by emphasizing regionalism, a gear that
issues countless decrees to create political cleavages for your patrons, a gear
that causes the ongoing unnecessary war which started on December 13,2013 and many
other gears that names are still to be attached to them.
It time to realize your car has dangerous gears and you need to replace
them for the good of your people. You are a good man with good heart except you
have surrounded yourself with people who don’t share the same goals with you.
These are the people who poke your agenda and deviate it to pursue their own
interests. It time to focus on your priority and legacy before these political
opportunists completely destroyed your place in history. They might appear now as if they are protecting you but to paraphrase your
statement following December 15, 2013, Juba’s incident, you rightly said, “if
you love Kiir, then don’t kill people in my name for those killing people in my
name are destroying me.” You said variation of these words Mr. President.
Didn’t you? It’s time to detach yourself from these folks and write your own
history or the current situation will be recorded as your history in South
Sudan’s history book.
Okay, I have digressed a little bit, but follow me now that I have
returned to the substance of this article.
Let not be delusional, if Khartoum succeeded in maneuvering to concoct
Abyei to participate in the 2015 Sudan’s general election. It would seal an
official annexation of Abyei to Sudan—and there will be little that Juba will
do thereafter. So what could Juba do to save Abyei from slipping away from
South Sudan and or keep Abyei issue in the public discourse?
First, Juba needs to realize that it is in a state of perpetual war with
Sudan. This means, Juba needs to do two things. One, South Sudan needs to mass
unprecedented humanitarian relief operations in Abyei area .Right now; the
humanitarian situation is unacceptable as humanitarian organizations are being
restricted to do their jobs in many parts of Abyei. By speeding up the humanitarian
relief operations and by providing humanitarians’ escort, it is possible your
government may save thousands of lives even if such efforts were to be
temporarily while permanent discussions continue at whatever phase they take to
find political settlement if your government wants endless political
discussions with Khartoum over Abyei conflict resolution. It is true, the
current situation in South Sudan has clogged South Sudan institutions and as a
result, it has created a political vacuum which Khartoum is actively
exploiting. This should not continue to
be the case Mr. President. There is a need for South Sudan government to
actively engage Khartoum despite Juba being paralyzed by the present civil war
in the country.
Second, if Juba thinks Abyei issue would never be resolved politically
with the current regime in Khartoum…then, why don’t going nuclear… why doesn’t
Juba recognize October 30, 2013 referendum votes as legitimate as stipulated in
the Comprehensive Peace Agreement(CPA). Radical idea right—Juba should not stop
there either. Once recognizing last year Abyei’s referendum vote juba needs to
declare Abyei the 11th state of South Sudan and be ready to defend
it with everything it has militarily as well as politically. Bashir’s regime
has already declared Abyei an Arabs’ land—so why not South Sudan to rightfully
claim Abyei an eleventh state. Of course, some would argue that this would be a
declaration of war which it is not the case. We are already at war with
Khartoum over Abyei. So declare it an eleventh state of South Sudan if Khartoum
doesn’t want a political settlement within six months from the date of the
Juba’s pronouncement of its intent to legally return Abyei to South Sudan
unless Sudan is willing to implement the CPA provisions over Abyei conflict
resolution within the CPA provisions signed on May 26, Naivasha, Kenya.
In conclusion, stakes are higher and there is a fierce urgency to revive
talk over the issue of Abyei. Abyei people have suffered for too long and are
dying by the hundreds. They cannot afford to wait any longer. So while political
discussions are stalled, go on SSTV and reiterate your commitment to Abyei. Appoints
a humanitarian coordinator to direct all humanitarian operations where they are
much needed the most. Work with SPLA generals within the JIU and UNMISS
personnel to provide regular escorts to humanitarian reliefs agencies wherever
they want to deliver reliefs without fear of being targeted by the SAF and or
Meserriya notorious militia.
We want you to succeed. But your
success is contingent upon you listen to the public and academic critiques.
Good luck Mr. President……. We might appear as your vocal critics but we do it
because we have realized how much you have suffered as individual from your
younger days in the bush and during the last 22 plus years in the bush. Nobody
without anything he or she likes about his country and the people would go to
the same bush twice. You and your comrades have done it twice and for that
reason alone, many of us who went to the bush once during the last 22 plus
years admired your endless sacrifices. So, why let few bad apples steer you
away from gaining our utmost respect?
References
Radio Tamazuj.
(2013). 'Martyred' chief of Ngok Dinka
remembered on death anniversary. RadioTamazuj.
Retrieved September 26, 2014, from: https://radiotamazuj.org/en/article/%E2%80%98martyred%E2%80%99-chief-ngok-dinka-remembered-death-anniversary
Reeves, A.
(2011). “An Abyei timeline: The long road to Khartoum's military invasion"
Salisbury Anglican.org. Retrieved, September 26, 2014, from: http://www.salisbury.anglican.org/mission/the-sudan-link/Abyei%20timeline.pdf
Sudan tribune.
(2013). South Sudan rejects holding
unilateral referendum vote on Abyei. Sudan
tribune. Retrieved, September 26,
2014, from: http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article48546
USIP. (2004). Protocol between the government of Sudan
(GOS) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) on the
resolution of Abyei conflict. United States Institute for Peace. Retrieved,
September 26, 2014, from: http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/file/resources/collections/peace_agreements/abyei_05262004.pdf
About the author: Phillip Manyok is a
former Lost Boy of Sudan and a SPLA veteran himself. He holds PhD in Metaphysical Science from
Institute of Metaphysical Humanistic Science, Master of Art International
Relations and Conflict Resolution from American Public University, Bachelor and
Master of Metaphysical Science from Institute of Metaphysical Humanistic
Science, Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Southwest Baptist
University, Associate of Arts from Penn Valley Community College and he is
currently PhD(ABD) candidate studying
conflict Analysis at Nova Southeastern University.
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