South Sudan Thread

[Jacaylbaro]

Three Days to go ...................

 

 

[Jacaylbaro]

Kenya readies for S. Sudan poll outcome

 

Kenya hopes that the referendum in Southern Sudan will end peacefully, but has announced plans to deal with an influx of refugees should it turn violent.

 

Acting Foreign Affairs minister George Saitoti said there were indications that the voting, which gets under way on Sunday and continues for seven days, will be peaceful.

 

But Kenya was preparing for any eventuality and contingency plans had been made to receive up to 20,000 refugees at once if it comes to that.

 

The Kenyan Government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Wednesday arrangements were in place to host refugees in case violence breaks out in Southern Sudan after Sunday’s referendum.

 

The plans include intensifying security along the two countries’ common border and the registration and documentation of refugees likely to flock to the country.

 

“Proper mechanisms have been put in place to ensure that the government is not caught off-guard in case differences emerge in South Sudan after the referendum that might result in an influx of refugees into the country,” said Turkana West district commissioner Patrick Muriira.

 

“We are consulting with members of the local community to provide extra land to accommodate more refugees in case there is an influx after the referendum,” disclosed Mr Muriira.

 

The administrator said that according to a study carried out by the government and UNHCR, about 20,000 refugees from Southern Sudan were likely to enter Kenya between January and February this year.

 

A further 80,000 would troop into Kenya by the end of the year if the upheaval was to continue, bringing the number to 100,000, he added.

 

In Nairobi, Prof Saitoti, who is also the Internal Security minister, was quick to point out that all indications were that the referendum would be peaceful.

 

“In the unlikely event there are difficulties there, people have to come to Kenya, and arrangements are in place,” said the minister.

 

“There is both humanitarian and logistical support,” Prof Saitoti, who was reluctant to elaborate on the arrangements, said.

 

He urged the leaders of both the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement from the south and the National Congress Party of the north to preach messages of peace and restraint in the run-up to the referendum.

 

Prime Minister Raila Odinga also called on the people of Southern Sudan to deliver a decisive vote that would leave no room for doubts and disputes.

 

He sent Lands minister James Orengo to deliver his message to President Salva Kiir Mayardit of Southern Sudan in Juba.

 

Prof Saitoti said the government was encouraged by recent statements by both President Omar al-Bashir and First Vice-President Salva Kiir, which are likely to contribute to a peaceful vote.

 

Kenya also wants the people and leaders of Sudan to look beyond the referendum and at weighty issues that are yet to be considered, and which have to be dealt with before July 2011.

 

These include the unresolved Abyei referendum, the demarcation of the border between the south and the north, consultations in Southern Kordofan and the Blue Nile states as well as consensus on post-referendum agreements.

 

 

Source: Daily Nation

 

[Jacaylbaro]

CHRONOLOGY: Key dates in the history of south Sudan

 

 

 

 

1955: A separatist rebellion in the mainly Christian and animist south against domination by the Arab-Muslim north begins.

 

January 1, 1956: Sudan becomes independent from Britain, and also from its northern neighbour Egypt.

 

1972: Accords signed in Addis Ababa, giving the south autonomous status.

 

1983: President Gaafar al-Nimeiry ends autonomous status and enforce sharia.

 

1989: Omar al-Bashir takes power in an Islamist coup and cracks down again on the southern rebellion.

 

1995: The northern opposition unites with the southern guerrillas to battle the regime.

 

2005: January 9: The two sides sign a ceasefire agreement.

 

July 9: Bashir sworn in as president, Garang as vice-president.

 

July 30: Garang killed in a helicopter crash. Replaced by Salva Kiir.

 

September 20: National unity government announced after weeks of bitter wrangling.

 

October 22: Kiir forms an autonomous government for south Sudan.

 

2007: December 27: South Sudanese former rebels rejoin the national government.

 

2008: May: Fighting breaks out in the flashpoint oil-rich Abyei region.

 

2009: July 22: The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague reduces Abyei’s borders, leaving its main oil fields in the north.

 

December 29: Adoption of the referendum law. Tribal violence which has killed 2,500 over the year leads to fears of a civil war in the region.

 

[Jacaylbaro]

8 polling centres in Kenya for Sudan vote

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 6 - There will be eight polling stations for Sudan's southerners residing in Kenya who intend to participate in Sunday's historic referendum, the Head of Mission at the region's embassy Michael Majok announced on Wednesday.

Mr Majok explained that Nairobi would have two polling stations at the Railways Sports Club and at the Blue Springs Hotel on Thika Road while the remaining centres would be spread out across the country.

He noted that out of the 60,241 Sudanese who were registered as voters in the Diaspora, 15,057 were in Kenya.

"We have a polling centre in Dadaab with 171 registered voters, another in Eldoret Center with 1,359 voters, one in Kitale with 502 voters, Nakuru with 2,446 voters and two centres in Kakuma. Kakuma I has 2,149 voters and Kakuma II has 3,375," he explained.

In Nairobi, 3,029 Sudanese voters have registered at the Railways Sports Club while 2,026 have been registered at the Blue Springs Hotel.

Mr Majok further explained that all the results from the polling stations would be sent to both Juba and Khartoum once the voting process was concluded.

"The total number of votes cast will be counted in each centre in Kenya in the presence of election observers and monitors."

"The Southern Sudan Referendum Commissioners together with the Committee of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) will sign the document with the final vote count confirming its authenticity before the results are sent to Sudan," he said.

He added that Southern Sudanese, who were in the northern region of the country, would have to vote from the north.

Close to four million Southern Sudanese have so far registered for the referendum; out of these 116, 860 people were registered in the North's 16 states.

"Shifting and moving from one place to the next would bring confusion so people will vote from where they initially registered," he explained adding that there would be adequate security in place to ensure a peaceful process.

After the January 9 referendum and in the event that the south votes in favour of independence, both regions would have to decide on the fate of the Abyei state among other things.

"Part of the Abyei state was annexed to the north in 1905 because the distance from Juba in terms of administration was very far. But the fate of the bit that remained will be decided by a commission that will be formed by President Omar Al Bashir and Southern Sudan President Salva Kiir," said Mr Majok.

He also disputed concerns surrounding the issue of oil and the country's national debt saying they would be sorted out before the expiry of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) on July 9.


Read more: http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/Kenyanews/8-polling-centres-in-Kenya-for-Sudan-vote-11091.html#ixzz1AFN6loAo
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives

[MoonLight1]

Haddii South Sudan la ogolaaday in ay go'do Sland waa inloo ogolaadaa inay go'do, Hadii S'land loo ogolaado in ay Go'do waa in SSC loo ogolaadaa inay go'aan. Is that a fair deal JB and Co?.

[Jacaylbaro]

[Somalina]

South Sudan: Can This Be the World's Newest Nation?

 

A thousand miles from anywhere, among the empty flatlands and bare rock hills that mark the Sahara's southern edge, Juba is a place of mud huts and plastic-bag roofs where buzzards lift lazily on the afternoon heat and children wash in the muddy waters of the White Nile. It has no landline telephones, no public transport, no power grid, no industry, no agriculture and precious few buildings: hotels, aid compounds and even some government ministries are built from prefab cabins and shipping containers. There are a few businesses, a few score police, a handful of schools, one run-down hospital and several hundred bureaucrats. With the arrival of ever more aid workers, there is now also the occasional traffic jam of white SUVs on Juba's five tarred roads and a small clutch of bars to soak up those expat salaries. But it hardly suggests the improbable reality now dawning on the place: barring war, famine or genocide — and all are possible — in 10 months this sweltering, malarial shantytown will become the world's newest capital city in the world's newest country, South Sudan.

How can southern Sudan become an independent nation when it possesses so little of what defines one? Many aid workers and development experts in Juba doubt it can. They have coined a new term to describe its unique status: pre-failed state. In public, the international community tries to be more upbeat. But optimism is hard with so little time to prepare for separation. Southerners are expected overwhelmingly to choose to split Africa's largest country at a referendum on independence next Jan. 9, and David Gressly, the U.N.'s regional coordinator for southern Sudan, admits, "There is a lot of discussion about whether southern Sudan will be ready for secession." Asked whether South Sudan is sufficiently prepared to go it alone, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, whose Carter Center promotes health and democracy in Sudan, replies simply: "No."

 

 

Any premature birth presents complications. For southern Sudan, they could be particularly severe. Sudan is already one of the least stable countries on earth. This is where Osama bin Laden lived for five years in the 1990s; where the government has waged, in Darfur, what the Bush Administration called genocide; where the President, Omar al-Bashir, is the first head of state to be indicted by the International Criminal Court; and where 2 million people died in two civil wars between the south and the northern government in 1955-72 and between 1983 and 2005, conflicts that left the entire country awash with guns.

A new country born into that environment, which, say, did not have clearly defined borders, or had weak institutions, or was split internally, could spell disaster. "It could recreate the conditions for civil war," says Gressly. Major General Scott Gration, U.S. special envoy to Sudan, describes his task as ensuring "civil divorce, not civil war," and warns, "This place could go down in flames tomorrow. The probability of failure is great."

 

 

And that's just the south. Secession there is likely to encourage other Sudanese independence fighters, like those in Darfur, or in the east of the country, or in the central-southern states of Southern Kordofan and the Blue Nile. Carter downplays the likelihood of an African Yugoslavia splintering violently under pressure from multiple forces. Gration is less sure. "Disintegration is not a foregone conclusion," he says. "It's my view that we can stop this." So why is South Sudan even trying, when the price of failure could be war and the price of success might be Sudan's disintegration? Why is the world helping? The answers illuminate some harsh realities about the difficulties of engaging a rogue regime, the effectiveness of aid and the limits of international influence.

 

Read the rest @ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1978708,00.html

[Taleexi]

Interesting development in East Africa in particular South Sudan's looming referendum?

[Jacaylbaro]

Countdown begins to a free Southern Sudan

 

 

Millions of Southern Sudanese on Sunday turned up in large numbers to vote in a referendum that could see the region become Africa’s youngest state.

 

South Sudan President Salva Kiir declared the referendum a “historic moment” as he cast his ballot at the Dr John Garang Mausoleum in Juba, a few minutes after 8am.

 

And thousands of Sudanese living Kenya cast their votes in various towns, expressing their joy at finally voting to separate from the Khartoum government.

 

Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, former President Daniel arap Moi and Lt Gen (Rtd) Lazarus Sumbeiywo basked in the fruits of their efforts to find a long-lasting solution to decades of war in the Sudan.

 

In Southern Sudan, jubilant residents had queued through the night to be among the first to cast the vote they have yearned for for the last 50 years.

 

“This is the historic moment the people of south Sudan have been waiting for,” Mr Kiir said, holding up his finger to display indelible ink that showed he had voted.

 

He appealed to the region’s security machinery to ensure protection of the Northerners living in South Sudan, asserting that he expected Khartoum to reciprocate the gesture.

 

“It was wonderful to see Salva Kiir vote. It was the culmination of a lot of negotiation and a lot of hurdles that had to be got over,” said senator John Kerry, who had shuttled between northern and southern leaders for months to pave the way for the vote to proceed on schedule.

 

Renegade

 

However, the celebrations were overshadowed by clashes with renegade militiamen in two remote oil-producing districts on the north-south border that were bitterly contested in the 1983-2005 civil war.

 

Clashes between Misseriya Arabs and Ngok Dinka in the disputed border district of Abyei killed at least eight people on Sunday, sources on both sides said.

 

About 3.9 million people were registered to vote in the referendum which ends on January 15, with the final results expected 10 days later.

 

The separation must be endorsed by at least 60 per cent of the registered voters to be valid. It is widely expected that most Southerners would vote overwhelmingly to separate from their mostly Arab and Muslim compatriots.

 

Though Sudan President Omar al-Bashir, on a recent visit to Juba, promised to respect the will of the majority if they voted for secession, his sentiments on return to Khartoum have raised questions over his sincerity.

 

He told al-Jazeera TV that South Sudan was ill-prepared for independence and was destined to face instability if it voted to secede.

 

US President Barack Obama, in an opinion article published by the New York Times on Saturday, said voters must be allowed to make their choice free from intimidation.

 

Former UN chief Kofi Annan, who monitored the voting with ex-US President Jimmy Carter said the enthusiasm shown by voters should be rewarded with concrete results.

 

“It is important that the energy and enthusiasm lead to solid results that are accepted by everybody,” he said.

 

Mr Carter, who held talks with northern leaders in Khartoum before heading to Juba for the vote, said he believed the prospects for the referendum to result in new violence had greatly receded in recent days.

 

Polling stations in Khartoum in the early hours of voting remained largely deserted in stark contrast with the jubilant scenes in the south.

 

 

Daily Nation

 

[Jacaylbaro]

Kenya set on economic benefits of S. Sudan independence

 

One of the greatest economic gains Kenya is likely to get from an autonomous Southern Sudan, with a population of about 8.5 million people, is the market for the proposed Lamu port.

 

The port of Mombasa and the existing road and rail network cannot handle the massive volume and weight of materials that will be required for the Southern Sudan reconstruction, maritime experts say.

 

Although Southern Sudan has several options of seaports to choose from, consideration for the right choice will take into account factors such as security, number of borders to cross, nature of the terrain, length of route, and accessibility to the West and East by sea, says the second transport corridor inter-ministerial lead consultant Dr Mutule Kilonzo.

 

The Mombasa port has inadequate capacity to handle Southern Sudan cargo. The investment required to increase the capacity at the port and support infrastructure would be enormous.

 

“As it is, the port of Mombasa is struggling to keep up with the demands of its present clientele – Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Kenya,” Dr Kilonzo said.

A second option that has been considered is the port of Dar es Salaam.

 

This would involve goods transiting two countries, Tanzania and Uganda. Dar’s capacity to handle additional loads is also in question, according to the consultant.

 

But a new port at Lamu would offer the best option. The distance between Juba and Port Sudan in the North is about 4,000 kilometres, while the distance between Juba and Lamu is only 1,500 kilometres.

 

Southern Sudan is all set to become a major exporter of oil. Political and strategic imperatives rule out Southern Sudan’s sole dependence on Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast based on the history of the two countries, Dr Kilonzo said.

 

It is proposed that the Port of Lamu be made a free port which will be connected to the proposed Free Port at Dongo Kundu in Mombasa by a railway line and an access road.

 

“The free port will be a port in which goods can transit through or be stored for up to 5 years, without the complications of customs formalities. Southern Sudan and Ethiopia bound goods, as well as the exports from them, will require this expeditious utility,” says the consultant.

 

New generation vessels

 

With the feasibility studies of the second transport corridor expected to be ready by March this year, Lamu has many advantages as a potential alternative port to serve the sub-region as well.

 

It has a water depth of 18 metres making it ideal for fast construction. It also has a capacity to accommodate new generation vessels carrying over 10,000 Teus. Mombasa port can handle less than 3,000 Teus ships.

 

Other components of the second transport corridor include a superhighway that will connect Lamu to Addis Ababa and Juba. The three regions will also be connected with a standard gauge railway line to allow faster trains.

 

It is envisaged that a merchant oil refinery will be constructed in Lamu and will be connected by an oil pipeline to Juba to refine crude oil from Southern Sudan before shipment. An Optic fibre infrastructure to link the corridor will also be laid down.

 

International airports will also be constructed in Lamu, Isiolo and Lokichoggio, three important points along the corridor.

 

Daily Nation

 

[Qodax Qorax]

South Sudan became independant after a struggle of more then 60 years. Inshallah Somaliland who is already independant, will

be recongnized one day.

[Jacaylbaro]

Somaliland who is already independant, will be recongnized one day.

 

[Somalina]

Sudan border clashes kill 23 on day two of vote

 

 

2011-01-10)

(REUTERS) -

By Andrew Heavens

 

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - At least 23 people have died in clashes between tribespeople and Arab nomads near Sudan's north-south border, leaders in the contested Abyei region said on Monday, on the second day of a week-long referendum on southern independence.

 

Analysts cite the central region of Abyei as the most likely place for north-south tensions to erupt into violence during and after the vote, the climax of a troubled peace deal that ended decades of civil war.

 

Southerners are expected to vote to split from the mostly Muslim north, depriving Khartoum of most of its oil reserves.

 

President Barack Obama on Saturday warned both northern and southern leaders not to use proxy forces over the voting period, highlighting international concerns that both sides might be resorting to tactics used in past campaigns.

 

Leading members of Abyei's Dinka Ngok tribe, linked with the south, accused Khartoum of arming the area's Arab Misseriya militias in clashes on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and said they were expecting more attacks in days to come.

 

In another sign of tension, southern army spokesman Philip Aguer said two men -- a Ugandan and a northern army soldier -- were arrested with four boxes holding 700 rounds of AK-47 ammunition in Juba on Sunday night.

 

Aguer earlier said the north was also backing renegade fighters involved in recent clashes in the southern oil- producing Unity state.

 

The northern army's spokesman, al-Sawarmi Khaled, on Monday denied any link to the ammunition or the clashes.

 

PEACEFUL VOTING

 

Observers said thousands of voters queued up for a second day of voting that continued peacefully across other areas of the south. The final results are expected by February 15, with preliminary results some two weeks earlier.

 

"Yesterday I tried my best but it was too much for me. Queues were too long. People were too emotional. Everyone wants to be first to decide his destiny," said Salah Mohamed, waiting outside a booth on the outskirts of the southern capital Juba.

 

"Today I could vote but still as you can see the crowds are still there ... I think the commission might need to extend the voting days."

 

A U.N. source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters there were reports Misseriya fighters were re-grouping in the settlement of Golih Langar on Monday, 25 km (16 miles) north of Abyei town, the headquarters of U.N. peacekeepers in the region and international aid groups.

 

"A large number of Misseriya attacked Maker village yesterday (Sunday), backed by government militia ... The first day one person died, the second day nine, yesterday 13 ... It will continue. If not Maker then will attack every other village," said Charles Abyei, speaker of the Abyei administration.

 

Residents of the central Abyei region were promised their own referendum on whether to join the north or the south but leaders could not agree on how to run the poll and the vote did not take place, as planned on January 9.

 

Charles Abyei said the Misseriya attacked because they had heard false rumours the Dinka were about to unilaterally declare themselves part of the south.

 

Misseriya leader Mokhtar Babo Nimr told Reuters 13 of his men had died on Sunday's clash and accused southerners of starting the fighting.

 

"They attacked us because they don't want the Arabs to go south to water their herds but the cattle need water and they will go. If they continue to stop us going south this fighting will continue."

Southern army spokesman Philip Aguer said fighters captured after clashes with Galwak Gai's militia in Unity state on the eve of the vote said they had been sent from Khartoum.

 

"This is their last attempt to try to disrupt the voting process but they will not succeed," Aguer said.

 

(Additional reporting by Opheera McDoom and Jeremy Clarke in Juba; editing by Giles Elgood)

 

© Copyright 2011, Reuters

[Jacaylbaro]

Clashes in Sudan's Abyei kill at least 33: rival chiefs

 

JUBA, January 10, 2011 (AFP) - The feuding Misseriya Arab and Ngok Dinka peoples of the disputed Sudan district of Abyei on Monday both reported heavy losses in clashes over the past three days totalling at least 33 dead.

 

"Thirteen Misseriya have been killed and 38 wounded since Friday," Misseriya tribal leader Hamid al-Ansari said.

 

Abyei chief administrator Deng Arop Kuol said: "The total for these three days, we lost about 20 to 22 Dinka.

 

"They attacked us three times already and we are expecting them to attack again today."

 

UN peacekeepers have been sent to Abyei to investigate, UN Mission in Sudan spokesman Kouider Zerrouk said.

 

Tensions in the district on the north-south border have been rising with the launch of a landmark independence referendum in the south on Sunday.

 

Abyei had been due to hold a simultaneous plebiscite on its own future but it has been indefinitely postponed amid deadlock between northern and southern leaders over who should be eligible to take part in the vote on remaining part of the north or joining an autonomous or independent south.

 

Right to Vote

 

The Misseriya, heavily armed nomads who migrate to Abyei each dry season to find water and pasture for their livestock, insist they should have the same right to vote as the Dinka, settled agriculturalists who live in the district all year and are sympathetic to the south.

 

Threats by the Dinka to take unilateral action over the plebiscite delay have sparked warnings of retaliation from the Misseriya.

 

"Security is not in place right now, because the Arabs are attacking us," Kuol said.

 

"We don't know whether it is the government, the militias or the Misseriya.

 

"It began on Friday, and continued on Saturday and Sunday," he said.

 

"The Misseriya have been seen by our people, and they're setting the stage for another attack."

 

South Kordofan state governor Ahmed Haroun visited the district on Sunday to try to calm tensions but Kuol said the visit had had no impact.

 

"I don't know what he agreed. He only wanted to know if the cows of the Misseriya will be allowed to drink in Abyei," Kuol said.

 

"He didn't speak to us because we were busy with these attacks."

 

 

Daily Nation

 

[UWSLF]

South Sudan is already a failed state, just you wait and see they will start fighting within the first year.