S. Sudan: Govt of national unity will be formed Nov. 12

Article from Middle East Monitor.com

Dated Friday 06 September 2019 8:26 pm

South Sudan to form transitional government on Nov. 12

South Sudan’s transitional government of national unity will be formed on Nov. 12, officials said Friday [06 Sep], Anadolu reports.

“The government is delivering and implementation of the agreement is going on well,” Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth told reporters after a Cabinet meeting in the capital Juba.

“We are delivering and by Nov. 12 the revitalized transitional government will be established as in the extended agreement,” he said.

Lueth said the government also urged a group of opposition leaders who met in the Netherlands last week to abandon their “anti-peace” plans.

He said they should “join the peace agreement instead of going around and causing unnecessary havoc and suffering to the people of South Sudan.”

South Sudan slid into crisis when President Salva Kiir sacked Riek Machar as vice president in December 2013 on suspicion of plotting a coup, followed by a protracted civil war that claimed the lives of tens of thousands and forced 4 million people to flee their homes.

Before a 2018 peace deal, five years of fighting between the two leaders crippled the country, with millions displaced and almost 400,000 people dead from violence and disease.

Further reading: South Sudanese urged to stop war, focus on peace 

View original: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190906-south-sudan-to-form-transitional-government-on-nov-12/

South Sudan army, NAS rebels clash near Juba

THE National Salvation Front (NAS), formed by ex-general Thomas Cirillo Swaka in 2017 who called for the toppling of South Sudan's President Salva Kiir’s government, said it had come under attack last Tuesday. 

NAS refused to sign a peace deal signed in September last year. While peace has largely held across the country, fighting has continued between government troops and the NAS in the Central Equatoria region, particularly around the city of Yei. 

A UNMISS report identified government forces, fighters allied to Riek Machar, Mr Kiir's former deputy who was sacked by Mr Kiir in 2013 [https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2013/07/] and rebel groups who did not sign the peace agreement, as responsible for atrocities in their quest to take territory in Central Equatoria. Full story below.

Article by AFP

Date: 24 July 2019

South Sudan army, rebels clash near Juba

Efforts to achieve lasting peace in South Sudan were dealt a blow on Tuesday when fighting broke out between government forces and militants near the country’s capital, Juba.

Security was stepped up in Juba, according to an AFP correspondent, as the clashes broke out 50 miles (100 kilometres) away in Lobonok, the first such fighting since the signing of the peace deal in September.

The National Salvation Front (NAS), formed by ex-general Thomas Cirillo Swaka in 2017 who called for the toppling of President Salva Kiir’s government, said it had come under attack on Tuesday morning.

NAS refused to sign a peace deal signed in September last year.

In a statement the NAS said it had killed eight “enemy soldiers”, which could not be independently confirmed.

“NAS command at Lobonok is expecting more attacks,” said the statement.

Lobonok is near Cirillo’s home town and has long been a stronghold for the rebel group.

The last fighting in the area took place in June 2018.

“Since morning we didn’t access our commanders on ground [in Lobonok] and we have no latest information there,” Lul Ruai Koang, South Sudan’s military spokesman told AFP.

However soldiers were deployed in Juba, carrying out more security checks than usual, said AFP’s correspondent.

Pursuit of peace

South Sudan’s government in September reached a peace deal with the main opposition unit of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement but the NAS rejected the deal.

While peace has largely held across the country, fighting has continued between government troops and the NAS in the Central Equatoria region, particularly around the city of Yei.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said earlier this month that civilians had been “deliberately and brutally targeted” in Central Equatoria since the agreement was inked in September.

At least 104 people had been killed in attacks on villages in the southern region, it said.

A roughly similar number of women and girls were raped or suffered other sexual violence between September and April, UNMISS said in its latest human rights report.

South Sudan descended into war in 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy and fellow former rebel leader Riek Machar of plotting a coup.

The conflict has been marked by ethnic violence and brutal atrocities, and left about 380,000 dead while some four million have fled their homes.

The report identified government forces, fighters allied to Machar and rebel groups who did not sign the peace agreement, as responsible for atrocities in their quest to take territory in Central Equatoria.

Under the peace deal, Kiir agreed to set up a unity government with Machar, who is to return from exile.

But this new government, initially scheduled to take office on May 12, was postponed for six months.

SOURCE: https://www.africanews.com/2019/07/24/south-sudan-army-rebels-clash-near-juba/

MSF responds to violence in Bentiu, Unity State, S. Sudan (Update 1)

MSF in place to respond to violence in Bentiu, Southern Sudan
From MSF (Doctors Without Borders) Monday, 26 April 2010:

On Saturday morning, following an appeal from the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Bentiu, Unity State, Southern Sudan, the international medical organisation Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) mobilised a medical team to evacuate three patients suffering from gunshot wounds. The patients were severely wounded during protests in Bentiu which occurred on Friday, following local radio announcements of the winner of the governorship race in Unity State.

The patients were stabilised by MoH staff in Bentiu hospital before being transferred to MSF medics who evacuated them by plane to the MSF run surgical hospital in Leer, Unity State, 110 km south of Bentiu. In Leer hospital a surgical team, which was on standby, received and operated on the patients for their life threatening conditions.

“Our surgical teams have been on standby in Southern Sudan for eventualities such as these.” said Ross Duffy, MSF head of mission, “It was fortunate for these patients that we had a plane in the vicinity and were able to respond quickly. Our surgical and logistical teams, in collaboration with the MoH, remain prepared to respond to any emergencies.”

In recent weeks MSF has strengthened its existing surgical capacity with additional surgeons and anaesthetists as well as pre-positioning surgical equipment and materials in key locations.

The emergency medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been working in Sudan since 1979. The organisation currently has permanent projects in Red Sea State, Northern Darfur, Western and Central Equatoria, Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal, Warrap, Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile States and the transitional area of Abyei. MSF also runs emergency projects in other areas. MSF is an independent and neutral aid agency that serves all people based on medical need, regardless of tribe, race, political or religious affiliation.

From SRS - Sudan Radio Service, Wednesday, 21 April 2010:

(Blue Nile) – The National Elections Commission has denied media reports of elections irregularities in Blue Nile and Unity states.

The Sudan Tribune earlier reported that NEC officials from Bentiu, Unity state are complaining of harassment from security officers of the candidate for governorship in the state Taban Deng.

It was alleged that the officers had stormed NEC offices, forcing the officials to declare Taban as the winner.

In Blue Nile state, SPLM and NCP candidates are both claiming victory over the governorship seat, accusing each other of doctoring results in their favor.

However, NEC chairman of the technical committee, Alhadi Mohamed Ahmed has disputed such reports.

[Alhadi Mohamed Ahmed]:“All information published about the Blue Nile is completely untrue, now there is a committee by NEC meeting with Malik Agar and the high elections committee for Blue Nile, no result is out because the monitoring process is still continuing and the work, but this work needs great efforts, today I was speaking with Bentiu, they are working, I talk with the chairman of the high elections committee in Bentiu, we don’t have any problem, I mean not any talk is true i was talking this morning with officials in Bentiu, they were working, the high committee is counting and other works, there are tension hear and there, but the issues are moving well.”

Al-hadi urged citizens to rely on official announcement from the NEC and not rumors.

[Alhadi Mohamed Ahmed]: “We can’t rely on anything that is said. If there is forgery just present evidence, I can’t talk about anything without prove. Who has come out and said there is forgery in such a polling center and presented evidence to NEC, and we didn’t take action? That will mean failure from our part. But till now nobody has launch an official complain claiming forgery in any center. These talks, these are just newspaper rumors. I can’t listen to such talks and say it is true. The media is open for every one, but not everything said in the media is reliable.”

Media reports have indicated several elections violations in Blue Nile and Unity States.

From SRS - Sudan Radio Service, Monday, 26 April 2010:

(Khartoum) – The independent candidate for the governorship of Unity state, Angelina Teny, says she vehemently rejects the results of the elections in Unity state.

A media spokesman for Angelina Teny, Yohanis Musa Pouk, addressed a press conference in Khartoum on Saturday.

[Yohanis Musa Pouk]: “At around 4 o’clock [on Friday] Taban declared on the state’s local radio station that he was the winner. The announcement was not made through the National Elections Commission but through one of the radio announcers. He declared that Taban won the elections and said that was the announcement coming from the NEC. Following that announcement, our people went to the street collectively and spontaneously in a non-violent manner because nobody told the people of Unity state that there was going to be any announcement of the results. They went out spontaneously and found themselves together going to the radio station to inquire about the source of the news. They were surprised by soldiers from Sudan People’s Liberation Army who fired live bullets randomly at the moving crowd and instantly two people were shot dead. One is called Choul Ruai from Koch county and the other is called Gadwich. We were not able to get his second name. Four people were hospitalized and there were other people who sustained minor injuries.”

Pouk said the people of Unity state will never accept Taban Deng as a governor.

[Yohanis Musa Pouk]: “We are seeing that it is impossible as we are going towards the year 2011 that Taban will be the governor of Unity state. Nobody in Unity state has this in mind and nobody will accept it, but this issue will not end in one day. No citizen would be able to vote for Taban. Those who voted for him are those working in the government: ministers, wives of the ministers and those in the assembly who are with him, in addition to the votes that were rigged. No ordinary citizen will ever accept that Taban should continue in power. This is not the end of it; let’s not think that this is the end of everything and that the results have been announced, no. we don’t believe in these results because they are neither “free nor fair” and we are waiting for what will come from Juba - not from Bentiu.”

Pouk claimed that according to the statistics he had received from various constituencies, Angelina Teny won 68,000 votes while Taban Deng won 44,000 votes.

Photo: Angelina Teny. Source: Sudan Tribune report, Monday, 26 April 2010 - Angelina Teny says will not accept "rigged" and "untrue" election results - excerpt:

April 25, 2010 (JUBA) – Several political parties whose candidates also contested for the governorship position in Unity state have joined Angelina Teny in disputing the results, saying Taban’s victory was not based on the actual results reported by their respective agents from all the centers which ballot papers were counted.

They have called on the Chairman of the National Elections Commission (NEC) Abel Alier to intervene and correct the situation.

The parties in a joint released statement said there were widespread rigging in the polling process and called for a re-count of the ballot papers.

An official close to Mrs. Teny’s campaign team said she may consider challenging the results legally in the court of law and win the case.

Mrs. Teny is the current state minister of Energy and Mining in the Government of National Unity in Khartoum and wife of the Vice President of the Government of Southern Sudan, Dr. Riek Machar Teny.

Related reports

SPLM lauds election of Malik Aggar as Blue Nile State Governor
From Sudan Tribune, Tuesday, 27 April 2010 by Ngor Arol Garang:
April 26, 2010 (WUNROK) - Pagan Amum, Secretary General of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and his deputy for northern Sudan Yasir Arman have lauded election of the Malik Agar as new governor of the northern state of Southern Blue Nile (...)

Journalist arrested by security operatives in Bentiu, Unity state
From Sudan Tribune, Monday, 26 April 2010 by James Gatdet Dak:
(JUBA) – A local journalist working as correspondent for Sudanvotes and Bentiu FM radio station has been (...)

Three people killed following Taban Deng declared win in Unity state
From Sudan Tribune, Saturday, 24 April 2010 - excerpt:

April 23, 2010 (Khartoum) - Three people were killed and two others were wounded when protests were staged in the state capital Bentiu by supporters of Angelina Teny who has formally lost the race for governor in the oil-rich state.

Earlier today, the local Radio FM station in Bentiu announced that the local electoral committee declared the incumbent governor Taban Deng Gai as the winner in the tight and highly tense race. The National Elections Commission (NEC) expressed fury over what they saw as a premature move by the local electoral officials.

The NEC chairman Abel Alier said that this was not coordinated with the head office in Khartoum. He phoned Teny, wife of south Sudan’s vice president Riek Machar, to say that no final results have been released noting that the NEC is in the process of looking into the alleged inflating of figures in favor of Taban Deng by the electoral office in Bentiu before it could make the decision on who won the race.

But later in the day the NEC officially announced that Deng garnered 137,362 of the votes against 63,561 for Teny.

The chairman of the local electoral committee in Bentiu, Michael Mayul, on Friday rushed to announce Deng as the winner in a move seen by some as a way to try to avoid the verification of figures by the NEC team in Khartoum.

Preliminary results had shown that Angelina Teny got more than 68,000 votes while Taban Deng got over 44,000. The recently alleged inflated figures for Taban have more than tripled his previous votes counted by additional 56,000.

Teny had earlier warned that the electoral committee in Bentiu was under pressure by Deng to inflate his votes figures and announce him the winner.

Taban Deng locally announced winner in Sudan’s Unity state
From Sudan Tribune, Friday, 23 April 2010:
April 23, 2010 (BENTINU) – News just broke out from the local Radio FM station in Bentiu, that the incumbent governor Taban Deng Gai has been announced as winner by the head of the local electoral committee in Bentiu, before NEC committee carried out their verifications (...)
- - -

More related reports (added here on Wednesday, 28 April 2010)

BREAKING NEWS: Angelina Teny’s campaign team leader arrested in Unity State
Sudan Tribune - Wednesday 21 April 2010:
April 22, 2010 (BENTIU, Unity State) – Angelina Teny today (Wednesday) told Sudan Tribune that her team leader was arrested in front of the State High Elections Committee’s office in the presence of senior ranking officers and the team sent today from Khartoum by the National Elections Commission (NEC) headquarters...

BREAKING NEWS: Taban Deng seizes NEC office in Bentiu, refuses to accept defeat
Sudan Tribune - Tuesday 20 April 2010 - copy in full:

April 20, 2010 (BENTIU, Unity state) – The incumbent caretaker governor of the oil-rich Unity state has refused to accept defeat in the gubernatorial elections, threatening the State High Elections Committee to declare him the winner irrespective of results.

The overall results received by the electoral body in the state have shown that his main challenger, Angelina Teny, is far ahead of him by more than 24,000 extra votes.

An official close to NEC office in Bentiu who spoke on condition of anonymity told Sudan Tribune that governor’s security officers had controlled the NEC’s branch office and were conducting forceful dialogue with the electoral staff, threatening them to declare Taban as winner.

He said senior officials in the state were consulting with the President of the Government of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit to intervene and allow for the free and fair announcement of the gubernatorial results in the state.

“Taban Deng Gai should be told to accept defeat in a democratic and peaceful atmosphere,” the official added.

The gubernatorial candidates were scheduled to sign for the elections results today (Tuesday) in the NEC’s office during which losers were expected to accept defeat before announcement of the winner.

State officials across the country were also making consultations to respond to the situation and avoid any resort to violence until the issue is resolved peacefully. (ST)

Unity state’s Angelina Teny leads in preliminary gubernatorial election results
Sudan Tribune - Saturday, 17 April 2010:
April 16, 2010 (BENTIU, Unity state) – An independent candidate for gubernatorial position in the oil-rich Unity state is said to be leading by wide margin in preliminary counts as polling centers in the state’s nine counties slowly report in their respective results...

Unity state’s gubernatorial candidate reports widespread irregularities
Sudan Tribune - Monday 12 April 2010:
Speaking to Sudan Tribune from the state’s capital, Bentiu, Teny accused the SPLA Maj. General Dor Monyjur in particular for blocking her agents from inspecting the ballot boxes in order to make sure that they were empty...

Gubernatorial candidate campaigns against corruption in Bentiu
Sudan Tribune - Wednesday 24 February 2010 by Ngor Arol Garang:
February 23, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — An independent gubernatorial candidate in the southern state of Unity, Angelina Teny has embarked on her electoral campaign in the area with a strong focus on fighting against corruption saying it cripples development and stability of any country...

National Assembly endorses S. Sudan Referendum Law

Southerners who have lived in the north since independence can choose where to vote.

Report from SRS - Sudan Radio Service, Tuesday, 29 December 2009:
National Assembly Endorses Southern Sudan Referendum Law

(Khartoum) – The controversial referendum law for southern Sudan was passed on Tuesday by the National Assembly following a long meeting between the SPLM and the NCP.

The amended law approved by MPs includes a provision demanded by southern politicians that enables southerners living outside the south to cast their ballots in the south.

A previous version adopted unilaterally by the NCP last week prompted a walkout from parliament by southern politicians fearful that if southerners voted in the north they might be subject to intimidation and vote-rigging by the NCP.

In an interview with SRS outside the parliament buildings in Omdurman, Justin Joseph Marona, the co-chairman of SPLM-NCP parliamentary emergency joint committee, said the contentious issues within the bill had been resolved.

[Mr. Justin Marona]: “We’ve agreed that Article 27(3), which was deleted, should be put back. This section enables southerners residing in northern Sudan since independence to return to southern Sudan to prove their ethnic origins (sic). We also added a section that says southerners who have lived in the north since independence can choose where to vote.”

However, Marona, who is negotiating on behalf of the SPLM on the joint committee, said there are still serious differences between the SPLM and the NCP over the Abyei referendum and the popular consultation process for Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains.

[Justin Marona]: “There are still differences over Article 24 that says that the Messiriya groups should vote in the Abyei referendum. But according to the Protocol and the ruling at The Hague, Abyei is the area where the nine Dinka Ng’ok tribes and their chiefs live. So this is the area where the referendum will take place. There will be a meeting shortly over this law. There are also differences over the popular consultation legislation. But our stance has been very clear in all the negotiations.”

Marona expressed his optimism that the differences will soon be resolved in the course of meetings between the SPLM Vice Chairman, Dr. Riek Machar and the 2nd Vice President of the Republic, Ali Osman Mohammed Taha.

Can northern Sudan alone pass laws for the whole of Sudan?

The United States Embassy in Khartoum issued a strongly-worded statement from the State Department on Wednesday evening following the announcement that the NCP had passed legislation which differed from the original bill agreed to by the SPLM. Further details here below.

NCP Passing Of Amended Referendum Act Angers SPLM As US State Department Expresses Concern
Report by SRS - Sudan Radio Service, Wednesday, 23 December 2009:

(Khartoum) – The SPLM is accusing the NCP of pushing an amended version of controversial referendum legislation through parliament on Tuesday. The US State Department has issued a strongly-worded statement condemning the NCP for the move.

The SPLM claim that the legislation, which in part lays out the procedure for a referendum to decide the future of southern Sudan, was amended during the passage of the bill without the SPLM being consulted.

NCP MPs used their majority in the parliament to amend article 27 of the legislation which had previously been agreed with the SPLM. The article now includes a clause which stipulates that southerners living in the north must vote in the north during the referendum.

The move caused outrage among SPLM MPs and other southern political parties. They demanded that the agreed article should be reinstated. The original article stipulated that "all southerners living outside southern Sudan should return to their region of origin in order to vote."

The SPLM deputy chairman, Dr. Riek Machar, expressed his "surprise" at the NCP move at a press conference in Khartoum on Tuesday evening.

[Riek Machar]: “We are surprised about what happened today, because we had agreed at the highest level about this law. We agreed at the level of the presidency, attended by both chairmen of the NCP and the SPLM, after which this law was approved by the cabinet. We were present at that meeting. They (NCP) even described the session as "historic". There was a common desire to pass the referendum law for southern Sudan, the popular consultation process for Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile and the referendum law for Abyei. On Monday, I held a meeting with El Shiekh Ali, the joint chairman of the joint executive political committee and we discussed the importance of passing these laws.”

Machar added that after the NCP's decision to amend the agreed legislation, the SPLM will consider passing a different referendum law in the Southern Sudan legislative assembly.

[Dr. Riak Machar]: “I would like to say we will not accept the law which was passed today, because the SPLM caucus withdrew and the southern political parties also withdrew from the session. Some members from the NCP also withdrew from the assembly. The house was turned into a northern Sudanese assembly. Can northern Sudan alone pass laws for the whole of Sudan? I think this is an unacceptable precedent, because southern Sudanese could say to themselves that if things have reached such a state, then we will pass the agreed legislation in the south - then we will see which law will be the national law because we reject what took place today."

However, the NCP chairman of the committee which supervised the drafting of the referendum laws, Badreia Suliman, speaking at a press conference in Khartoum on Tuesday, said that the SPLM’s withdrawal from the parliament was unjustified since the terms were agreed upon by the two partners in previous meetings.

[Badreia Suliman]: “The withdrawal of our brothers in the SPLM from the legislative assembly session at the final stage which was meant to pass the referendum legislation is inexcusable, because the law was already agreed upon by all the political parties who were represented on the emergency committee.”

The NCP insists that including the original article violated the constitutional rights of Sudanese citizens because it contradicts article 25 which guards against racial discrimination in Sudan.

Other than southerners living in the north being able to vote in the south, the SPLM had insisted that southerners living abroad should also be able to vote during the referendum in 2011.

The disagreement between the NCP and the SPLM over the disputed article highlights recent tensions between two CPA partners and threatens to call into question the legitimacy of the referendum legislation under the terms of the CPA.


The United States Embassy in Khartoum issued a strongly-worded statement from the State Department on Wednesday evening following the announcement that the NCP had passed legislation which differed from the original bill agreed to by the SPLM:

“The United States is deeply concerned about reports that the National Assembly passed the Southern Sudan referendum bill with language added by the NCP that is different than that agreed to by NCP and SPLM leadership. Reneging on the agreement negotiated on December 13th by the two parties undermines the peace process, jeopardizes CPA implementation, and risks sparking renewed political hostilities between the parties. We call on the parties to pass the remaining bills, including the Abyei referendum bill, using the text as agreed, and to restore the Southern Sudan referendum bill to the agreed-upon language before it is signed into law.”

In the same statement, the United States also expressed its concern about the passage of a revised National Security Act on Monday which it said, “contains no new measures of accountability for the security services. For elections to be credible, it is incumbent on the regime to demonstrate in word and in deed that this law will not be used to arrest and detain political opponents. The Government of Sudan must also make immediate and significant improvements to the electoral environment, including permitting peaceful demonstrations, ending press censorship, and allowing opposition voices to be heard. The high voter registration signals the clear desire of the people of Sudan to participate in the process of democratic transformation as proposed in the spirit and letter of the CPA. The United States calls on all parties to work together to ensure the upcoming elections and referenda are conducted in a credible manner.”

The statement was issued by the US Embassy in Khartoum on Wednesday evening.

- - -

See report by Radio Dabanga in The Netherlands, 23 December 2009 entitled Vice president Sudan Salva Kiir feels cheated.

NCP & SPLM agree to adopt requirement of 51% simple majority votes to declare S. Sudan an independent country or confirm unity in Jan 2011 referendum

The National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) agreed on Thursday after 10 months of heated negotiations to adopt a uniform requirement of 51% simple majority votes to declare Southern Sudan an independent country or confirm unity in the upcoming January 2011 referendum.

Government of Southern Sudan's VP Riek Machar told the press at Juba Airport upon his arrival from Khartoum on Friday that the NCP had also dropped its proposal of 90% to 2/3 (66%) of quorum required from all the registered voters in order to recognize the outcome of the referendum.

SPLM Deputy Chairman said that his delegation agreed southerners based in northern Sudan and abroad would be allowed to vote during the referendum.

Dr. Machar also said the NCP had proposed that all Southerners that reside in the north should automatically lose their citizenship in northern Sudan and be treated as foreigners if the referendum vote results to independence of the South.  The same fate would also apply to northerners that reside in the South.

He added the SPLM has refused to discuss in the referendum law the fate of southerners or northerners, saying the issue would also be discussed together with the other issues in the post-referendum dialogue.

Source:  Sudan Tribune - Peace partners reach breakthrough on South Sudan referendum - Saturday 17 October 2009 by James Gatdet Dak

October 16, 2009 (JUBA) — The partners in the 2005 peace deal between northern and southern Sudan have reached a breakthrough on the main outstanding issues in the draft law for the conduct of referendum in Southern Sudan.

The National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) agreed on Thursday after 10 months of heated negotiations to adopt a uniform requirement of 51% simple majority votes to declare Southern Sudan an independent country or confirm unity in the upcoming January 2011 referendum.

The co-chairs of the Joint Political Executive Committee of the two parties, Vice President of Sudan, Ali Osman Mohamed Taha and Government of Southern Sudan’s Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, are consulting with their respective leaderships before they could initial the agreement.

Dr. Machar told the press at Juba Airport upon his arrival from Khartoum on Friday that the NCP had also dropped its proposal of 90% to 2/3 (66%) of quorum required from all the registered voters in order to recognize the outcome of the referendum.

SPLM Deputy Chairman further said that his delegation agreed southerners based in northern Sudan and abroad would be allowed to vote during the referendum. The southern Sudan ruling party had rejected their participation in a first time.

Dr. Machar who chairs the component of the SPLM Political Executive Committee, charged with implementing the CPA, briefed the Government of Southern Sudan’s Council of Ministers on Friday about the agreement.

He said the bill also gives the referendum exercise a period of three days from the 9th to 11th January 2011.

He said they have also agreed that the exercise of the referendum can be repeated within sixty (60) days in case the first exercise fails to attain the 2/3 voters turnout.

In the agreement also included several other issues among which are the qualifications of voters and voting centers in addition to composition of the referendum commission.

There are also disputed post-referendum issues including discussions on what to do with the liabilities (debts), assets, waters, Joint Integrated Units (JIUs), oil (production, transport and export), currency and international agreements in case the South would vote for separation.

Dr. Machar also said the NCP had proposed that all Southerners that reside in the north should automatically lose their citizenship in northern Sudan and be treated as foreigners if the referendum vote results to independence of the South.

The same fate would also apply to northerners that reside in the South.

He added the SPLM has refused to discuss in the referendum law the fate of southerners or northerners, saying the issue would also be discussed together with the other issues in the post-referendum dialogue.

The SPLM’s position is that the referendum law should not be tied to the post-referendum issues, he said.

The two parties should not only discuss what would happen to the post-referendum issues if the South chooses independence, Machar explained, adding that they would also discuss how Sudan needs to look like incase the South would vote for unity.

Dr. Machar earlier explained that such a post-referendum united Sudan would need re-structuring of the Sudanese state itself, saying all these issues would be discussed outside the referendum bill.

A special committee of the Southern Sudan cabinet comprising of different political parties was formed to study the details of the draft bill on Saturday before it could be initialed by the two co-chairpersons, Dr. Machar and Ali Osman in their next week’s meeting on Monday.

The bill would then be presented to the national Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) before it goes to the national Council of Ministers and parliament for final endorsement by the current last session before the end of the year.

On the Abyei referendum, Machar added that the two parties have also presented their respective proposals on the composition of its commission.

He further added that the two parties are as well working on the bills for public consultations for Southern Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains.

The people of Southern Sudan shall vote in the 2011 referendum to choose between confirming the current unity of Sudan and creating an independent country.

The people of Abyei shall vote at the same time to either join the South or remain part of the North, while the people of Southern Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains shall have respective popular consultations to determine their future political and administrative status within the North.

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South Sudan to build its first oil refinery in Akon in north-western Gogrial area of Warrap state

Most of Sudan’s oil is produced from the oil fields located in southern Sudan while the current country’s refineries are all located in northern Sudan.  

98% of southern Sudan’s overall revenues that constitute the annual budgets for the region come from the 50% share of the oil produced in its Upper Nile and Unity states.  

In a meeting on Friday chaired by Vice President Riek Machar Teny, South Sudan's Council of Ministers passed a resolution on a project for building an oil refinery in southern Sudan that will be located in a place called Akon in North-western Gogrial area of Warrap state.  Reportedly, the crude oil that is targeted for refinery will be extracted from Block 5A oilfield in Unity state.

The Council of Ministers also directed the Minister of Energy and Mining to discuss the possibility of building refineries at the sites of the oilfields in Upper Nile and Unity states with any major oil companies that may be interested.

Source: Sudan Tribune, Sunday, 4 October 2009, by James Gatdet Dak.  Copy:
South Sudan to build its first oil refinery in Warrap state

October 2, 2009 (JUBA) – The semi-autonomous region of Southern Sudan has embarked on building its first ever oil refinery in Warrap state for its huge oil reserves as the clock ticks towards referendum on secession in January 2011.

Sudan currently produces more than 600,000 barrels of crude oil per day which bring tens of millions of US dollars on daily basis from the international market.

Most of the Sudan’s oil is produced from the oilfields located in Southern Sudan while the current country’s refineries are all located in Northern Sudan.

98% of Southern Sudan’s overall revenues that constitute the annual budgets for the region come from the 50% share of the oil produced in Upper Nile and Unity states in accordance with the 2005’s peace deal between North and South.

In its Friday meeting chaired by the Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny, the Council of Ministers passed a resolution on the project for building the oil refinery in Southern Sudan that will be located in a place called Akon in North-western Gogrial area of Warrap state.

The project was initiated and presented to the cabinet meeting by the Minister of Energy and Mining, John Luk Jok.

The huge refinery project which is expected to take about three years to complete from the date it kicks off at the construction site will begin by establishing a Joint Venture Company (JVC) with any oil companies interested to partner with the government, finding financiers to fund the project and then JVC finally signing a contract with a national or international company that will implement the project on the ground.

According to a press statement by the official spokesperson and Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Paul Mayom Akech, the crude oil that is targeted for refinery will be extracted from Block 5A oilfield in Unity state.

To transport the crude oil to Akon refinery site, Minister Mayom explained that the Company will also construct a pipeline of some hundreds of kilometers long from the Unity state oilfield.

Mayom said the Government of Southern Sudan will have the biggest share in the $10 million worth JVC ownership body and the share will be represented by the Southern Sudan indigenous Nilepet oil company.

After formation of the JVC and securing of funds, the Company would then advertise the project to any interested national and international companies that would be subjected to competitive bidding process and out of which a winner will sign a contract with the JVC to technically implement the project on the ground.

Tens of thousands of indigenous people of Southern Sudan are expected to benefit from the project as they will be employed to do most of the labor work at the construction sites.

The cost for implementing such an expensive single project is not yet known, but may run into billions of dollars.

The Council of Ministers also directed the Minister of Energy and Mining to discuss the possibility of building refineries at the sites of the oilfields in Upper Nile and Unity states with any major oil companies that may be interested.

The semi-autonomous region earlier resolved to also embark on a separate project to build an alternative pipeline from Southern Sudan to Port Mombassa in Kenya for transporting the crude oil to the international markets.

Currently the crude oil from Southern Sudan is being transported to the international market via Port Sudan in the far North-eastern part of the country through the thousands of kilometers long Chinese-constructed pipeline.

Mayom said the Government stressed the importance of indigenizing the operations of the oil sector so that “Southern Sudan is not caught up” in case it chooses secession in 2011.

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S. Sudan VP Riek Machar: 'We should start the process of repatriation of the Abyei area as soon as possible'

From Sudan Radio Service (Abyei) Wednesday 22 July 2009:

Riek Machar -Neither Good News Nor Bad

Sudan Radio Service asked Riek Machar, the Vice-President of southern Sudan, for his reaction to the court’s decision.

[Riek Machar ]: “As you know we respect the findings of the arbitration report, I can not tell you that it is good news or bad news because some areas, that we felt should be in, are out of it. Heglig is out of it, Merem is out of it, and as you know this area is contested by Northern Bahr el-Ghazal. Unity is contesting Heglig, so these issues still have to be discussed.”

Machar expressed his concern that some oil-producing areas may find themselves north of a new border demarcation.

[Riek Machar]: “The Abyei area has oil. In Difra, there is exploration going on within the area demarcated, and as you know, Heglig is where the oil is, and it has also some oil-fields. Yes there are resources in the area generally and revenue-wise it means a lot. However, the people of the south will still have a chance to discuss this ruling with the north-south border committee.”

Machar appealed to the people of Abyei to abide by the decision of the tribunal and he described the next step in the demarcation process.

[Riek Machar]: “Now we have Abyei with a known boundary, we would like the people to calmly accept the ruling. We should start the process of repatriation of the Abyei area as soon as possible so that we can be ready for the referendum that will come in eighteen months. The next step will be to demarcate these borders on the ground. They are now delimited on paper, now we will need a joint survey committee to do the survey on the ground.

Riek Machar was speaking to Sudan Radio Service from The Hague.

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