Buckets of rain and security worries

The rain has finally subsided.  The storm began with a flurry of activity, the dark clouds colluding to rapidly block out the entire sky, then summoning the wind to whip the dust up off the streets and dispatch it with gusto, sending people scurrying in its wake. Once the wind comes, the rain isn’t far behind. It doesn’t slyly sneak in and surprise you; it hits with brute force, sudden and powerful, battering the window panes, smashing into the roof like waves pounding the shore, drenching anyone foolish enough to still be out amongst it. The gale force winds, sudden flashes of lightning, rumbling thunder and torrents of water bucketing down still give me a sense of awe, no matter where I am when I experience them.

Normally these storms disappear as quickly as they came. But this one had staying power. It bruised and battered us for a good half an hour before settling in for a long lunch, retreating to seamless grey coverage and constant, soaking rain that lasted a good hour or so. Once past, the silence smothers you like a wet blanket, but the serenity is only fleeting. Then the frogs take up the call to arms.

The cacophony of sounds produced by our amphibian friends is quite incredible. The rhythmic honking and croaking that continues on into the night, every night, is a sound to which I never tire of falling asleep. Step outside the compound - once you’ve braved the quagmire that it becomes every time it rains - onto the equally mushy mess of a road, and the sound becomes deafening. Walk across the compound after rain (or any time really) and the frogs almost scurry across your path, the speed at which they travel. I’ve never seen such tiny, or rapidly moving frogs. My favourites are the little guys that flail across the bathroom floor, so desperate to escape your evil clutches that they overturn themselves, like demented miniature clowns performing for an audience of giants.

Rumbek’s peacefulness betrays a turbulent undercurrent. Today the rain kept us inside the compound, but had the storm not broken we still would have been trapped within. There were gunshots fired late in the afternoon, and so we were restricted from going out. The shots were fired after the unfortunate death of a man crushed underneath a reversing army truck. His family quickly sought retribution from the poor driver, who now not only has to live with the terrible mistake he has made, but also the fear of revenge killing by the deceased man’s family, who were very quick to take up arms. Upon seeing them coming, guns in hand, the army fired in the air to scare them away; shots were fired by both parties but no-one was hurt. Around 60 police were apparently deployed to the market and Freedom Square in order to keep everything under control. The driver had to be escorted away by fellow soldiers. Revenge killings are common here, and people resort to gunfire to settle debts. 

A couple of weeks ago we heard gunfire when some recently laid-off prison staff sought justice for their sacking by going straight to the prison with guns in hand. Shots were fired by both parties but again, luckily, no-one was hurt.

The voluntary disarmament of people here is ongoing and apparently successful, but there are obviously still plenty of firearms around. My staff have talked of people handing in only one of their many guns in order to continue to protect themselves, while still complying with the authorities. The second stage of disarmament will apparently be mandatory. I’m not sure if it will involve compensation, but the sooner that guns are out of South Sudanese hands the better, especially in this part of the country. 

The Dinka are known for their temper and their fly-into-rage temperament, and tribal clashes between Dinka Agar, Dinka Nuer and Dinka Lok, amongst others, are ongoing and have been for long. People are known to be friendly and welcoming one minute, and angry and violent the next. You sometimes see women fighting with each other, their friends and relatives surrounding them to pull them off each other. Even in the hygiene drama that one of the schools did for Global Handwashing Day, a mock situation escalated into fighting between two characters in the drama. It seems to be a normal way of settling things, whether it be revenge killings, cattle rustling, marital affairs or impregnation of young girls by the 'wrong suitor'. People settle disputes by picking up their guns and going after the perpetrators. Or targeting the brother of the perpetrator, if he can’t be found. The brother could die without even knowing what his sibling had done. His murderers may have been waiting for him to come to town for a long time, or may have tracked him down in Khartoum. But they wait, and they take their revenge when they can. And then they run. And then the cycle continues. There is too much taking of the law into your own hands here for the good of anyone.

People have told me that in the past, when fighting broke out, the tribal leaders would come together, seek out the perpetrators, put them ‘on trial’ in front of the community to their humiliation, and fine them in an appropriate number of cattle. Giving away cattle is like losing an arm to the Dinka, and their family may never recover, depending on how many they previously owned. But since the troubles between North and South began, back in the 60s and 70s, and the SPLA commandeered the people’s attention to join the uprisings against the North, the important role of tribal leaders in controlling conflict eroded. These leaders no longer play the moderating role they once did, and while independence quelled the violence substantially, this type of conflict still occurs in a number of hotspots around the country. These leaders need to once again regain control of their communities and stop this inter-tribal nonsense.

In many other areas of South Sudan, and border states of Sudan, the troubles continue. Thankfully Lakes State is reasonably peaceful. This week’s UN OCHA Weekly Humanitarian Bulletin reads: 

Food relief is being mobilised for the population displaced in the Agok area, 45 km south of Abyei town, because of the crisis in Abyei which broke out in May this year. The political situation in Abyei remained static, with military troops reportedly continuing to remain in Abyei town, acting as the key constraint to return movements of the displaced population from Agok and Warrap State. Abyei is the one state that chose both not to remain with the North nor become independent with the South Sudan, and was supposed to have its own referendum. It is also a very oil-rich state and violence continues here.

In Jonglei State, food aid was airlifted to persons displaced by inter-communal violence in mid-August. An estimated population of 21,600 people have been affected by the inter-communal attack in mid-August in Uror County, despite simmering tensions between the two communities. In a positive development, partners reported that Uror youths have agreed to refrain from any attack and to monitor reconciliation efforts until December. The unpredictable security situation in parts of Jonglei is due not only to inter-communal tensions but also the presence of rebel militia groups.

In Unity State an inter-agency assessment verified some 21,000 persons displaced by cattle-raiding in Mayendit County in early September. Humanitarian efforts also supported populations who have fled to South Sudan from ongoing conflicts in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states in Sudan.

 

OCHA puts out maps of the areas of concern, complete with numbers of people displaced, and symbols representing conflict that look like flash points, or exploding bombs.

Speaking of which, another issue in South Sudan that I don't know much about is the presence of landmines. UXO is apparently a big problem here, or at least it was prior to independence. Since then many areas have been cleared of UXO, in particular Lakes, which I was happy to read! I never really thought about it; mines always make me think of Cambodia, Vietnam or Thailand, not Africa. But in some areas they still remain a risk. Take this excerpt (thanks again OCHA):

Twenty people killed by landmine in Unity

A civilian bus hit a landmine between Mayom and Mankien in Unity State on 9 October, killing 17 civilians and three soldiers, and wounding seven, according to UN Security. It is not known if the mine was newly laid or old, but the area had been the centre of conflict between the militia of rebel leader Peter Gadet and security forces between March and May, and has been category four since then due to landmines and insecurity. Category four means that UN personnel are not permitted to use the road.

Scares the hell out of me.

On a more positive note, I also read with interest this part of the report:

The presidents of South Sudan and Sudan met in Khartoum over the weekend 8-9 October. President Kiir (South Sudan) reportedly announced that the Republic of South Sudan is committed to a friendly relationship and will work to build mutual understanding and dialogue with the Republic of Sudan. He also explained that his government is ready to discuss and reach a final solution with Khartoum on all outstanding issues on the economy, security, borders and Abyei status. For his part, president Bashir said a fruitful meeting was held at the ministerial level, and that all issues were discussed in the spirit of cooperation.

Hmmm. Sounds right. The South keen to make things work, the North not committing to anything. From what I read and hear on the news, the Sudanese government is deliberately and continually causing trouble for the South. But the South (apart from Abyei, whose status is still unclear) holds all the aces; they have the oil. But the pipelines head north and the only port is in Sudan. The two countries are supposed to split oil royalties 50:50 but the South don't seem to see a lot of this money. Until things are sorted out, the people won't benefit at all. I just hope that if this report is indeed true, it’s the start of a better relationship between these two states; they've been at loggerheads for such a long time - the longest conflict in African history. The people need peace, and lots of it.

So there’s a bit more of an insight into the mess that is South Sudan. At least the frogs honking away in the background will help me to sleep.