By Mabior Philip   www.borglobe.com

Parliament – Juba (Borglobe)...The Juba-based Southern Sudan regional parliament has moved to establish an adhoc committee, synonymous to the Referendum Task Force of the executive branch, to politically mobilize the voters for the 2011 independence vote.

There were concerns that though the legislators were able to carry independence vote messages back to their electorates, there was no official and unified position taken by the Government of Southern Sudan and the assembly itself in regards to the options of unity or separation.

“President Bashir has made his position clear and he is campaigning for unity of Sudan, what message are we going to carry; is it just collective talk”, said Peter Bashir Gbandi, the Government Chief Whip. “So why are we shying away as assembly, do we stand with our people; are we getting these resources for saying what?”

Gbandi drew the nearest example of Kenya, saying during their constitution referendum they had ‘yes’ and ‘no’ secretariats independently. “If the assembly is advocating for secession, then it should come out very clearly and we have to do it in better way”.

All members of the House will be members of this adhoc committee and the membership may be extended to states and the national assembly. The committee, according to the mover Tulio Odongi Ayabus, will act as an early warning regarding any obstructions, insecurity, violence and other issues which may affect the vote.

It will also advocate the capability of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) defense strategy on both the territorial area and the airspace of Southern Sudan as mandated by the CPA from any external aggression should the people vote for separation.

According to a document received yesterday, the committee, will among others, direct the Government of Southern Sudan to establish close ties with the neighboring countries and the international community for immediate support and recognition should southerners vote for secession, and it seeks to set up an international press center in Juba.

“If things go well, thank God. If not, this assembly will have a final say”, said John Luk Jok, the Minister for Legal Affairs and Constitutional Development while considering some sections as unnecessary. The committee according to the proposal shall be chaired by the Speaker and deputized by the Deputy Speaker. The Government Chief Whip follows, as well as the Assembly Business Conduct component.

However, the SPLM-DC, the apparent opposition block, said Leader of the Opposition and the Opposition Chief Whip should be in the leadership as long as it is an all-member committee.

A select committee was formed to fine-tune the draft after the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs; Micheal Makuei Lueth identified many shortfalls regarding the structures of the committee. The select committee, headed by Dengtiel Ayuen Kur as the chairperson and Tulion Odongi as the secretary, will report back to the House after one week.

Maggie Fick /South Sudan Watch

JUBA, Sudan--“You are the same people,” the southern Sudanese vice president Riek Machar remarked to a conference room full of elites and traditional leaders from the Lou and Jikany clans of the Nuer tribe. “What is the problem?” he asked, seeming to be genuinely perplexed as to the causes of continued conflict between these two groups.

“If it is the land, if is the water, if it is the fish, can we not discuss it?” the vice president, himself a Nuer from a different clan native to the areas west of the Lou and Jikany peoples, continued. “Water has been here all this time. The fish have been here. So why is there conflict now?”

By “now,” Machar meant in relatively recent times. He noted that there have been serious problems between the Lou and Jikany people in the area of the south which they share since 1993, when clashes between the Lou and the Cie Kuek (a section of the Jikany clan) left a lasting impact of displacement along the Sobat River that remains a conflict trigger today.

This particular area of Nuerland--bisected by the Sobat river which runs through the heart of the “Sudd,” Africa’s largest remaining intact wetlands--has suffered from internal insecurity for decades. Cattle raids, revenge killings, problems between local administrators, boundary disputes, displacement…these are just some of the problems caused by the persistent mistrust and enmity between these two clans of the same tribe.

A friend working in this area explained to me that the area which the Lou and Jikany share, called Wanding, is strategically situated along the fertile fishing grounds and swampy areas of the Sobat. Both communities rely on this area because they are primarily pastoralists, which make them reliant upon cattle grazing grounds (known as toic) and the river for fishing. When drought comes to the Wanding area, fishing becomes more difficult and the toic shrinks, which sparks conflict between the Lou and Jikany communities due to the increased competition for limited resources.

Peace conferences between the Lou and Jikany elites and traditional leaders yield resolutions and promises that are often broken when tensions between the two groups spike for one reason or another. The meeting in the southern capital Juba where Machar spoke was a “brainstorming workshop” between these leaders. Although I do not doubt that this meeting served as a useful forum for the two communities to discuss the issues their people are facing, it is hard not to note the irony of the western jargon, which was necessary given that the meeting was sponsored by USAID.

It is easy, however, to be a critic, and harder to understand what exactly could be done to bring an end to the extremely localized tensions between various groups in southern Sudan.

Vice President Machar made the case for why finding the answer to this question is so important for the future of the southern Sudanese, who will likely choose to form their own country in their self-determination referendum in January 2011:

Sustainable peace is connected to development. If people don’t see changes in their lives…If their kids don’t go to school… then [these areas] will continue to have insecurity. But if there are schools, development, people will change their attitudes toward life.

By Mabior Philip   www.borglobe.com

Juba (Borglobe)...at least 16 were confirmed dead, seven wounded, and 3 others went missing in the wake of a fresh disarmament exercise last week in Jonglei’s Akobo County , in which 240 illicit riffles were collected from the civilians.

In a press briefing yesterday at the Minister of Information’s regular forum, the official spokesperson of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, Kuol Deim Kuol, said eleven of the deceased were SPLA soldiers and the five were civilians. The missing three are considered dead, he said.

Multiple disarmament exercises have been going on in the state since 2006. The fresh exercise is being conducted at Keikwin, a village between Akobo and Waat in the state, where armed youths fled the area for Ethiopia in protest of the disarmament early this year.

 Kuol said the SPLA’s disarming forces, having been resisted in the process, withdrew to Walgak for reinforcement.

 Disarmament is equally being carried out in Unity, Warrap, and Lakes states ahead of a sensitive 2011 vote that will split the already volatile Sudan into two.

Despite the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement five years ago, the situation remained tense and volatile in Southern Sudan due to presence of illicit arms at the disposal of the civilians.

According to Community Security and Small Arms Control, at least 1,800 people were killed, 280 wounded and 340 abducted in armed skirmishes last year.

South Sudan , having just emerged from one of the complicated elections in the country, is gearing up for an independence vote slated for January next year.

Analysts warn that the vote may be derailed unless the government of the south comes to its heel to settle armed cattle rustling and rebellions.

www.borglobe.com

 

 

 

Mayol Aguto Malak/Awak Deng Bior (ticket)

Brief background Hometown: Kolnyang, Bor County, Jonglei State
Education: Associate Degree in Business Management Bachelor of Science in Business Management and Accounting (in progress)

www.borglobe.com

 By Majur Deng Nhial

Jonglei (Borglobe) …It was onset of darkness and perhaps at dusk in Aboudit village, a part of Jalle Payam when gunmen shot dead his uncle Nyuon Malek fifteen years ago. Kinfolks heard the screams of pain and hastened to the scene of the crime where they found Nyuon‘s body quaking on floor while his nephews gone. Malek Buol Mayen was five with his sibling Deng were abducted in the very night their uncle lost life to Murle raiders for slave trade purposes. Malek knew very well then his brother was also abducted, but he could not tell where in Murle Deng was sold. Deng was a toddler, just of three years old and his older brother had never heard or seen him again in Murle land. Malek seriously attempted during his teenage to make friends and promise bribes to gather intelligence about the relocation of his brother, but nobody dared to leak a breach of secrecy, yet he gets warned of his irregular behavior following complaint from friends and neighbors to his adoptive family.

Local forces facilitated the passage for him and the family to find his biological parents in Bor. He remembered his father and mother names and was easily identified. Imagine how difficult if not impossible it would be for one to coordinate the forgotten language, leave alone the culture. It is a process and his speaking in Dinka sometimes loses in antiquity, but it is a fun to the people he communicates with as a learner.  

In addition, Anyang Ayuen Anyang the son of a local chief was also abducted in the late eighties and got back in 2003. He is very skillful and well-respected young man in the whole village.

Doctors Without Borders

Following three separate security incidents in one of its remote health care clinics, international emergency medical aid organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been forced to suspend all activities in Gumuruk, Jonglei State.

MSF is calling on all armed groups, community members, and political parties in Southern Sudan to respect the neutrality of MSF medical staff, activities and facilities so that lifesaving aid can be delivered to people urgently in need.

“Attacks on our staff and clinics prevent us from providing essential medical aid,” said Rob Mulder, MSF head of mission in Southern Sudan. “These incidents are totally unacceptable as they stop us from accessing patients and put our staff at risk.”

MSF runs a primary health care center in the town of Pibor in Jonglei State, and from there runs two smaller outreach clinics in more remote areas, Lekwongole and Gumuruk, which are only accessible by plane or boat during the current rainy season.

On July 1, an armed group entered the Gumuruk clinic and stole boxes of the therapeutic ready-to-use food (RUTF) with which MSF treats severely malnourished children. Three days later, more RUTF was stolen along with medical equipment. Then, on July 27, four MSF staff members travelling by boat from Pibor to Gumuruk were violently robbed by armed men.

“Though we are fully committed to providing emergency medical aid to Gumuruk community, we have been left with no other choice than to suspend all medical activities in our outreach clinic,” added Mulder.

The Gumuruk outreach clinic provides basic medical care, including general consultations, treatment for malnutrition, ante-natal care, and vaccinations for a population of more than 30,000 people. Complex medical cases requiring hospitalization are referred to the larger MSF clinic in Pibor; serious cases in need of surgery are evacuated from there by MSF plane to hospitals in Boma, or in the capital, Juba.

“More than 160 malnourished children were receiving treatment in our Gumuruk clinic,” said Gbane Mahama, MSF medical coordinator for Southern Sudan. These children had received rations to last them for a week, but with the staff evacuated, there is no one to continue their treatment. “In addition,” Mahama adds, “there were up to 20 new cases of severely malnourished children each week. Unless access to this community improves, it is impossible to evacuate those who need hospitalization or surgery, including women with obstructed labor or children with cerebral malaria or severe anemia who need blood transfusions.”

Apart from a small Ministry of Health facility in Pibor town, MSF is the only primary health care provider in this part of Jonglei State, which is home to around 150,000 people, where villages are separated by large distances, and where roads are often impassable.

MSF has been working in Sudan since 1979 providing free-of-charge medical assistance to people suffering from the effects of poor access to health care, floods, droughts, disease outbreaks, armed conflict and nutritional emergencies. MSF runs clinics and hospitals across 10 Sudanese states, including Warrap, Jonglei, Upper Nile, Unity, Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal, Western Equatoria, Central Equatoria, the transitional area of Abyei, Red Sea, Al-Gedaref and North Darfur.

MSF is an independent and neutral emergency medical organization that serves all people based on impartial assessments of need, regardless of race, political, tribal or religious affiliation.

Source: United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS)

Severe flooding in Akobo County, Jonglei State, has caused the deaths of two people and destroyed 133 households, according to the report of a humanitarian team that visited the Walgak area.

Compiled jointly by the World Food Programme (WFP), Southern Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SSRRC), and non-governmental organizations, the Walgak Rapid Floods Assessment Report also notes that one person was paralyzed by a lightening strike, 43 goats died, and five schools were demolished in the flooding.

The report states that Akobo West has been flooded since 16 July. "The floods have come mainly as a result of heavy rains in Pibor County. The floods are believed to be flowing through the semi-desert area into Akobo West."

There is an urgent need to provide tents and sleeping materials for affected households, according to the report. Food aid is also required, along with water purification, so that people will have clean water for drinking.

It also notes that three schools need urgent reconstruction and two others immediate renovation for education to continued in affected areas. In addition, roads need better drainage and culverts for water to pass from one side to another in avoiding further damage.

The report predicts that the flooding will last for several weeks. "It is expected that these floods will continue until early September based on the frequency of the rains, which means there will be more displacement and ruining of the harvest."

The humanitarian team is continuously monitoring the situation for signs of any disease outbreak, as floods can create unhealthy living conditions.

Source: United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS)

Women and children covered in white ash from burnt cow dung eagerly welcomed herds of cattle back into kraals (enclosure for livestock) at the Wundor Cattle Camp in Bor, Jonglei State, after a day's grazing.

"These cows you are seeing are everything to me," said Gabriel Kuany, 42, who has four wives and nine children. "They give me milk that I sell, and I buy food and pay my children's school fees."

Cattle keeping is one of the oldest economic activities in Southern Sudan. Shunning the western lifestyle common in many African cities, the Dinka Bor community keeps cows for social prestige and the payment of wedding dowries and use their milk for food.

"Initially our cows are purely for prestige -- we cannot sell or slaughter for meat unless they are sick," said Mabior de Maluk, a 30-year-old native of Bor. "But now with modernization, people can sell bulls to send their children to school."

A bull is valued at about 1,000 SDG ($450).

Pastoralists here burn cow dung to smoke out mosquitoes and other insects from the camp. Cow dung ash is then applied to cows and residents to protect them from insect bites.

The Dinka Bor live in aduel (temporary pyramid-shaped, makeshift huts) built from arual (reeds) within the cattle camp, which form a large part of their culture.

"Living in Aduel in the cattle camp and rubbing our bodies with ashes of burnt cow dung are our pride," said 50-year-old Nhial Kuol Garang. "As cattle keepers, we look smart in it."

Cattle are not only valued for food and their dung but also help determine an individual's status, power and influence in the community.

"When you have many cows, you are highly respected and have greater influence in the community and can easily become the chief," said Mr. Garang.

The desire to have more cows has made it difficult for the herdsmen to sell their cows to improve their lives.

"You are always a happy person when you have big bulls with long curved horns," added Mr. Garang. "While dancing, you demonstrate the style of the horn of your bull."

The Dinka's attachment to their cattle also shows in their baby-naming practices. Children are sometimes named after the colour of the family's best bull or cow, said Mr. Maluk, noting that Machar means black, Mabior white and Marial black and white.

Although the majority of the Dinka Bor shuns money, vehicles and stone houses for the simple life in the cattle camp, some have embraced a few aspects of modern society such as formal education.

"I go to school and come back to the camp because it is comfortable staying in the camp," said the 15-year-old herdboy Ayen Mangok.

Back in the old days, according to Mr. Kuany, only stubborn and disobedient children were sent to school as a form of punishment.

"But this ideology has changed," he explained as he gathered cow dung on a smoky evening in April. "All the children are going to school including girls, unless it is the choice of the child to remain in the cattle camp."

Attitudes towards cattle keeping may be changing as increasing numbers of educated youths now regard life in the cattle camp as old-fashioned.

"Most of our children who have gone to school do not like staying in the cattle camp," said Mr. Garang. "They like staying in towns even if they have nothing to do there."

The cattle keepers' life can be difficult. Raids and tribal clashes with neighbouring communities are commonplace, and peace in Southern Sudan is all the more vital to the prosperity and security of the cattle camp dwellers.

"We voted (in the April 2010 elections) because we want to elect leaders who can bring us peace," said Mr. Kuany. "We need peace for our cows, we need peace for our children. If all the cows died, then we are also dead."

Jonglei (Borglobe) … terror inside Bor Town, the state capital sparks fears among its residents since last Sunday when unidentified gunmen killed one, wounded other, and abducted two siblings at Thorn Awai - a community outlying city next to the cemetery within the capital.