A three-day forum for counties' commissioners of Western Bahr-el-Ghazal State has concluded in Wau town. The workshop recommended that security should be guaranteed in the State, provision of basic services and support for the upcoming referendum scheduled for 2011. Speaking during the closing ceremony at the Peace Hall in Wau town, the Commissioner of Raja County, Rizig Dominic, said that

Authors: SUNA - Sudan News Agency English Latest News

Authors: SUNA - Sudan News Agency English Latest News

Authors: SUNA - Sudan News Agency English Latest News

By Gabriel Makuei Tor comedy-zone.  www.borglobe.com

When the ruthless Khartoum regime locked down the South Sudan, Abyei, Blue Nile and Nuba mountains (South Kordufan) - besides; are Eastern Sudan and the Darfur today, against modernization, education, justice, freedom and Sudanese’s wealth and power sharing, during the last fifty years in Sudanese story – where were they, who are struggling to pollute, to abort the Sudanese agreement for the lasting peace - for their own gains? They speak against Separation in Support of the Sudanese empty Unity, while they did not speak when millions were murdered and leaders assassinated by the government of the same… – tell me the difference. And where were you by then!?

JUBA, Sudan, Aug 28 (Reuters) - South Sudanese authorities have identified eleven sites in the semi-autonomous region where they plan to build hydroelectric plants to exploit the White Nile and other rivers, a government official said on Saturday.

The oil-producing south will vote in a referendum on secession on Jan. 9 and is widely expected to become an independent nation. Southerners will be building a country from scratch after decades of civil war destroyed what little infrastructure there was in the fertile region.

Isaac Liabwel, a senior official at the ministry of water resources and irrigation, said exploiting the Nile was central to development of the south, which has no electricity grid. Only a few towns have power provided by expensive generators.

"We have located more than 10 potential sites for hydro power, most are along the Nile and its tributaries," Liabwel said. "Developing this power is essential to build up industry ... for irrigation, agriculture."

Liabwel said five sites had been earmarked along the Nile, three others on its tributaries, and three at other water catchment sites in the region. He said they could potentially provide the south with 2,000 megawatt hours of power per day.

The final price tag and timeframe is unknown and costing studies are under way, said Liabwel, who singled out four of the sites along the Nile as the top priority. Each of these lies between the capital, Juba, and the southern border with Uganda.

"These are the main sites. Once they are operational we can link with Uganda and DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) and export power to them," he said.

The Blue and White Nile merge in Sudan into a single river that then flows into Egypt.

Southern Sudan Electricity Corporation general manager Ajuoi Chol said the cost for the four priority sites south of Juba would not be less than $1 billion.

Liabwel said the source of funding for the projects and their timeframes were unclear, an issue compounded by the looming referendum because so many question marks remained about the makeup of an independent south's economy.

Under a 2005 peace deal, south Sudan's government gets about half the revenues from oil in the south. With all the oil infrastructure in the north, wealth-sharing would likely continue after secession although the percentages are still being negotiated.

Use of Nile water remains a highly sensitive issue for Egypt, which has reacted angrily to plans by upstream countries to rewrite laws around the division of Nile waters.

Liabwel said Egypt was aware of the south's plans and was supportive of them as the plants would not significantly impair the annual flows.

The Commissioner of Nasir County of Upper Nile State, Dak Tab Chuol, has said that the security situation in the county is stable after the incident of cattle raid. Speaking to Radio Miraya, Chuol, said that the security authorities discovered the looted cattle and returned them to their owners. However, he said that the County is in need of health and educational services.

Kenya faced tough criticism for not executing the arrest warrant against President Al Bashir who is indicted by the ICC on charges of genocide and war crimes in Darfur. Sudan's President arrived in the capital Khartoum on Friday following his visit to Kenya to witness the signing of Kenya's new constitution.

By Daniel Abushery Daniel (USA)

“When we go to vote in the referendum come 9th January 2011– it is not about
choosing between unity and secession. It is about liberty – and walking out of
servitude and second class citizenry”. Said by Dr. David De Chand.

August 27, 2010 (SSNA) -- Without a shadow of a doubt, Sudan has and continues to go through one of the toughest times in its history. Evidently, the largest country in Africa awaits its divulsive moment to integrate into two countries, if the people of South Sudan vote for secession in January 9th, 2010 referendum.

Now, the obvious questions that are being frequently asked these days in
the political spectrum is: Will the South Sudan nation make it to the choir,
after such a long wait to secede from the whole body of the old Sudan, and do
so in a peaceful manner, and without bloodshed? And will the current insecurity
activities in the region continue, or the situation will dramatically improve?

In my judgment, it's time for all Southerners to start having an open-minded
intellectual debates about those concerns as soon as possible. The NCP is
campaigning hard that South Sudan will be a failed state. But we have an
obligation to prove them wrong, by organizing ourselves early enough. Of course,
we can't deny the fact that, there are some elements within our communities who
will be helping our enemy to destabilize the security situation in the region.
We must not allow them to do so.

“Those who cannot learn from history are doom to repeat it." George Santayana.

The relentless surge campaign for the so-called “Attractive unity" by the
“Jallaba" is nothing short of trying to fool us into another Addis Ababa Accord,
which was filled with empty promises. We know better now to allow the NCP/NIF
repeat what former dictator Jaafar Numeri Said: “Addis Ababais not the Quran or
the Bible."

Nevertheless, our solidarity should take the front seat, and spot the light and
the attention, should now focus on the current situations with militias of
renegade and fugitive, former deputy chief of staff, General Athur of Kurfolus,
who has given up his long term membership with SPLM, and the rank of deputy
chief of staff of SPLA, to contest as independence candidate, which led to
that miserable defeat at the hands of his opponent, Governor Koul Manyang Juuk,
who was the SPLM candidate.

Further more, Gen. Athur Deng has, and continues to commit treason against the
authority of the GOSS, and by turning his guns on his own comrades in kurfolus,
killing SPLA soldiers, and ultimately joining hands with the enemies of the
South Sudan, of the likes of Bona Malwal Madut, Dr. Lam Akol Ajawin and the
purported professor, the so-called David De Chand, who keeps changing his
position twice a day. His (De Chand) statement in Uganda that “South Sudan is not
ready for a statehood" was despicable, bizarre, and treacherous, to say the
least. All of a sudden he has forgotten his previous position, (which I
promptly quoted at the top of this article).

More so, South Sudan should not be an exception in dealing with those who commit
treason. In all of the countries of the world, if one commits such acts, he/ she
receive the harshest punishment there is. And in George Athor's case, he should
be court-martialed, for literally murdering his own soldiers in a cold blood
manner.

Hence, the longer he takes at large, the worse the SPLA reputation becomes, not
only in the eyes of the Southerners, but also the international community, and
most disturbingly the “Jallaba" army.

In addition, Gen. Athor's involvement with the NCP has been established by the
capture of the Airplane that was carrying his culprits, among whom one of his
senior deputies has confessed to the fact that Khartoum was behind the plot. The
question is, what more are we waiting for, especially as the referendum is only
about four and a half months?

Gen. Athor's file is full of bloodshed. He was one of the few notorious
SPLA officers, who became famous for all the wrong reasons. He was guilty of
murdering innocent civilians in Waat and Fangak, respectively, burning woman,
children and villages into ashes.

Decides, during campaign trail, Athur was asked by the families of his victims
as to why he performed mass murders on helpless innocent people? "I was
instructed by koul Manyang Juuk," he answered. But he simply forgotten that, in
Criminal Justice System, a guilty plea will not omit the crime, even though it
might reduce the sentence!

“It’s not a shame to commit mistakes, but its shameful repeating the same," Dr.
Toby Madut.

And on a personal note, I would like to seize this opportunity to thank and
salute our uncle, the permanent politician of all time, and the Chairman of
SANU, Dr. Toby Madut, for recanting his position, and by publicly declaring his
full support for the secession of south Sudan, in the upcoming referendum in
January 2011. We hope the rest will follow suit.

Also, the wise decision made by H.E. Salva Kiir Mayardit, appointing Uncle
Joseph Lagu Yanga, as his political advisor, couldn't have come at the right
time, indeed. Now, the following step should be a call for a comprehensive
summit for all of the Southerners, so as to put aside our differences before the
referendum.

Finally, Dr. Justin Ambago, one of the most active writers on South Sudan issues
wrote: “Don’t let your tribal and personal differences overcome your decision,
but look at the bigger picture of South Sudan."

I couldn't agree with him more.

We need to remind ourselves, constantly so, with the fact that, indeed, people
do come and go, but the great land of South Sudan, will forever remain right
where it is today. Shalom.

The author holds a BA in Criminal Justice, and he can be reached at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

By Paan Luel

August 27, 2010 (SSNA) -- Among the myriad injustices that compelled us to take up arms against Khartoum’s successively oppressive regimes was the idea that, with political and social liberation from the North, there would be economic liberation for our long impoverished region. Almost six years into the day that SPLM/A triumphantly entered Juba city and five months into the CPA-mandated referendum in the South, nothing much has changed as far as the living standards of Southerners are concerned.

In spite of our partial political and social freedom, which has bestowed upon us, for the first time, the means and the necessary resources to make visible differences amongst our people, the economic condition is still as dire as it was prior to and throughout the war. Abject poverty, dilapidating corruption and nepotism in public offices, poor public infrastructure, weak educational systems, chronic diseases, pathetic health care systems, intensified inter-tribal wars and political rebellions reign in every region of our land. So what has become of our economic liberation? What could possibly explain this absurd abnormality at a time when our own sons and daughters are in charge of our national welfare? 

Although there is no simple or single answer to that question, there are, still, many contributing factors that can be postulated as possible causes of our pathetic and gloomy economic condition. Among these are inter-tribal conflicts and political rebellions; weak public schools and poor health care systems; our government’s utter failures to enforce the rule of law; and low rates of saving and investment among the Southerners. All of these have perpetuated the vicious cycle of poverty in the land.

First and foremost, South Sudan has witnessed a consistent number of inter-tribal strife since the advent of the CPA, and the subsequent constitution of GoSS, in 2005. Many reported cases of cattle rustlings by various tribal bandits across Jonglei, Eastern Equatoria, Lake State, Unity and Warrap, among others, are widespread. Moreover, some of these tribally instigated skirmishes were, and are being, fought over land, Upper Nile for instance; while others were motivated by a perceived encroachment of foreigners on ancestral land, as happened in Western and Central Equatoria. As if all of these were not enough, persistent LRA’s attacks and fresh political rebellions spearheaded by contenders of the last general election, George Athor, Gatluak Gai and David Yau Yau, have added fuel to the fire.

For South Sudan, which had just barely emerged out of a long destructive civil war, experiencing such an extended period of violence made it impossible for enough capital to be accumulated and new technologies to be imported and adopted by entrepreneurs and firms. This has made it near difficult for business-minded individuals, firms and government to initiate and conduct any meaningful type of business in order to change the economic situation of the country. Thus, there is general stalemate in economic emancipation.

In addition to the extended period of civil strife and the politically motivated rebellions, South Sudan suffers from the presence of two other major problems: weak public schools and poor health systems. The prominent ingredient in the theory of economic development is that human capital---the accumulated knowledge and skills that workers acquire from education, training or from their life experiences---is a main determining factor of labor productivity. The higher the labor productivity among the workforce of a country, the faster and higher is the economic growth and development of the country, and the brighter is its economic future.

However, South Sudan has a weak public school system to produce such productive labor force. As a result, a large number of people who are unable to read and write could not be useful in economic productivity since they are virtually incapable of obtaining the necessary skills such as the acquisition and application of the latest technology. This means that even if factories, machinery and computers are made available by the government or by a Good Samaritan NGO; in most cases, many of the technical jobs would be taken up by expatriates whose chief driving force for seeking such job opportunities runs contrary to our national economic wellbeing. A barely educated and inadequately trained workforce, like what we got in the South, cannot be the beacon and the backbone of economic transformation in any country. 

Coupled with this poor system of education is the prevalence of chronic diseases across the South. Even though many of these pervasive diseases, such as the killer malaria, waterborne diseases and tuberculosis, have long been eradicated or are easily treatable in the developed world, they are still thriving in South Sudan, maiming countless victims yearly. Others such as HIV/AIDS will soon deprive the nation of its workforce, especially the energetic middle age group that is the substratum of our economic growth. This is especially true since the government, which is largely ineffective anyway, lacks the required resources to combat these social maladies by providing medical care for the sick, childhood vaccinations for newborns, or even ample nutrition for the whole population as a preventive measure against malnutrition which causes permanent mental retardation among the young. Poor nutrition, exposure to deadly diseases and an ineffective system of education have led to economic deterioration in the south as an ill-prepared and sick workforce cannot contribute fully to the success of economic liberation.

If communal wars and a poor system of education and health care are to blame for our dismal economic performance during the last five years; so, too, is the utter failure of our Juba based government to enforce the run of law in the land so as to inaugurate, promote and maintain entrepreneurship. In order for our indigenous entrepreneurs and start-ups firms to emerge, open and flourish in the South Sudan economic setting, the rule of law--the ability of a government to enforce the laws of the land and especially with regards to protecting private property and enforcing business contracts--must be guaranteed by the government in Juba. It is only through such execution and observance of the rule of law that private property can be guaranteed and contracts enforced. This, in turn, will signify that entrepreneurs and firms can feel secure in their property and confident enough to embark on new business ventures across the country. This is the prerequisite condition for progressive economic growth and development.

Guaranteeing private property rights and the enforcement of business contracts, however, calls for the establishment of an independent court system to administer the rule of law on the participants of the economic system. Unfortunately, vast parts of our country has no known functioning, independent court system that is effective enough to uphold and enforce the rule of law to make it possible for firms to operate efficiently. The few courts that do exist are mired down in cases of bribery of judges, pronounced inefficiency, wanton corruption, grand mismanagement and political and tribal favoritisms. If entrepreneurs and firms in South Sudan can't trust the public court system to uphold the rule of law, few will risk starting new businesses or expanding existing ones for fear of losing their private property to economic banditry.

Consequently, economic growth has been hindered in the South by the absence of an effective, functioning independent court system that can guarantee the enforcement of the rule of law. This is why it is the case that developed countries, such as the USA, that have the strongest rule of law, grow more rapidly and much greater than developing countries, such as South Sudan, that have the weakest rule of law.

Lastly, South Sudan seems to be entangled in a situation infamously described by developmental economists as a vicious cycle of poverty. Economic growth and development come about through saving and investment by the citizens of the country in business enterprises. For Southerners to save and invest in businesses, however, they first must secure well paying jobs, meet their basic needs and pay other expenses from their disposable incomes before they can think of saving surplus income for investment in firms.

But the situation in the South is far from that rosy paradise where job opportunities are readily available. Hardly above poverty line, almost no households in the South have enough basic income to make ends meet, let alone to save for business investment. It is these low saving rates in the South that deprive businesses of the funds to make investments in new machinery, factories and equipment that generate economic growth. Lack of funds for business investment leads to economic decline which means that household gross income and saving rates remain low. Hence, there will be no future funds to finance business enterprises which are fundamental to economic growth, and to alleviate poverty. Therefore, the cycle of poverty burgeons and blossoms. This is the vicious cycle of poverty!

To diagnose a cause of a disease, according to our medical experts, is one step toward the long pursuit of seeking full treatment. By now, we must have realized that winning the war against the enemy, that resulted in our political and social liberation, was one step toward full liberation. Now is the right time to ponder over our other heavy yoke which has been bogging us down all these decades: economic emancipation from abject poverty, chronic diseases, notorious ignorance and overall lamentable underdevelopment. For us to win this next fight, we must be cognizance of the fact that we are confronted with cocktails of inter-tribal conflicts, endemic corruption and nepotism, political rebellions, weak public schools, poor health care systems, jarring government failures to enforce the rule of law, and above all, low rates of saving and investment among the Southerners that deny business-minded individuals and firms the needed capital to expand their current enterprises or to finance their new investments. What is the panacea?

Mr Paan Luel, a concerned Sudanese student studying in the United States, can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it