Sandeep Shastri

A little over three years ago, on the 9th of July 2011, the newest nation in the world – South Sudan, was born. After years of an armed struggle with the rest of Sudan, the people of South Sudan overwhelmingly (98.83%) voted for independence in January 2011. Today, the country is caught up in a violent internal crisis born out of an intense power struggle among different ethnic groups aimed at the control of the oil fields across the country.

The people of South Sudan had always seen themselves as different from the rest of Sudan. They considered themselves as authentically African while they saw the rest of Sudan as being more Arabic. The South was dominantly Christian while the rest of the country was Islamic. The South consistently nursed a grouse that they had been unfairly treated by the North which had dominated the political process. The Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) had led the armed struggle for independence. In 2006, they brokered a peace agreement with the Government of Sudan. This agreement provided for a federal power sharing arrangement with the South being given substantial autonomy. The agreement also provided for a referendum at the end of five years of the implementation of the peace agreement. During the five years, there were several efforts made to arrive at an understanding but it was visibly apparent that the people of the South led by the SPLM clearly favoured the creation of a new nation.

With independence, the SPLM emerged as the ruling party. To begin with, it was a rainbow coalition of different ethnic groups, the most prominent being the Dinkas, who account for around fifteen percent of the population. With independence, ten states were created, largely on ethnic lines. In the weeks leading to independence, they adopted an interim constitution. The SPLM which had championed a federal arrangement during the years of armed struggle, advocated the adoption of the word `decentralized` rather than ‘federal’. It is interesting that even on the eve of
independence,the new smaller political formations that had emerged in the country (many were splinter groups of the SPLM) were more in favour of a federal arrangement to protect the interests of different ethnic groups. SPLM leaders in the different states also were inclined to support a federal structure but the central leadership of the party, that came to play a crucial role, ensured that the interim constitution did not use the word `federal` at all.

With independence came heightened expectations and responsibilities. The SPLM which had spent years in an armed struggle with the Sudanese army, had to now settle down to govern the country. At the time of independence, it was one of the least developed countries with some of the most serious health related challenges. It has the third largest oil reserves in Sub Saharan Africa, but most of the pipelines led to refineries in the North. At the time of independence, there was no agreement between the new country and Sudan on the transport of oil. Oil accounted for close to 98% of the revenues of the South Sudan government.

Ever since independence, the country has limped from crisis to crisis. The tensions with Sudan continue. This has caused a huge challenge to the transport of oil to the refineries. South Sudan is a land locked country so it needs to depend on Sudan and/or Uganda for access to a port for the export of oil. Internally, politics in the country has been dominated by the SPLM. Within the SPLM, there emerged a power struggle among leaders who represented different ethnic groups. The President of the country, Salva Kiir, had led the struggle for independence. In the government formed after independence, an effort was made to accommodate different ethnic groups in the power structure. Riek Machar who hailed from the second largest ethnic group – the Nuers, became the Vice President. Over time, serious differences developed between the President and his deputy, resulting in the President taking the unprecedented step of sacking the Vice President and the entire cabinet in July, 2013. Ever since, he has led the protest against the President which has today escalated into a ethnic armed struggle between the two major ethnic groups – the DInkas and the Nuers. Much of the battle is over the control of the oil fields and has resulted in the death of thousands of people who are caught in the cross-fire.

Within less than three years of independence, the euphoria of freedom has given way to a despair caused by a power struggle and violent ethnic clashes. A message from a prominent human rights activist and spokesperson for gender rights summed up the sense of anguish among those who hoped for a new dawn with independence: `We won our independence but have now lost our freedom. We gave ourselves a new country but have refused to learn to work together and resolve our differences to achieve a larger goal. We hoped for democracy but did not build a culture of tolerance, mutual respect and accommodation. Have we sacrificed at the alter of power, the hopes and aspirations of our own people ?`