SCBC President Exhorts for South Sudan Separation...

Church leader exhorts for South Sudan separation
Friday 27 April 2007.

By Isaac Vuni

April 26, 2007 (JUBA) — The President of Sudan Catholic Bishops'
Conference, His Grace Archbishop Paulino Lokudu Loro, today said south
Sudanese must look for new leaders who cherish the aspiration of south
Sudanese for separation.

He said the current unfolding situation in southern Sudan requires
unity of purpose from all southern Sudanese especially during the time
of national census.

Speaking at the closing session of the two days workshop on Justice
and Peace at Catholic Relief Service center, the prelate said "it's
regrettable that the masses of southern Sudan are not being adequately
educated on the vital exercises of the national census that would pave
ways for proper planning and effective development of the marginalized
areas of the Sudan."

Archbishop Loro challenged southern political elites to come up in
defense of people's aspiration for separation than misleading them
with the words of New Sudan and making unity attractive to people who
have been marginalized for more than fifty years.

Meanwhile the commander of Patriotic Resistance Movement, Alfred Lado
Gore, said "it is time to call a spade a spade, adding that people
must clearly demand for their democratic right to freedom that would
lead the to separation from the north." Commander Gore further added
that unity is the most important at this particular time. He cautioned
the innocent masses at grassroots to be careful of some southern
Sudanese sons and daughter who might have been used to suppress the
people's aspiration for separation from Khartoum.

The participants observed that grievances arose among the ranks and
files of the SPLM/A in August 1991 and it let them to fragment into
more than ten tribal factions that was after the comprehensive peace
agreement reduced to six political groupings.

Yet there are still imbalances in geographical appointments in GoSS
leadership characterized with ethnic recruitment that pave ways to
tribal tensions and mal practice of corruptions in public offices,
rampant injustice inflicted on individuals and groups of people, delay
or non payments of salaries to employees and the groups of soldiers
holding arms.

The South-South dialogue, brain child of churches in April 2005 was
intended to reconcile the warring southern Sudanese factions/parties
in order to uphold the interest of the suffering and marginalized
Sudanese to air out their grievances for the shake of unity of
southern Sudan.

The National Population Census scheduled for November 9th 2007 is very
important for the distribution of political constituencies,
power-sharing, wealth-sharing and services provision to the Sudanese
people but the Khartoum government is deliberately delaying in for
their own interest.

Otherwise, without proper census, there would be no fair election that
would deliver people's aspiration and expectation.

"The present government in Khartoum is very keen on diluting the
census and election hence it dose not want to change governing rule of
election including appointment of electorate commission instead it
incorporated the SPLM in its old electorate Commission mostly
constituted in accordance with Islamic Sharia code."

Today in Southern Sudan, people link Census to taxes because Census
enlightenment to grassroots people is very poor therefore southerners
should be prepared to also get poor result.

Yet appropriate national census result would be of great effect in
planning of the coming general election and the referendum at the end
of six years interim period in year 2011. Therefore, southern Sudanese
people need to be prepared and empowered to vote responsibly "through
an urgent aggressive civic education in the ten states of southern
Sudan," the conference recommended

The workshop participants appealed to GoSS Government to respect the
constitutions and rule of laws and to embrace practice of
inclusiveness than creating divisions among Southern Sudan.

They observed that Peace building must aim at reviving a country's
economy, establishing participatory system of governance, fair
administrations of judicial, disarmament and demobilization of former
combatants who should also be social sustain fairly, psychological and
economic rehabilitation among others.

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the Darfur Peace Agreement and
Eastern Sudan Peace were all signed on the conference tables without
much involvement of the society. Until the entire society are fully
involved the agreements faces many challenges, remarks participants

The following are Recommendations derived from the two days workshop
organized by National Justice and Peace Commission of the catholic
Bishops conference held at Catholic Relief service premises in Juba on
national census and election:

NATIONAL CENSUS
• Government must create Stability in southern Sudan for achieving
better result of the national census in southern Sudan.
• South Sudanese churches should participate actively in Civic
education and dissemination of the CPA documents to empower grassroots
people as government is failing to reach cross section of southern
Sudanese.
• Government should ensured adequate Security for the People of South
Sudan especially during the national census campaign.
• Church committee must be formed and co-opted into existing
government census committee to monitor the problems of Census,
elections and referendum.
• LRA movement within the country must be cleared out to enable the
return of the IDPs to their home lands.
• The Church must be involved in government committee of Information
and publicity in order to ensure proper and appropriate usage of
census funds for enlightening rural People.
• The DDR process must be speed up in order to pave way for smooth
running of the November 2007census.
• All census offices in southern Sudan must be empowered and equipped
with necessary facilities.
• There is a need to have a laity or a priest to represent the Church
in the government.
• The church should now confirm the version of "Let my people choose"
New approach.

REFERENDUM RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Formulation of special committee as a mechanism to implement the
recommendations of Justice and Peace Commission workshop

2. Formation of Civil society to aggressively sensitize the entire
populace in southern Sudan on Referendum by south Sudanese

3. Enlightenment of political leaders, civil society and the grassroots
communities on the importance of conducting referendum for south
Sudanese

4. The Use of Independent media should be encouraged to focus on
activities of civil society and other opinion.

5. There should be more workshops for enlightenment of political and
civil societies.

6. South Sudanese churches should call for south-south dialogue to forge
unity of south Sudanese people

7. The church should lob for funding for establishment of independent
media and other programmes of civil society.

8. The church should advocacy/lobby to address threats facing the smooth
process of carrying out the referendum process among south Sudanese.

9. The church call on friendly countries in Africa, America, Europe and
world wide to support the cause of south Sudanese for a free and
independent country.

10. International community should be involve in monitoring referendum in
year 2011

11. South Sudan churches should use their structures for disseminating
information to cross section of Sudanese.

12. South Sudanese churches together with civil society need to prepare
new leaders for presidency of south Sudan who have clear vision for
south Sudan.

13. The church should act as a watch dog in Good governance practices in
southern Sudan

(Forward by john Ashworth)

(ST)