On the road to peace: South Sudan

Southern Sudan in 2006

[The following book excerpt is published to mark South Sudan’s independence on July 9, 2011]

The rich, fertile Kidepo Valley—upper, middle, and lower—that stretched across five administrative counties from northern Uganda through Eastern Equatoria in Southern Sudan was ideal for cattle herding. In the past, the bucolic valley had witnessed intense conflict as part of the north-south tensions, and, more recently, the presence of the Ugandan rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army. Now, in 2006 rival ethnic groups were engaged in cattle raiding.

We packed the vehicle with goods and people and headed for the gateway to Juba. Mary, a young woman working for a NGO in Kapoeta, joined us. She was returning to her hometown near Kimatong, which she had evacuated in 1986. With a bundle of goods, anticipation, and hope, she was going home. She sang to herself during the sweat-filled journey. Mary guided us to her village. When we stopped the truck, a Toposa woman approached, needing a ride to Kimatong. Her protruding cheeks and scar lines on her forehead averted my attention from her receding dark eyes. Finely braided short hair stuck out at various angles. The floral cotton frock was almost diaphanous, and she’d thrown a blue tartan cloth over it. Strings of pink beads surrounded her neck and red strings circled her right wrist. A gold ring pinched into her middle finger on her right hand. She hopped in the back of the truck, replacing Mary.

At the Galcholo Community in Kimatong, the mountains formed an intimidating backdrop. Galcholo means “first rains after a long drought that cleanses the area.” Two concrete tanks provided cattle and the community with water. A school-cum-health clinic was brimming with mothers and children. It was an optimistic community. “We can rest at night now,” the community leader said.

Once a transit route to Bor for both Arabs and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, it had known both north-south and regional conflict. “We invited the Buya for a meeting,” said Matthew, an attractive, broad-shouldered, muscular youth. “When we saw the Buya walking around the mountain, we knew that it was a serious effort on their part to build peace. Southern Sudanese have been fighting among themselves almost continuously since independence, over grazing rights, water and land use, and even oil. You know about The Split in 1991, I presume, in which the SPLA Commanders Riek Machar and Lam Akol split with John Garang over leadership. The split exacerbated the south-south tensions, mainly with the Nuer and Shilluk against the Dinka, forcing the displacement of the population to neighboring countries and undermining the traditional tribal system. I went to Kenya.” To return home he had footed from Nairobi.

He laughed when I asked whether he was barefoot. “No, not me, but many of my tribe were barefoot. As I was saying, the ongoing north-south civil war contributed to our instability because most of the battles were fought in the south. The Government of Sudan in Khartoum armed southerners and forced them to attack other southerners. For all the years of civil war, nobody won. The result was the degradation of buildings and land and an absence of governance and government structures. Worse than infrastructure deterioration, we had poverty, the lack of law and order, and traumatized people with eroded cultural values. Some tribes have peace agreements now. The Didinga has a peace agreement with the Logir,” Matthew continued, “and the Buya has a peace agreement with the Toposa, but there have been some violations, and the Lotuho and Lopit have an agreement. Things are improving. But, of course, like in all families, there are conflicts within the tribes over women, children, food, family violence, land and so on.”

I repositioned my chair among the females and asked them why they were members of a peace committee. “Because I am strong and able to speak for many women,” said Rosa. Madeleine said, “The committee started with fifteen women. Only women were members, and then we let men on the committee. We are different from other peace committees that men started. Now we have eight men.” We talked of peace. “Water is a big part of the answer to peace. If people have enough water, there will be food, and there will be peace,” said Rosa. “We used to walk for a long time to get water, and we were attacked on the way. Now the water is here in our community.” A water catchment at the base of the mountain was fenced to keep out goats.

Extract from “The Sudan Curse” by Martina Nicolls, available in hardcopy, softcover, and Kindle at amazon.com

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).