South Sudan Thread

[Jacaylbaro]

Hope not ..............

[Jacaylbaro]

SUDAN-SOMALIA: Referendum outcome worries Somalis in South

 

JUBA, 10 January 2011 (IRIN) - The question on the minds of many Somalis and other Muslims living in Southern Sudan is: should the ongoing referendum result in secession, what will happen to them?

 

"We are worried about our future after secession because Somalis are considered pro-Northern Sudan because we are all Muslims," Ahmed Mohamed, a Somali businessman in Juba, capital of Southern Sudan, told IRIN.

 

"I am from Somaliland [a self-declared independent republic in Somalia], which has a lot of similarities with the Southern Sudan, but we are Muslims. Southern Sudanese people have sensitive thoughts about Islam, because they consider it a tool used for their oppression by the Northern Sudan government in the last decades."

 

Ibrahim Abdalla Sheikh, an imam at a mosque in Juba, said he hoped Muslims were not in any danger.

 

"More than 30 percent of the Bari community in Southern Sudan are Muslim and we hope nothing will happen to us whether or not the South becomes an independent state," he said. "Of course Islam is the largest religion in [Northern] Sudan, but in the South we are the minority."

 

It is expected that the Southern population will vote overwhelmingly for secession in the referendum that began on 9 January.

 

There are an estimated 5,000 Somalis living and working in Southern Sudan. Many have businesses, mostly dealing in food and fuel.

 

Mohamed Ali, a Somali shopkeeper in Juba, said: "We are worried that if Southern Sudan separates from the rest of Sudan, the Southerners may say, 'Somalis have taken our businesses', as has happened in South Africa."

 

However, Dr Barnaba Marial Benjamin, Minister of Information for Southern Sudan, assured the Somalis and other Africans in the region they would be safe.

 

"Somalis and other Africans who have businesses here will have nothing to worry about whether we get our independence or not," he said.

 

Somalis fleeing the civil war at home have established businesses in many parts of Africa, particularly in Kenya. Many Somalis have suffered xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

[UWSLF]

Jacaylbaro;686523 wrote:

Hope not ..............

They already started fighting each other a few months ago, trust me. Something is gonna go down, the government and foreign companies will share all the oil. The people will starve and then rebel.

[Jacaylbaro]

http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/-/2456/2456/-/1bxxmm/-/index.html

[Jacaylbaro]

UWSLF;686527 wrote:

They already started fighting each other a few months ago, trust me. Something is gonna go down, the government and foreign companies will share all the oil. The people will starve and then rebel.

There are some clashes but don't hope a bloodshed to proof your point sxb .......................

[UWSLF]

Somalis need to get out of there as soon as they can, the Southerners don't really like Muslims and Somalis stand out in the South as they don't look the same as us.

[Somalina]

Jacaylbaro;686526 wrote:

 

"I am from Somaliland [a self-declared independent republic in Somalia], which has a

lot of similarities

with the Southern Sudan,

but we are Muslims

. Southern Sudanese people have sensitive thoughts about Islam, because they consider it a tool used for their oppression by the Northern Sudan government in the last decades."

Daciif iga dheh! kulahaa "a lot"

[General Duke]

Hope there is no war, and a brighter future for both Sudan's.. Not sure how secessionists of Somalia think this helps their cause. Or maybe the difference between the SNM and others Somali's is the same as that which exists between the Arab's of the North & the Dinka & Shiluuk of the South.

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Huge turnout on second day of south Sudan vote Steve Kirby

January 10, 2011 - 9:19PM

.Thousands of south Sudanese poured out to vote for a second straight day in a landmark independence referendum on Monday, bringing the region a step closer to becoming the world's newest state.

 

Repeating the jubilant scenes witnessed on Sunday, huge queues formed outside polling stations in the regional capital Juba from long before dawn as voters seized their chance to have their say on whether to split Africa's largest nation and put the seal on five decades of north-south conflict.

 

The scale of the turnout on the second of the seven days of polling brings the south a big step closer to the 60 percent threshold set by a 2005 peace deal between north and south for the referendum to be valid.

 

Advertisement: Story continues below Provincial towns recorded similar crowds outside polling stations to those in Juba.

 

One polling station in the Lakes state capital Rumbek processed more than 600 people voters on the first day alone, a quarter of the total number registered to vote.

 

"The only complaints were those who left disappointed after waiting so long in the sun but who did not get to vote because the time ran out," said state governor Chol Tong Mayay.

 

"Many had to walk three or four hours each way to reach a centre but they can vote today or in the following days."

 

In the smaller towns and vast countryside of south Sudan, many polling stations are out in the open, making it impossible for staff to stay open much beyond the appointed 5:00 pm close of polls to cater for the backlog of eager voters as many did in the regional capital Juba on Sunday.

 

The state governor said that his one concern was that even with a seven-day polling period some voters might not be able to get to polling stations because they had been forced to move with their livestock over large distances to find water and pasture.

 

"Many of our people are cattle-keepers who now, because it is the dry season, have moved from where they were registered," Mayay said.

 

In the regional capital, many voters were taking drastic action to ensure they got to vote on the second day after being disappointed on Sunday.

 

"I came at 2:00 am. Today I was the first to vote," James Khor Chol, 28, said proudly.

 

Like many in this mainly Christian region, Chol had gone to church on Sunday before going to the polling station where he was overwhelmed by the queues.

 

Many were wearing their Sunday best again on Monday as they cast their vote on whether to break away from the mainly Arab Muslim north.

 

After standing solemnly in sex-segregated lines for hours to perform what for many was a patriotic duty, voters took turns to dip their finger in indelible ink and put their ballot in the box. The women ululated after each one.

 

Southern leaders had urged voters to turn out en masse but the size of the crowds on the first day surprised the referendum organisers.

 

After initially being effusive about the scenes outside polling stations, Chan Reec, the organising commission's number two, later appealed for more consideration to be shown to women with children and the elderly.

 

Some 3.75 million people are registered to vote in the south and around 117,000 in north Sudan, the majority in the capital Khartoum. Emigres were also able to vote in eight countries abroad.

 

Final results are not expected until next month because of the problems involved in collecting ballot boxes in a vast, war-ravaged region which has just 40 kilometres (25 miles) of tarmac road.

 

The independence referendum is the centrepiece of the 2005 north-south peace deal that ended a devastating 22-year civil war in which some two million people were killed and another four million fled their homes.

 

Sudan President Omar al-Bashir, an army man who led the north's war against the south for a decade and a half before signing the peace deal six years ago, has said he will respect the vote's outcome if it is "free and transparent."

 

US President Barack Obama, whom aides said had voiced a deep personal commitment to ending the north-south conflict in Sudan, hailed the successful first day of voting and pledged continued support from Washington.

 

© 2011 AFP

This story is sourced direct from an overseas news agency as an additional service to readers. Spelling follows North American usage, along with foreign currency and measurement units.

[Somalina]

Human Rights Activists Caution Against US Incentives for Sudan

 

Human rights activists are cautioning against U.S. promises to drop Sudan from a list of sponsors of state terrorism. They say such promises could undermine long term security in the region.

 

As the referendum for south Sudan's secession moves ahead, human rights activists are closely watching how the United States is dealing with the Sudanese government in Khartoum.

 

If a vote for separation in the south wins, as is widely expected, the agreed upon timetable would have south Sudan become a new country in July.

 

U.S. officials are now reiterating pledges they could remove Sudan from its list of states that sponsor terrorism as early as July as well.

 

But David Abramowitz from the U.S.-based group Humanity United says the U.S. Congress will also play in role in determining such a change. "Obviously there will be issues there and people will be looking at that. There is a congressional role there, consultation at a minimum, that will be happening," he said.

 

Before such a move, Sam Bell, with the U.S.-based Genocide Intervention Network, says U.S. officials would also do well to look into whether Sudan's government is currently backing the Uganda-based roving militia Lord's Resistance Army (L.R.A), which is currently proscribed by the United States as a terrorist organization.Their leader Joseph Kony is wanted on an International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued in 2005 for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

 

"One thing that we have urged the administration to look at is the connection between Khartoum and the LRA which is reported, elements of which are reported to be in south Darfur and are reported to have reached out to Khartoum in the past months and weeksm," he said.

 

The LRA started in opposition to Uganda's government in the late 1980s, but in recent years has wrecked havoc in several east African countries, burning and looting villages, raping villagers and abducting children. There are concerns the group is now operating in Sudan's western region of Darfur where a war between rebels and Sudanese security forces persists.

 

Abramowitz from the group Humanity United says that since there has been no progress to end the violence in Darfur, U.S. economic sanctions should remain. "If things go well on the referendum, state sponsor of terrorism list is definitely on the table come July but other areas such as the lifting of sanctions and debt relief, etcetera are not until Darfur is resolved," he said.

 

Other unresolved issues related to the north-south agreement to end two decades of civil war also remain, such as the oil-rich border region of Abyei which was also supposed to hold a referendum on its future this week.

 

There has been violence in Abyei in recent days in which dozens of people have been killed. Human rights activists warn the clashes could be a prelude to a new north - south war.

[Somalina]

Territorial Triumph and Geopolitical Pitfalls in South Sudan

While the international community, which author and noted Africa scholar Mahmood Mamdani's describes as a euphemism for the post-Cold War Western powers, [2] may be ready to accept a redrawing of the map and cleave Africa's largest country, for the radicals America and some of it's allies are fighting in Central Asia and the Arab world, the creation of a new Western sanctioned nation-state in a religiously and politically contested area at the edge of the Arab-Muslim world as proof that the jihadis are indeed engaged in a long term religious battle with an international system bent on stemming the spread of Islam, the one true monotheism.

 

Almost as if playing into a scripted jihadi propaganda narrative, Senator Kerry spoke at a cathedral in Juba, South Sudan's de facto and future captial telling the audience: "...as a Catholic and person of faith, and person in public life, I can't help but feel the relevance of what brings us here to this place of worship and what brings us to the challenge of building a nation."

 

For the peoples of South Sudan who have suffered so much since the end of the Anglo-Egyptian administration in 1956 and the decades of on-again, off-again civil war and proxy war in the Sahel and Equatoria, this week will mark the beginning of a new era that will likely stumble through a high degree of uncertainty. Sudan's current borders are not a purely a legacy of European colonialism as perceived in many other parts of the Sahara and Sahel super regions of Africa. Many of Sudan's modern borders were in fact created during the Ottoman era in a period known as the Turkiyya by Turkish-Egyptian colonizers and were later inherited by European administrators.

 

The future of the disputed Abyei region straddling a soon to be formally demarcated North-South border, the nomadism of the Messiriya Arabs in that area who may see their identity in the context of a united Sudan, and the current South-North flow of oil deemed an essential cornerstone of this new state-building experiment, remain as huge question marks even after the week long voting process this week has ended.

 

If South Sudan becomes an internationally-recognized state, will this agitate other long-standing African (and potentially Asian and Eurasian) post-colonial territorial disputes? Will this lead the Paris-based leadership of the "Republic of Cabinda" who seek to create an independent state in the Angolan exclave of Cabinda (once known as the Portuguese Congo) wedged in between Congo-Brazzaville and Congo-Kinshasa? Or what of the Cassamance rebellion in southern Senegal or the Ogeden rebellion in eastern Ethiopia?

 

Read the rest at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/derek-flood/territorial-triumph-and-g_b_807716.html

[Somalina]

Investors expect big deals after Sudan vote

By KENNETH KWAMA

 

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

 

 

 

The smooth start to Southern Sudan's referendum on cessation has raised hope of a positive outcome and better prospects for companies that are either seeking fresh entry or expansion in that economy.

Most companies in the region have been staring lusciously at business prospects offered by a politically stable south. Currently, the investors are awaiting the outcome of the vote, which kicked off last Sunday and whose final outcome — a vote for independence, is expected well after Lovers’ Day on February 14.

 

"If that happens, then the outlook should be positive and the investment climate more predictable and you will see a much higher level of sovereign investment coming into southern Sudan," Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB’s) Managing Director Martin Oduor-Otieno told the media in an interview.

 

Experts say a positive conclusion to the referendum will have far reaching beneficial impacts on the Kenyan economy.

 

"Being more developed than its neighbouring countries, providers of goods and services from Kenya with ability to mobilise fast and efficiently will certainly benefit from this opening up of the market," says Ken Kariuki, MD Khweza Consulting.

 

KCB, which is the largest bank in the country by assets, was amongst the first foreign companies to set base in the South at a time faith was optimal. The bank has kept the faith and today, it is projecting it will have around 30 branches across the semi-autonomous region by 2015 and 100,000 customers in the next three years, up from around 10,000 currently.

 

Jetlink Express MD Elly Aluvale contends there will be more business and greater returns for the regional airliner if the process goes well.

 

"As businesspeople, we want to be positive and hope that the process ends well. The southerners are likely to secede and Jetlink want to be there to help with their transportation needs.

 

"We want to make a bigger impact in the south by providing a reliable air transport network between Juba and the other cities," says Aluvale.

 

A source close to Equity bank hinted that the establishment was happy with progress so far and would issue a statement during the week.

 

INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS

"There have been several enquiries and we know for a fact that Equity’s MD will issue a positive statement within the week," said our source who requested not to be named.

 

The smooth start to the referendum is likely to go down well with international investors most of who had began doubting the outcome of the process, which had been billed as a potential trigger for another round of conflict in the region.

 

Recently, Frontier Economics released a report that looks at the economic cost of renewed conflict in Sudan.

 

The report titled The cost of future conflict in Sudan concludes that if the referendum sparks conflict, and if it runs for ten years its neighbours could lose over $25-billion in Gross Domestic Product.

 

Source: Standard

[Somalina]

South Sudan's referendum vote reaches 60%, says SPLM

 

South Sudan has reached the 60% turnout needed to pass the referendum on secession from the north, the south's ruling party and ex-rebel group says.

 

South Sudan has reached the 60% turnout needed to pass the referendum on secession from the north, the south's ruling party and ex-rebel group says.

 

"The 60% threshold has been achieved but we are asking for a 100% (turnout)," the SPLM's Anne Itto said.

 

She did not give exact figures, but said it was based on polling centre reports for the first three days of the week-long vote which began on Sunday.

 

The poll was agreed as part of the 2005 deal to end the two-decade civil war.

 

The Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement have been running the region since that peace agreement.

 

Official turnout figures - which along with the preliminary result, are not expected until the beginning of February - are the responsibility of the South Sudan Referendum Commission.

 

Nearly all of those registered to vote - almost four million people - live in the south.

 

 

Ms Itto said people have stopped asking each other "how are you?" as a greeting and instead are asking "have you voted?", AP news agency reported.

 

Sabit Alley, a member of the referendum commission, told the BBC they do not have exact statistics for the south because of communication problems.

 

But from information collected so far, 46% of people had cast their ballot in the south in the first two days.

 

"In the north 25% have voted - Khartoum state is quite high, over 50%," he said.

 

The vote, in which only southerners are taking part, is widely expected to approve secession.

 

Meanwhile the US state department has indicated it could remove Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism if the north recognises the outcome of the poll.

 

"It is a process that takes some time, but by beginning the process in the wake of the referendum, the hope is if they meet all the conditions, it can be done by July," US diplomat Princeton Lyman told AFP news agency.

 

Southern Sudan would become Africa's 54th nation on 9 July 2011 if the referendum is passed.

 

North and south Sudan have suffered decades of conflicts driven by religious and ethnic divides, with an estimated 1.5 million people killed in the civil war.

 

--------

Sudan's Historic Vote

Voting: 9-15 January

- To pass, there must be a 60% turnout, plus a straightforward majority in favour

 

- Vote is a condition of the 2005 deal to end the two-decade north-south conflict

 

- Most northerners are Arabic-speaking Muslims

 

- Most southerners are Christian or follow traditional religions

 

- Oil-rich Abyei area to hold separate vote on whether to join north or south

 

- Referendum could divide Africa's largest country

 

- Final result due 6 February or 14 February if there are appeals

 

- South would become continent's newest nation on 9 July 2011

 

- National anthem and flag chosen, but not new country's name

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12170235

[Jacaylbaro]

Ethiopian companies eye construction business in South Sudan

 

January 18, 2011(ADDIS ABABA) – As the possibility of the formation of the new state, South Sudan comes closer to realisation, Ethiopia’s giant construction and water companies have shown broad interest in contract business in the area.

 

Awash Welday Water Works and General Contractor are one among the leading companies in Ethiopia’s construction sector. Named after the owner and general manager, the company has a first grade general contractor license (GC-1) in both water works and in construction which enables it to undertake construction projects worth 25 million Birr (US$ 1.5 million) and above.

 

“Regardless of the referendum outcome, we are ready to execute as much projects as offered, should we get the grants from south Sudan” Awash Welday told Sudan Tribune in an interview.

 

“We have the skills, experience, financial capacity and the will to take projects in south Sudan.

 

As neighbours, and with long-standing historic ties with Sudan we have the responsibility to support the brotherly people of south Sudan” he added.

 

Awash’s company currently executes projects in Tigray, Oromiya, south Ethiopia and the inhospitable Afar region.

 

Awash says his company is also well known for accomplishing projects on time and meeting the standards in difficult circumstances.

 

“We have done several World Bank funded projects in the volcanically active Afar region’s Dallol, in the Danakil Depression [the hottest place on earth] battling temperatures that reach up to 50 degree centigrade.

 

According to the owner, his company is fully equipped with machinery and undertakes the construction of multi-storied buildings, schools, institutes, government buildings, residential houses, bridges and in the water sector it executes water supply systems dams’ irrigation work, water treatment and sewerage systems." Awash noted.

 

Preliminary results from the South Sudan referendum indicate support for secession. In Ethiopia 98.4% of the total votes have chosen in favour of independence. However, years of civil war devastated the region and infrastructure needs a great deal of work. If south secedes, analysts say health care, sanitation, water supplies, electricity and roads will need an immediate attention.

 

Niat Building contractor PLC is also among leading Ethiopian companies keen to engage in construction business in south Sudan.

 

Owned by Mokonen Alemayo, the company is well known of carrying out foreign-funded projects in the northern Tigray region mainly in areas affected by the 1998-2000 border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

 

Mokonen Alemayo, also general manager, says his company could handle a multi-million dollar projects in Ethiopia or outside Ethiopia:

 

“We can build condominiums, recreational areas, health centres, hotels amongst others.

 

We have long been engaged in taking projects aimed to reconstruct war affected areas and with our qualified professionals and rich experience I have no doubt that we will do a successful job in South Sudan and in parallel we share our experience with the people there.”

 

Rivan Co. Engineering PLC is also among the Ethiopian firms that want to engage, mainly in water works and water drilling activities.

 

In charge of the firm is Natnael Gebremichael. He says the firm undertakes waterworks systems, building reservoirs, dam construction, irrigation, drainage and water drilling.

 

Currently the company is executing projects in Tigray and in the vast Oromiya region of Ethiopia.

 

“We have qualified professionals including civil structure and technical engineers, hydrologists and geologists.

 

With deep experience in water works, hydro structure, dam construction and on top of that being well-equipped we are competent enough to undertake massive projects in Sudan.” Natnael said.

 

Currently, there are two Ethiopian government owned financial firms in South Sudan, Ethiopian Commercial Bank and the Ethiopia Insurance Company.

 

 

Source: Sudan Tribune

[Jacaylbaro]

South Sudan prepare new national anthem

 

 

Southern Sudanese singers have been rehearsing a song for their country. If the south votes for independence in the current referendum then the region will require a new national anthem. If the south is declared a separate country then it will be the world’s youngest.

 

At Juba University a contest was held in order to choose singers to perform the national anthem. An excited crowd gathered to see who would be chosen. Joseph Abuk who is leading the team chosen to write the lyrics of the anthem said that the idea to create the anthem was decided on because it is an important historical moment for Sudan.

 

He added that they want to be prepared if south Sudan is made independent. The residents of the south are excited at the idea that they may soon be independent from the north who they fought during the civil war. At the end of each performance the crowd applauded enthusiastically. The singers each took the stage in order to share a song paying tribute to their country of birth.

 

Musicians wanted the new national anthem to be different to the current national anthem which has a military style. The winner of the competition composed a more gentle song. Critics say that the words of the song do not always fit with the music.

 

However some competitors misunderstood the instructions and attempted to join their lyrics with famous love songs. The judges assessed each competitor and dismissed those who were not singing songs that fit with the occasion. However this was not only seen as entertainment as many of the people in the crowd had tears in their eyes. The lyrics honored people who lost their lives during the civil war.