The road to Independence
Tuesday, 10 July 2012 04:46 Muna Tesfai Reports . They fought the battles and survived; sat in meetings in which they disagreed until they reached an agreement, ran the race for their self-determination in January 2011 and received their certificate of Independence at Dr John Garang Mausoleum on 9th July 2011, to be called South Sudan, the newest African country, which became the 193rd member of the United Nations. As easy and smooth as the journey may sound to your ears, it was far from so, this was a hard won independence at the expense of the blood of millions, who perished during the process. South Sudanese have been in a perpetual struggle against slavery, slave trade, colonization and marginalization, Arabization and Islamization since 1820. The armed struggle waged by the Anya-nya one and the Sudan People's Liberation Army survived through thick and thin, with millions of lives lost in defense of human dignity and millions sent into exile abroad or in displacement camps within the country. The Torit revolt of August 18th 1955 by officers serving in the Sudanese army which gave birth to an armed movement called the Anya-nya one, triggered what was to mark the beginning of the southern Sudanese struggle for independence from the north. Daniel Jumi, one of the ring leaders of Anya-nya one movement, now aged 99, was among the southern Sudanese members of parliament who were dismissed by the then Sudanese president, General Ibrahim Aboot. He takes us through the reason for that rebellion: "In 1956 when the revolt happened in Torit I was involved. I was the one who came with the idea that people should have something organized and in that organization we were two. My friend Marko Zume who died, was the secretary. We went to the bush because we wanted independence; we wanted a proper government that listens to someone in the parliament" Just like most African countries, The Sudan was colonized and had to struggle to free itself from the British and Egyptian colonization. During the colonial era, from 1899 to 1955, lots of moves were made, aimed at improving the administration of the country and subsequently, becoming free from colonial rule. As the struggle for the independence of Sudan intensified, attempts by the colonial administration to annex the southern part of the country to Uganda prior to its independence in 1956, was thwarted by the northern elites. A result of which, led to the convening of a conference in Juba in 1947. Although the conference did not achieve much, it had its advantages according to 83-year old veteran politician Elioba James Surur: "Well to me it opened the eyes of the southerners to see the fact that really the Egyptians and the northern Sudanese are working in collaboration so that Egypt wants to win the South because the Egyptians did not want the south to be alone, they want the south and the north to be together so that they could, since they were the masters at that time they could be able to use the water" As the Anya-nya one guerillas operating from the bush of South Sudan sailed on, another intellectual attempt was made by calling for a round table conference in 1965 in Juba, which called for self-determination for South Sudanese. The 83-year old veteran politician and participant of the conference, James Elioba Surur, gives the outcome of that conference. "This was where the southerners decided to have self-determination and to have a federal system of government in the Sudan and that is how a person like Aggrey Jaden came and declared that is the time for southerners to have their self-determination before they can be able to join the north, the south should determine their future" The round table conference coupled with other attempts seem to have ushered in a beacon of light and by 1972, the Anya-nya one, signed an agreement with the government of Sudan in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, thereby ending the armed struggle and creating a semi-autonomous government for Southern Sudan. General Joseph Lagu the leader of Anya-nya one who signed the agreement with government highlights the compelling circumstance which forced him to do so: "You see the Ugandan leader at the time General Amin who was one time our friend after visiting Egypt, Libya and Saudi Arabia he returned as an enemy and started chasing away our sympathizers and at that juncture as long as Khartoum had offered a hand of friendship, I thought to give our people rest and I entered into negotiations and then it resulted into the 1972 peace agreement" With the signing of the Addis Ababa agreement in 1972 Sudan witnessed a period of relative peace and it was not until May 16th 1983, that the country was plunged back into civil war when the Sudan People's Liberation Army – SPLA was formed. On May 16th 1983, Battalions' 105 and 104, of the then Sudanese Army led by Kerubino Kuwanyin Bol and William Nyoun Bany, respectively mutinied against the high command in Khartoum to form what was later to become the Sudan People's Liberation Army. It is widely believed that this phase of the liberation struggle waged by the SPLA saw over two million lives lost and displaced about four million others from their homes. While the SPLA engaged the Government of Sudan in guerilla warfare, Southerners living in Khartoum and other towns under the government also had their own plight as highlighted by Reverend Helen Kila of the Episcopal Church: "Some were in the forest and people like us in the north and we had it rough though we were in Khartoum and had been forced to live under Sharia law. Many of us had their hands cut and some had their legs cut..." This bitter and brutal struggle of the SPLA came to an end when the government of Sudan, under President Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement headed by Dr. John Garang de Mabior, signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement on January 9th 2005, in Nairobi. Among the most important provision of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, was the creation of a semi-autonomous government in southern Sudan, an independent army for the region and the provision of a six year interim period to be concluded with a referendum for southern Sudanese to decide either to remain under the role of a United Sudan or secede to form a new country. In a referendum held on 9th January 2011, 99 percent of southern Sudanese voted for independence. Major General Joseph Lagu, who at one time led the Anya-nya one movement and later became the vice president of the Sudan and president of the government of Southern Sudan, sees the success of the CPA as based on the failures of the 1972 Addis Ababa Agreement: "Without the 1972 Addis Ababa accord, Naivasha would not have come out as it is. I had no people to learn from; I had no people before me. The leaders of Naivasha had our experiences to learn from" Failures turned into successes, as generation of leaders come and go culminating into the declaration of July 9th 2011 - the day on which South Sudan raised its flag and sang its own national anthem. As the country prepares to celebrate its first independence day, Reverend Helen Kila – a pastor in the Episcopal Church of Sudan wishes that the celebration wipes away memories of bad days: "The first anniversary will wash away in our minds the bad days we had in the years before we could have that independence and also I want people to feel that really God is great to have given us the chance of being alive so that we can come and celebrate together" And for those who willingly sacrificed their lives for this day, the living generation will continue singing their praises forever. By Radio Miraya Journalist Emmanuel Levai -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob?hl=en-US.
