South Sudan, the youngest country in the world, gained independence in 2011 after decades of civil war with Sudan. However, this new nation has been plagued by internal conflicts and widespread violence in the years following its independence with various tribes vying for power thus threatening its stability and development. The tensions between different ethnic groups have often erupted into violent confrontations, further exacerbating the already fragile ten states of the country. As a result, causing the country a severe humanitarian crisis, with millions of people in need of assistance. These humanitarian situations include food insecurity, displacement, and inadequate access to basic services such as health care and education.
Therefore, the main objectives of this study will be to delve deeper into the complexities of the situation in South Sudan, exploring the root causes of the conflicts, and the challenges faced by the population today.
By understanding the historical context and current dynamics at play in South Sudan, we hope to contribute to a better understanding of the challenges facing this young nation.
For this article, I interviewed three people:
Desiderius Adiri, a man of loyalty and conviction, was born in 1920 long before the nation’s struggles for independence. He served as traffic police in Khartoum before fighting for his nation’s independence. Now, a refugee in Kiryandongo refugee settlement due to the civil war again in South Sudan, but his spirit for better tomorrow remains unbroken.
Josephine Tabu a resilient young woman who overcame the challenges of losing her parents during the 2013 civil war in South Sudan. Born in 1996, she is now a refugee in Uganda pursuing her dreams of becoming a journalist at Makerere University. Her passion for storytelling is evident in this project.
Finally, my good friend Azariah Kigen, a history teacher in one of the schools in South Sudan was among the people I interviewed during my research.
For this project, I gathered sources such as historical documents about South Sudanese Struggles for independence, images about British influence and CPA celebrations and artifacts related to my topic of research. I also obtained my sources by visiting Whitaker library, as well as conducting interviews with experts or knowledgeable people in the field of my reach.
Historical Context: Colonialism in South Sudan
South Sudan’s struggles for independence and continued internal conflicts can be traced back to its colonial past and the legacy of neglect and marginalization by the British- led government in Khartoum. In my interview with Azariah Kiden a history teacher in one of the schools in South Sudan, he said the British colonial rules played a significant role in exacerbating tensions between the North and South, as they focused their investments and development efforts primarily in the Arab north, while neglecting the black African south. This led to lack of basic infrastructure like, education, and healthcare in the South, further widening the divide between the two regions.
The British viewed the South as incapable of being managed by the western government and its people were oppressed.
The Struggles for Independence
In an interview with Desiderius Adiri he opened up on how South leaders struggled for independence saying, the first eye-opening civil war erupted in 1955 just a year before Sudan gained independence, as the southern region felt marginalized and underrepresented in the newly formed government in Khartoum. This bloody war lasted seventeen years and was settled with the Addis Ababa Agreement in 1972. The Addis Ababa Agreement brought a temporary peace to the South region, but it did not address the underlying issues of marginalization and inequality that fueled the war. The South continued to feel neglected and oppressed by the Arab government (Northern government), leading to renewed tensions and outbreak of violence. In 1983, a second and much longer civil war that lasted over two decades erupted between the same regions of North and South, with the conflicting taking on a religious and ethnic dimension, pitting Christian blacks in the South against Muslim Arabs in the North. This took place when President Nimeiry of Sudan issued a set of decrees, known as the September Laws, imposing sharia law throughout the country. The civil war raged through the south, and the SPLM led by Dr. John Garang, battled the government forces from Sudan, and made it several attempts to gain control of the regions in the south. Dr. John Garang, Salver Kiir, William Nyuon Bany and Kerubino Kuanyin Bol, emerged as a prominent rebel group fighting for the independence of the South. They fought a protracted guerrilla war against the Northern government, seeking an end to atrocities and human right abuses such as rights to worship for the South.
The Comprehensive Peace Agreement and Independence
In a further discussion with him, Mr. Desiderius opened up about the CPA agreement, saying after decades of conflict and suffering, Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed in 2005, paving the way for a referendum on independence for South Sudan. In January 2011, the people of South Sudan voted overwhelmingly for separation from Sudan, leading to the birth of the world’s newest nation. On July 14, 2011 The Republic of south Sudan joined the United Nations as the world’s 193rd nation.
South Sudan gained independence from Sudan on 9 July 2011 as the outcome of the 2005 agreement that ended Africa’s longest running civil war.
Recent Conflicts and Displacement
In the course of this research, I interviewed Ms. Josephine about the cause behind the recent conflicts in South Sudan, she responded by saying after the two years of the celebrated independence, South Sudan continued to suffer conflicts, this time not from the North but their own people. These conflicts reflect underlying tensions and mistrust among the South Sudanese leaders that dated back to their struggles for independence. In the recent decades after independence, some of the SPLM[1] leaders mobilized supporters along their ethnic lines to compete for powers. In 2013, it ended in exchange of fire arms when President Salva Kiir accused his deputy, Dr. Riek Machar, of plotting a coup against him. This led to a violent conflict between their supporters along the tribal lines, resulting into 2.3 million internally displaced and over 2.4 million in refugee as for July 2023 according to UNHCR. And again in 2016 when Dr. Riek Machar was dismissed and further other generals, leading to more displacement and suffering among the civilian population.
The voices of Desiderius Adiri and Josephine Tabu enabled me analyzed that the discovery of oil in 1973 was a pivotal movement in this young country’s history. The Addis Ababa agreement, brokered by the IGAD[2], failed to address the underlying issues, and Sudan’s pursuit of oil in the South led to the continued violence. It further helped me realized that after the independence of 2011, South Sudan’s struggles persisted due to weak governance, corruption, and the sudden loss of their SPLM gorilla Dr. John Garang, who was poised to lead the country after the independence. His abrupt death by helicopter crush created a power vacuum; – guess what? Since then its leaders struggled to maintain peace within this youngest nation. Today, South Sudan faces numerous challenges, including rampant corruption, widespread violence characterized by massive displacement of people as refugees, and struggles for power and control among ethnic groups.
Bibliography
- Johnson, Douglas. “The Legacy of Colonialism in South Sudan: Marginalization and Conflict.” Journal of African Studies, vol. 20, no. 3, 2018, pp. 45-63.
- Deng, Francis Mading. “From Colonialism to Independence: The Struggles of South Sudan.” African Historical Review, vol. 15, no. 2, 2019, pp. 102-120.
- Smith, John. “Internal Conflicts and Displacement in South Sudan: A Case Study of Ethnic Divides and Resource Competition.” International Journal of Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies, vol. 25, no. 1, 2020, pp. 78-94.
- Mayen, Mary. “The Comprehensive Peace Agreement and Its Impact on South Sudan’s Path to Independence.” Journal of Conflict Studies, vol. 30, no. 4, 2016, pp. 210-228.
- Human Rights Watch. “Struggles for Independence and Internal Conflicts in South Sudan: A Humanitarian Crisis.” Human Rights Watch Report, 2021.
[1] Sudan People Liberation Movement
[2][2] Intergovernmental Authority on Development
