One Year On, Equatorial Sudanese Diaspora Celebrates, Reflects

New Year’s Day is Independence Day in the Islamic Republic of Sudan, the nation to which South Sudan once belonged. Since 1956, January 1 has been celebrated there as the anniversary of independence from the United Kingdom and Egypt. But it never felt much like freedom to the marginalized and persecuted South Sudanese.

New Year’s Day is also the birthday of an extraordinary number of Southern Sudanese. Many Sudanese do not know their actual birth date because of the long bitter conflict in which they were separated from their families. So they celebrate their birthday on January 1.

But 2012 marks a different milestone for Southern Sudanese. On July 9, 2011, South Sudan declared its independence from Sudan. Now the proud citizens of the world’s newest country have no interest in marking the Islamist regime’s independence. Instead, the North Carolina chapter of the Equatorian Sudanese Community Association (ESCA)* welcomed the New Year with a party to celebrate the Republic of South Sudan’s first New Year in freedom and to discuss the future of the newly-born nation. Equatorians, who are far from the far south of South Sudan, played a key role in fighting for the freedom of South Sudan. The struggle for independence was started by the Equatoria Corps in 1955, and Joseph Lagu, the leader of the first Anya-nya movement, the military resistance to Khartoum, hails from Equatoria.

The New Year’s celebration was organized by Mrs. Sunday Tabu, president of ESCA-NC and a former Government of South Sudan official in Washington, DC. Families gathered together to enjoy great Sudanese delicacies, dance to African and Western tunes, and meet with community leaders and other special guests. A Washington, DC area Equatoria Diaspora delegation included Jimmy Mulla, president and co-founder of Voices for Sudan, Charles Awani, Clement Kaliya, and Washington DC ESCA Chairperson Oliver Tunda. Kwaje Lasu, the president of the national organization, ESCA-USA, also attended the event, along with members of the ESCA-USA office and their families.

The end of year celebrations began on December 31, 2011 with an overnight prayer vigil which included a farewell for one of the members of the community, a priest who is returning to South Sudan. The next day’s family gathering was attended by the whole South Sudanese community in North Carolina. It offered the opportunity to reflect on life in Diaspora and anticipated contributions towards sustainable peace and development in South Sudan. A few community members of plan to visit South Sudan in the near future for small, private development projects. Most others have no immediate plans for return, but all want to see a bright future for the new nation.

There are issues that need to be dealt with very quickly in order to give South Sudan that bright future that is desired by South Sudanese, the Equatorian population, and all the marginalized people in Sudan, according to Jimmy Mulla, the president of Voices for Sudan. Equatorians are concerned about good governance, development and provision of services, and equal employment opportunities for people from all parts of South Sudan. Without a proper government program in place, it is difficult for anyone in the Diaspora who does not have close friends or relatives already established in South Sudan, to find employment upon returning home. Only one out of ten from the Diaspora who have returned home is from Equatoria.

Sunday Tabu, president of ESCA-NC, adds that the greatest leadership failure of the new nation is the lack of established rules and regulations to govern the public, NGOs, international government institutions, and business in every level. “The Republic of South Sudan (RSS) Assembly should be tasked with establishing these guidelines as soon as possible,” said Tabu, in order to help the leadership improve the functionality of every sector of business in the country. “The assembly should delegate some responsibilities to specialized committees of individuals that have expertise in the assigned tasks,” she added.

According to Tabu, it is time for the South Sudan government to invite Southern Sudanese living all over the world to come home and invest in nation-building. In December 2011, USAID and other international partners of South Sudan organized an international conference to attract investors to South Sudan. This was considered a great effort on behalf of development, but the RSS already has many individuals in Diaspora that have the qualifications needed to run businesses in South Sudan. The government needs to demonstrate a willingness to invest in these people, by putting a repatriation program in place to support and accommodate these skilled citizens. In addition, the RSS needs to invest in the land, the animals, natural resources, and education.

Charles Awani believes that the RSS should focus on encouraging American investors to go to the region, since the region is stable for business and holds so many opportunities. He also believes that the RSS government should ensure that South Sudanese from various regions and people groups are included in investment groups so that there is equitable distribution of wealth and resources to the entire population.

Productive investment and regional security go hand in hand, and in the case of Equatoria, the insecurity caused by the Ugandan rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), is a major concern. Since independence, there has been less insecurity in Equatoria than in other regions of South Sudan where inter-tribal violence in rampant. The government of South Sudan and local authorities in Western Equatoria State must be applauded for ensuring better security in the region, but putting an end to the insecurity caused by the LRA is crucial.

The LRA has not been capable of overtaking an entire country, but this illusive rogue group has managed to commit all kinds of crimes and perpetrate unspeakable terrorist acts in the heart of Africa for many years. Community members expressed frustration that when the group attacked civilians in Eastern Equatoria, the rest of the Equatorians viewed the situation as an “Eastern Equatoria problem.” But then the LRA went through Central Equatoria to Western Equatoria, killing innocent men, women, and children all along the way. It settled for a time in Western Equatoria, where it continued to kill and dismember many people. Many of the Equatorians feel that the LRA has not been stopped because of the lack of unity and will among Equatorian and RSS leadership to provide adequate security for the people when the LRA first attacked Eastern Equatoria.

Given the enormous threat to its people posed by the LRA, the local population in Western Equatoria mobilized young men armed only with bows and arrows to defend their villages. The “arrow boys” have made their presence felt and provided a limited level of security to the local population, but ultimately, a well-coordinated international effort, spearheaded by the United States government, to train and support regional armies is needed to end the rogue rebel group and its evil leader, Joseph Kony, who is indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The decision of the Obama Administration to send 100 U.S Special Forces to the region (Uganda, Congo, Central Africa Republic and South Sudan) to minimize and monitor activities of the LRA, is highly commended. It is hoped that this effort will soon bring true security to innocent civilian populations.

January 1, 2012 marks a new era in the lives of many South Sudanese in the Equatoria community in North Carolina, as well as elsewhere across the United States and the world. Although many concerns remain for the future of their new country, the people of South Sudan are full of hope for the future, and proud that they never gave up or gave in during the long struggle that made them free.

Editor’s note: Jimmy Mulla is president and co-founder of Voices for Sudan.

*The Equatorian Sudanese Community Association–USA is a community-based organization of Southern Sudanese in the US hailing from the Equatoria States in southern Sudan.  It was founded in Missouri in 2003 by a group of Equatorian Sudanese who felt the strong need to unite their fellow Equatorians in the United States. The smaller state organizations partner with ESCA-USA to promote the objectives of the association and the hopes and aspirations of the Equatorians in the Diaspora in general and the United States in particular.

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