After a journey that lasted too long (sailing up the Nile would have been quicker), I am in Juba, South Sudan.
In my time at Kairos, Sudan has been a principal concern of our member churches. I have travelled twice to the country to meet with our partner, the Sudan Council of Churches. This time I am here to observe the referendum that will determine whether the country remains united.
When I began working for Kairos just over six years ago, a Comprehensive Peace Agreement, signed by the warring parties in January 2005, guaranteed the people of southern Sudan the right to a referendum on self-determination. At the same moment, however, the conflict in Darfur was heating up; today, there is still no peace in the western part of Sudan. Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese have died in that ongoing conflict, and millions more have been displaced.
Six years is a long time to wait, but the people of southern Sudan are finally choosing their future. It’s hard not to get caught up in the enthusiasm the people of Juba feel for the coming days. In a few months, it is very likely that the southern Sudanese will formally create a new country in Africa, the continent’s 55th independent state. Most people around Juba rejoice, and their joy is infectious. But there are lingering questions, and one of them is oil.
The referendum will begin to clarify positions on who benefits from the considerable oil revenues of Sudan. The oil lies mostly within the boundaries of southern Sudan, while the pipeline to export the oil runs through the north. Currently, both parties benefit enormously from oil revenues.
Southern Sudanese seem all too aware that oil can be a blessing or a curse. Some here say that the 21-year civil war was fought over oil. But in a country with few other known resources, what options are there other than developing the fields?
There was talk a few years ago about building another pipeline, through Kenya, which would take years to build. Either way—with a new pipeline or not—the two Sudans will need one another. Some of the oil fields even straddle a future border.
Canada, of course, has a stake too. Not only did a Canadian company help build the infrastructure that continues to put wealth in the coffers of the Sudanese government and its military, but Canada refuses to block investment in tar sands oil from companies implicated in the conflict in Darfur. Canada shouldn’t deal with Chinese state oil firms, but we do. We are addicted to their wealth just as they are becoming increasingly addicted to our oil.
So, while the euphoria gains strength around Juba for what people perceive as the inevitable outcome of the referendum, there are still many issues which demand serious attention and there will be a massive challenge keeping all the parties focused on resolving them.
But today, there is music in the air and rallies all over town. The people of this region are tired of war, and tired of waiting for their rights: you can see it in their faces and hear it in their voices. They are filled with expectation for what is to come.
And so am I.
