South Sudan sets sights on independence from North

• Kiir accuses Bashir party of doing too little too late to avert ‘imminent’ break-up

South Sudan took a giant step towards independence with the swearing in on Friday of Salva Kiir Mayardit as the region’s president.

The April election in which Mr Kiir claimed 93 per cent of the vote was a key part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which guarantees the South the right to vote at a referendum on whether they want to break away from the mainly Arab North.

In his speech during the inauguration ceremony, Mr Kiir left little doubt what choice Southerners will make at the plebiscite.

He criticised President Omar al-Bashir’s National Congress Party of offering little incentive for the South to remain a part of a united Sudan and said Khartoum was acting too late to avert a break-up.

“Our partners were not in a hurry to make unity a reality (during the early years of implementation of the peace agreement). Now that time has run out, a sense of panic has set in,” he said.

Africa’s newest nation

The entire inauguration ceremony was a reflection of the South’s determination to break away from the North.

The road to the venue of the event, the mausoleum of former Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) leader Dr John Garang, was lined by billboards proclaiming the birth of Africa’s newest nation. “We are close to the nation we all wanted to see” one banner proclaimed.

Mr Kiir swore to “(uphold) the unity of the people of South Sudan and consolidate the decentralisation of democracy”, a formulation viewed as underlining the region’s desire for complete self-governance.

The sense of optimism that a new dawn has arrived is shared by many across the South, which was the site of a brutal war of liberation waged by SPLA/M troops unhappy with the North’s imposition of Sharia law in the South and its lack of investment in a region where the bulk of the nation’s oil deposits are found.

The view of businessman Benjamin Bol Madut is typical: “The referendum is not a favour we expect from the North. It is something we insist must go ahead. It has legitimacy under international law, unlike the past where the North branded us as rebels. This time, we are ready and prepared to fight for freedom.”

Despite the widespread optimism in the South that a new dawn is at hand, analysts caution that numerous stumbling blocks remain. 

Mr Ernst Jan Hogendoorn of the International Crisis Group says the two sides must invest more energy in discussing post-referendum issues.

“There was a lot of focus on the elections and not enough attention was paid to resolving the question of what a final deal ahead of the referendum might look like,” he said.

Some of the most contentious issues remaining include the sharing of oil revenues between the North and the South and demarcation of borders.

The level of debt burden to be inherited by the two sides is also in dispute.

Addressing hundreds of cheering supporters in searing heat in Juba, Mr Kiir channelled the mood of optimism sweeping through the region.

“Today is the end of an era and the beginning of a new page in the history of South Sudan,” he said.