SouthSudanNation.com   DAWLA JUNUB EL SUDAN

The Independent site for South Sudan Independence 

"Salva Kiir has a different vision from that of late John Garang and has announced willingness for dialogue with the military factions,"  Maj. Gen. Paulino Matip, SSDF leader, after meeting VP Kiir.

"I was not satisfied with the objectives and the aims of the Anya Nya as a Movement.  This was because the Anya Nya Movement at that time stood basically for the secession of the Southern Sudan to form a separate sovereign state.  Before I joined the Anya Nya Movement, I went to the Camp of General Joseph Lagu, the Commander of the Anya Nya to brief me about the objectives of his Movement.  From his briefings it was clear that his Movement was a separatist Movement.  I told him point blank that I was opposed to secession movements." John Garang, Nov. 1987, on the Anya Nya I war

There was a political virus that all organisations develop. We were resolving internal problems in the movement which we did successfully – we are now more united and stronger as we move towards the peace agreement this month," Garang, Dec. 12,04; after Rumbek meeting on problems in the SPLA.

"The onus is on the central government to make unity attractive, because if it is not attractive nobody is going to marry on to unity", said Garang, June 10 2004, Yei. "When the central government is getting 50 percent of southern oil, and also getting 50 percent of southern non-oil revenues, this is going to be difficult for southern Sudanese to identify with unity, unless we do something so that southern Sudanese see tangible benefits in a united Sudan..

"So the responsibility of the central government is even increased as a result of wealth sharing agreements we have reached."

Garang said southerners wanted roads, development of navigable waterways and the installation of a telephone system. 

"When put under pressure, the (Arab) Sudan government says it will concede, but whether this translates to action is another question and I think it is unlikely," Cargill, Nov. 9, 04, Royal Institute of International Affairs, London. 

"The West has allowed the quagmire argument to become a cheap alibi - just like finding African solutions for African problems has become an alibi for inaction," Landsberg,  Aug. 04 South Africa Centre for International Relations

  "Our forces will not stand by and watch innocent civilians being hacked to death like the case was here in 1994," Rwanda President Paul Kagame, Aug. 14, 2004, on departure of his troops to Darfur.

"If it was established that the civilians are in danger, then our forces would certainly intervene and use force to protect civilians ... I have no doubt that they certainly will intervene forcefully to protect civilians," Kagame said. "In my view, it does not make sense to give security to peace observers while the local population is left to die." 

"This agreement does not belong to the SPLM-SPLA alone, or to the south, it must include the NDA and all other Sudanese political forces," Garang, NDA meeting, July 14, 2004, Asmara.

"A survivor of the Rwandan genocide named Dancilla told her story to a British humanitarian group. She said: 'If people forget what happened when the U.N. left us, they will not learn. It might then happen again -- maybe to someone else.'

"The government wants to kill all African people, Muslim or not Muslim, in order to put Arabs in their places," says Izhaq Abdullah, Darfur refugee, May16, 2004, unwittingly echoing the conclusion of many analysts. "We Africans are good Muslims. We pray all the time. We read the Koran all the time. It is they who are bad Muslims."

"Yes, we morally and politically support them (Darfur) because they are suffering the same marginalization that the people of the south have been subjected to (by the Jellaba Arabs)," SPLA Spokesman, Dr. Samson Kwaje, 26 April, 2004, on SPLA relations with Darfur insurgents.

"This is not an unavoidable ethnic conflict. It is a tragedy deliberately created by the government's support for the Janjawid and fuelled by total impunity for grave violations of human rights", said Amnesty International, May 03,2004.

Arab Sudan Foreign Minister, Mustapha Ismail, 25 April, 2004, commenting on peace talks negotiations : "The (Khartoum) government was ready to make concessions to the rebels (SPLA) so long as they do not cross the red line."

"The SPLA must decide to either lead the South on its mobilization for the dream that is the Referendum or shut up!" Prof. Barri Wanji. 

"...if they (Arab Sudan govt.) continue killing people there is no point in reaching an agreement because what we want is not a peaceful graveyard,"....."This is casting a lot of doubts on their (Arab Sudan) commitment to the peace process itself and....also doubts whether this peace agreement will be implemented." SPLA Pagan Amun, Reuters, on fighting in Darfur and Shilluk kingdom in South, April 23, 2004.

"The Southern military commanders need to become real leaders, listen to Southern Sudanese and create plans to develop the region. But the question is whether they'll treat all areas equally or will they become another greedy oppressive tribal elite led by a dictator," R. Dowden, 2003, Royal African Society.

"The fear is that in the absence of any other battles, they (the southerners) will turn these arms against themselves," says Macuei, the county chairman, Rumbek

Comments on SPLA/M: AUGUST 2003: John Ashworth: "...despite Garang's "many mistakes of the past, he's a talented leader - but he has not always surrounded himself with the best people and I think they influence him, negatively... There's also a level at which he's afraid to really engage with democracy: he wants all the factions in the south to be swallowed by the SPLM, and he's not engaging with them. That's not democracy."

SPLA leader, Dr. John Garang, 2003 August 20,  interview with "Okaz""....at the meantime, we suggest that the post of the first Vice President to be from the south but under the condition that this "Vice President" would have veto over the decisions taken by the President. The right to oppose and reject the decision of the President of the Republic."

Lam Akol, defected SPLA/M member, now back from Sudan to SPLA/M 2003.... "I no longer have a place in this part of the country (i.e. Northern Sudan).....the government has to bear responsibility of what happened.."

SPLA Chairman, John Garang, July 7 2003, to International Crisis Group interview: ..."I will not sit in Khartoum if Sharia is in force. This issue is the litmus test for unity."

Militia Cdr. Deng Kelei...on the war ..."We are people of southern Sudan fighting for the unity of Sudan, just the same way the SPLM/A is fighting for the unity of Sudan, so how do we differ?"

Berkeley...
..."Northern Arab Sudanese across a broad spectrum still think of black southerners as subhuman; many still refer to them as 'abid"-literally, slaves. Even among the most sophisticated and liberal-minded in Khartoum, the awesome suffering of black southerners, their fellow countrymen, scarcely registers. Racism is an indispensable piece of the engine propelling Sudan's war without end. Racism is undoubtedly magnified and exploited by cynical leaders like Turabi"...

Bishop Mazzolari: "...believes it's time for the soldiers to step aside, making room for civil administrators who have the people's interests, and not power games, at heart."

Bona Malwal..on SPLA/M ambiguous political agenda..
..."Put simply, the SPLA wanted nothing to do with separatist issues...Many Southern Sudanese have felt that the SPLA should liberate the South and establish a separate State"... 

Garang on the suffering of the south Sudanese...
..."The Islamic Arab agenda is the cause of the war and the source of the suffering. It is a choice between slavery and freedom. What is life worth to be at peace when you are a slave in your own country?"..

Scott Peterson on Dinka-Nuer fighting...
..."This killing was so callous and becoming so routine that the differences separating man from mindless beast could rarely have been so narrow....what good have they brought to their people, in the end?"

Bill Berkeley, author and journalist.. on the power struggle after the SPLA was kicked out of Ethiopia after Mengistu overthrow...
.."it became the Nuer chief, Riek, against the Dinka chief, Garang"..

President Bashir of Sudan.. "peace will come by the gun if it cannot come by dialogue...through a 'jihad', or holy war."

"...Garang wants to reap the gains of separation and unity since he remains in control of the South while participating in the central authority and continues to receive grants and aid." Al Rimawi, Al Hayat, 2003.

THE FABIAN COLONIAL BUREAU in London, 1940's, on opposing the New Southern Policy... "there is the fear (in the Gellaba Northerners) that in the South might subsequently be discovered the wealth which could guarantee the Sudan's independence".. 

"(John) Garang has gone back on questions which were settled by the Machakos accord (in July 2002), such as the creation of a central bank for southern Sudan, of a currency only for the south, and of a defense ministry, all of which would pave the way to secession and we refuse that,” Omar Bashir told Al-Ahram.

1983 SPLM Manifesto..
..."It must be reiterated that the principal objective of the SPLM is not separation for the South"...

"If we're going to have elections after 18 months, naturally you will not need an army other than the national army to continue beyond that term, because if the SPLA is going to lose in the elections - a possibility that no-one can rule out - and if they still have an army, they can act against the outcome of the election." Mr. Dideiry, on Machakos Declaration.

Comments on the war: "And everywhere, the young men with guns; boys really. Boys who have known only war, only violence. Boys like Maciek Telar, body-guard to an SPLA secretary, who declares, in a fit of youthful bravado: "With this gun, I have killed many, many Arabs!" Yet in another breath, softer this time, more reserved: "I wonder where my parents are. The last time I saw them was many years ago... Human-rights workers fear that lasting peace in Sudan will simply swell the ranks of the criminal militias, fighting men who do not know how to be men other than behind the barrel of a gun. Violence is all they've known, and peace will mean a whole new way of life for them. Some have already proved themselves unwilling to put the guns away."

"Is this where the money is going? I thought we're supposed to be equal...and the govt. was going to end the suffering," said Joseph, in Juba, as GOSS $3 billion received from oil revenues  in the last two years was spent renovating some ministries with marble floor and cherry-stained wood paneling. LA Times, 2007

On Paul Mayom, GOSS minister of interior: "He is supposed to be administering justice. If you become an obstruction to the execution of justice, our security is not in safe hands," said Peter Bendi, SSLA, Aug. 04; Juba.

Northern Jellaba Occupation forces in South: "We are not happy. The SPLA is waiting for the orders from the southern Sudan security council on how to handle this issue of occupation forces"..."(They) are staying illegally in a territory that they’re not supposed to be in," said Maj-Gen. Kuol Deim Kuol, SPLA spokesman, Juba, August, 2007

On ugliness of unity with Jellaba North: "Chances of unity are nil practically given the non-implementation and the lack of confidence," Pagan Amum, SPLM Secretary General. "What we are seeing is unity being made very unattractive because that unity is being presented as unity to pursue narrow egoistic interests by the elite in the north." Khartoum, July 30, 2007 (Reuters).

[Pagan Amum]: “I would like to say we as SPLM and SPLA in our struggle during the past time, surely we committed many mistakes. We committed many mistakes and we are not ashamed to bow and apologize to the Sudanese people and say to them ‘sorry.’ Forgive us for the mistakes we have committed. It is important also that the SAF, which killed all those people in the name of unity—there were no foreigners you were killing, they were all Sudanese—you must apologize to them now.” Khartoum, 2 August, 2007

In an interview with BBC, V.P. Dr. Riek Machar, denied allegations in the press that he was corrupt, saying he led a hand-to-mouth existence: "Since I have come back from the bush, I have not opened an account," he said. "My salary is not that big. I have no luxury or enjoyment. Since the agreement was signed I have not traveled abroad. I am inside the country I am more or less like a sitting duck." Jan., 2007

Secretary of Justice and Peace Commission at Sudan Catholic Bishops Conference, Mr. Isaac Kongur Kenyi: “I am calling for an end to corruption. There is really corruption in the Government of Southern Sudan, people are talking about it openly, and everybody is seeing it and there is no shame now for this corruption, it has been condoned. The statement made by the President of Southern Sudan during the opening of the state legislative assembly on the 10th April 2006 that statement clearly declared war on corruption. What we would like to see is that those who are corrupt should be brought to justice." He also alleged that corruption in the GOSS ranges from ministries to the presidency.
Mr. Kenyi singled out tribalism and nepotism as the worst forms of corruption. (Nov. 2006)

“In any system, if the government can’t offer peace and security to its citizens, there can’t be good governance,” President Salva Kiir, Nov. 06.

Pres. Salva Kiir address in the U.S: "Our disunity is our greater enemy. I appeal to you all to reject your tribes, and unite under one tribe, the SPLM!!! Our disunity won't overcome the challenges ahead of us. Our disunity won't make us vote properly and wisely when the day of the referendum comes. You all know that our final destiny depends on our unity."...and..."On the issue of corruption, I'd like to assure you that our government has adopted zero tolerance policy on corruption." July, 2006.

VP Salva Kiir: ...warned that NCP-SPLM partnership could "only be based on a strict implementation of the CPA." He said "frank and honest discussions" by the two parties were necessary to overcome the outstanding obstacles. "Unless we make progress on these matters, I cannot see how the rest of the CPA can survive." May 30, 2006.

"The current apparent paralysis in the GOSS has very little to do with the North. Unless and until we introspectively examine our own failures and come up with our own reforms and chart a common path to a common destiny, Arabs or no Arabs, South will continue to stew in its own failures," Landi Dwong, South Sudanese, USA.

SPLM Inclusiveness: "For its own part, the SPLM/A recognizes the importance of expanding the inclusiveness of any peace agreement.  There have been legitimate criticisms of the SPLM/A made on this issue of inclusiveness, and certainly the critical tasks facing the SPLM/A leadership as it moves from a war footing to a peace footing will include allowing a significantly wider range of southerners to own the peace and participate in governance.  Civil society positions, economic opportunity, and national representation must be extended on a broader basis than is reflected in the present composition of the SPLM/A," Prof. Eric Reeves, Feb. 2003.

Dr. Barnaba Marial, Sudan state minister, On 1 million dollars donation to Kenya, said: "The Government of Southern Sudan has enough money to provide basic services in the south, and the gift to Kenya will not adversely affect provision of those services." He added: "I understand that people would like to see the dividends of peace immediately, but donors have not yet delivered on their promises."  

"Until a government emerges in Khartoum that is prepared to concede a share of power and wealth to the impoverished peripheries of the country, a peaceful and prosperous new Sudan is unlikely to take shape," Comdr. Yousif Kuwa Makki, 1999.

"I believe I am part of the government (but) whether I have influence or not that’s another thing," V.P. Salva Kiir, after complaining about the "slow" implementation of the peace deal. Jan. 28, 2006.

"This is an act of aggression," SPLM/A spokesman and chairman of Sudan Joint Defense Board, Major General Elias Waya Nyipuoc said. "It is a violation of the peace agreement and it is very dangerous. We shall pull back to the south when we are ready. The problem is that they are saying that we have delayed pulling out inline with the peace agreement, yet the government has not withdrawn from major towns in the south like Juba, Malakal and Wau." Jan. 11, 2006.

"Our people are blaming me for having sold out, but we did not think it was worth going back to war over the control of one ministry," There is a feeling in the south that we are buying our own independence through oil." President Salva Kiir, in USA.

"..this agreement allows the GOS and SPLM to share oil revenues in South Sudan between themselves 50/50. We know that the GOS has displaced 750,000 people from the oilfields in order to exploit the oil. That both of them should be silent about the nearly 1 million displaced people in order that oil should flow is a BLATANT CRIMINAL act as far as the two parties are concerned." Bona Malwal, New African, June, 05.

 "Six years is not too long a time to wait," Salva Kiir, referring to the time duration before referendum in the South on separation or unity.

 "...so long as the N.I.F pays no price for exorbitant military purchases while Sudan’s children starve, there will be no true peace in this tortured land. So long as oil revenues are largely controlled by this coterie of ruthless survivalists, (Jellaba Arabs) there will be no rational economic order or general prosperity in Sudan." Prof. Eric Reeves, Aug. 2005.

Some years ago we looked at the unity of Sudan as an attractive option; the way to maintain the unity of Sudan is with the help of you here in Egypt and the Arab world in general...Garang to Egyptian president, 05

There needs to be a vision for where Sudan is going...The South could vote for independence in six-and-a-half years. Where does that leave (Arab) Northern Sudan? There is a lack of clarity on where the Country is going right now." David Mozersky, ICG, 04

Slowly, inexorably the US and its allies are squandering the opportunity for peace in Sudan.  By refusing to bring clear and decisive pressure to bear on Khartoum, the Bush administration has acquiesced not only in the ongoing genocidal destruction in Darfur, but is allowing Khartoum to create what loom as insuperable obstacles to a final peace agreement with the south.  No southern party---not the SPLM or any other---can possibly sign a peace agreement that does not have a fully adequate UN peace support operation to guarantee what may be signed in Naivasha. 

The clear diplomatic logic of the situation, and the transparent threats to the peace process Khartoum is presenting, are either not known to the Bush administration---or are being deliberately overlooked. The former is hardly credible; the latter suggests that this administration is losing interest in Sudan and is preparing to make do in the coming election without what was to have been a signature foreign policy achievement. Instead, the administration gives every sign of being prepared to accept any agreement that might serve as a fig-leaf for its failure to secure a truly just and sustainable peace for Sudan.

The inevitable consequence of a breakdown in the peace process, or of the signing of a merely contrived and expedient agreement, will be resumed wide-scale war in southern Sudan, as soon as Khartoum feels as though the situation in Darfur permits a major redeployment of military assets.  But this may not be for a while, and we can expect as a consequence to see Khartoum attempt to string out the peace process as long as possible in Naivasha, thereby extending its still urgently needed window of military opportunity in Darfur.  For whatever Khartoum may say about having crushed the insurgency, the evidence points
entirely the other way. Prof. Eric Reeves

"We aren't bothered by the U.N. deadline at all. It never crossed our mind. We are working toward our duties for our people," Jellaba Arab Sudan top negotiator at Abuja talks and minister, Ahmad.

It is true that running a liberation movement is not the same as ruling a state. The guerrilla freedom fighter must be transformed into a statesman. This is a difficult transition to make. Just look at the slow mutation of former freedom fighters or guerrillas like President Museveni when they capture power. We should appreciate these difficulties. But we should not use them as an excuse to apologise for dictatorships." Kenyan Law Prof. Mutua, USA

John Prendergast, 04 May, 2004, International Crisis Group. "Khartoum has a vested interested in the status quo - no war and no peace. It can continue to milk 100% of the profits from oil. And with no fighting in the South it can concentrate its military hardware and assets in Darfur."

"Indeed, ideally (from Khartoum's point of view) the Naivasha talks can be prolonged as much as possible to allow for what the regime believes will be eventual military victory in Darfur. Khartoum can fairly smell the growing disarray in US Sudan policy, and a general weariness within the Bush administration over this lengthy and arduous negotiating process.  There is growing evidence that Khartoum feels emboldened to the point of believing that it can resume the Naivasha talks without agreeing to any clearly defined deadline-- or, at most, with a deadline only for a contrived peace signing ceremony rather that a truly just,
comprehensive, and sustainable peace." Eric Reeves, Feb.2004.

"The integration of Southerners into the Arab national government, its various structures, appointments to the many posts, etc, etc... is a contradiction of Self-determination," Prof. Wanji.

"We cannot afford to wait until the worst has happened, or is already happening, or end up with little more than futile hand-wringing or callous indifference." Kofi Annan, UN Secretary general, on 10th anniversary of Rwanda genocide

"The government wants to kill everyone in the south, so even with peace we must prepare for war. We will not stop recruiting or training troops," said Magwek Gai, deputy commander of the Sudan People's Liberation Army for the Upper Nile region.

Bishop Mazzolari: "There's a bitter hatred for the Arabs, for the northerners. This will be a lasting legacy of the war and one of the most difficult things to overcome. You can rebuild destroyed homes, and you can feed and clothe poor people. But some of these other scars will last for a long, long time."

Dr. Samson Kwaje, SPLA Spokesman "Some of us (SPLA) have become warlords. They don't want peace. We will have to tell them: 'We are going to demobilise you; we don't want you in our army'."

"Garang is very unionist. He's more unionist than most Southerners," Lazarus Sumbeiywo' IGAD Chief mediator.

"Just talking about one Vice President, who would be a Southerner, would definitely disadvantage every Northerner," Mr. Dideiry, Gellaba Arab Sudan ambassador and resident delegate to peace talks in Kenya, July 29, 2003

Salva Kiir, SPLA Deputy leader ( November 11, 2003; Cairo interview (Reuters).... "We are the oppressed and there is nothing that the oppressed can concede.......... It is the President, Bashir to concede to SPLA demands..."

"Sudan, lets face this in all honesty, is not one nation, never has been, any more than Ethiopia could ever justly or successfully claim to embrace Eritrea," Nigerian Nobel Prize laureate, Wole Soyinka  

Cdr. Martin Kenyi, of Equatoria Defence Forces ..." if the peace negotiations are only meant to end the war between the north and the south, without resolving the problem of southerners themselves, especially on matters concerning unity, then southerners may witness a bloody war again. This has to be prevented before time, then there is need for inclusiveness of the agreement." 

Dr. Peter Nyaba...confirming SPLA policy vis-a vis Anya-Nya 2..
..."Many lives were lost because of this fighting and it diverted much of the SPLA political and military energy, whose leaders even proudly claimed that the first SPLA bullet was fired against the (Southern) separatists.."

Garang....on rampant criminality of troops under his command: ..."We are certainly not angels. You will hear these charges and you will hear about the popularity of the SPLA. There are positive things and there are negative things. For every hundred men I recruit I may have two thieves"...

"Rotten SPLA", Dr. Samson Kwaje, SPLA Spokesman, the (East African, August 4, 2003).... "..There are people in the SPLA who are rotten, we admit that ...there are those who have committed gross human-rights violations. In peacetime, they will be weeded out."

Richard Owen, a British Southern Sudan Governor accused the Sudan Civil Secretary for..."sacrificing his conscience.." in his reversal of the Southern Policy, and warns that.." as a result of his decision, the Northerners (Gellaba) will dominate the Southerners and treat them as their fathers did and that the sins of the fathers shall be visited upon their children unto the third and fourth generations."..

Unknown South Sudanese...
"In the SPLA, the ones making all the mistakes are these so-called Ph.Ds- poverty, hunger and disease."

.."IF Balkanization could work for the Balkans, why should it not work for the Sudan?"....

Dr. Peter Nyaba..on SPLA..
..."the declared objective of a united Sudan is at variance with the will and aspirations of many of its members who still believed that South Sudan must secede from the North.......few people in the SPLA/M believe in the unity of the country (Sudan)"...

Governor of Jonglei State, Ismael Konyi...on his opinion on the South...."the Church is divided, SPLM/A is divided, and the tribes in the south are divided, especially the Nuer and the Dinka."

..."tribalism in Africa is a product not of ancient, inscrutable hatreds but of calculated tyranny". Bill Berkeley.

Scott Peterson...
..."But couldn't the "liberation" have been conducted a little more efficiently? Wouldn't so many lives have been spared if the "movement" hadn't been run by a cabal of old-school revolutionaries, whose passing commitment to Marxism, Stalinism, or any other convenient ideological marker simply made it easier to maintain their repressive grip on power?

"I believe Garang in some ways is out of step with the population. He has always fought for a united 'new Sudan' - a democratic, secular Sudan, for one, whole country....The rebel movement (SPLA) has been accused of being undemocratic and doing nothing for the people it claims to be fighting for." Political activist, John Ashworth.

"If peace doesn't come soon to the Sudan, says General Sumbeiywo, IGAD Chief Mediator, he can't rule out attempted assassinations of political leaders, and bombings in Khartoum - similar to what the African National Congress's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, did when it took the struggle against apartheid into South Africa's cities in the 1980s."

 John Ashworth: ".....the SPLA "owes much more respect to the people. It seems to be engaged in an internal power struggle, between the militarists in its ranks and those who want to establish a civilian government in the south. The military men in the SPLA say a government controlled by civilians has to come about 'in sequence.' This 'in sequence,' when will it be? Or will it ever be? Why all this silence, why all this exclusion from the SPLA leaders?"