(Name withheld)
South Sudan has drawn an international attention because of the week-long referendum now underway in that part of the country. The struggle of the people of South Sudan under the leadership of The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), the political wing, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), the military wing, began three decades ago. It resulted, however, in the death and displacement of millions southern Sudanese. The war had been dubbed by the international media as as a war between the Muslim North and the Christian South.
Indeed it was. However, besides its tinged color of religion, the people of South Sudan had remained one of the most oppressed peoples on our planet. They had been called slaves by the Northerners. They had no share in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the country. Their representation in the government was nominal. In the 1990s, there was a nominal vice president, a state minister in the foreign ministry, and a few diplomats.
During my stay in Sudan for four years, I had never seen a South Sudanese who had a small enterprise, even a shop in the capital city Khartoum. What I saw instead were house maids, guards, and gardeners in the affluent residencies of Northern Sudanese. Observing such a reality, a senior from South Sudan once remarked: “Every Northerner has a dog and a maid or servant from South Sudan.” He equated his people with dogs. Indeed the people of South Sudan were the wretched of the Earth, the miserable.
In my visit to 10 countries, I had never seen people oppressed to such a low degree as the people of South Sudan and North Korea. It needs no telling that the kind of oppression that the people of North Korea are subjected to. Besides the grinding poverty they wallow in, they are under complete control of the Communist regime. They are deprived of any form of right. They live under gun point discipline. The only difference between the two people is that the Koreans live in a developed infrastructure, the South Sudanese in agrarian country at its lowest level of development.
John Garang and Salva Kirr
I saw the late SPLM leader Colonel John Garang in an international airport in the 1990s. He sat alone in a comfortable sofa in the VIP lounge escorted by long and burly body guards. Fully equipped with sophisticated arms, the body guards watchfully scan the people in the lounge. Garang was sober, quiet and seemed to contemplate on his future plan — the guerrilla warfare in South Sudan. The bearded guerrilla leader had a furious look. As soon as a civilian passenger aircraft had arrived and dropped off the passengers, Garang with his guards boarded the plane to Nairobi where he resided.
Dr. Garang was a senior officer in the Sudanese army. He defected from the military and began to head the tortuous struggle to its logical conclusion — the referendum that enables Southerners to decide on their destiny. Unfortunately Dr. Garang has not lived to see it. He died in a mysterious helicopter crash on the common border of Uganda and Sudan upon his return from working visit to Uganda. He was vice president of Sudan for a very short period of time.
I saw Salva Kiir, presently Vice President of Sudan, in Nairobi two times. He was then called “Commander.” He was delegated by Garang to lead the delegation of the SPLM in the negotiation with the delegation of the government. Salva Kiir logically argued his position, the position of the SPLM during the negotiation. Right from the outset he hammered out referendum. The two negotiations held in Nairobi were unsuccessful. Salva Kiir and Co. went straight ahead to the bushes of South Sudan to continue their armed struggle. It was later on that they reached a conclusive agreement — vote on Referendum. Now after 17 years their dream has come true. Southern Sudanese are exhilarated and are casting their ballots. They are eagerly waiting for the result to be revealed at the end of the ballots.
South Sudan has a size equal to France. It has a fine weather, fertile land and oil. Its population is 4 million with three main ethnic groups, Dinka being the main one. Garang was from Dinka ethnic group. Provided that they have good governance, the people of South Sudan can develop and prosper.
What about Federation?
To sum up, I don’t in principle, support secession or separation of a part of a country. At the same time, I strongly oppose oppression from within or outside. The net result will be equality in all walks of life. In the absence of equality, there is the presence of oppression — then struggle not for few years but even decades like Southern Sudanese. Here I would like to present my humble proposal that the Horn of Africa countries should, sooner than later, embark on loose FEDERATION. This mechanism will help them to avoid war, to muster and accelerate economic, social and cultural development. Al Bashir’s dictatorial regime should stop instigating a new war in South Sudan. He is already an indicted war criminal because of his barbaric actions in South Sudan and the Darfur state.