The Divisioning of Sudan

Sudan is the largest country in the African continent. It has been one of the most complex countries in Africa with difficulties in leadership. Conflicts between the northern and southern part of the country have also been evident.

It has had several wars that have left many of its citizens displaced. Continuous wars have left the country in food insecurities, underdevelopment and endless conflicts, Collins O. (2008). It is a country that has low income that is brought about by illiteracy and poor climatic conditions. Another characteristic Sudan is their poor infrastructure. The people of Sudan face insecurity and trade and markets have been broken down by the endless conflicts.

The largest part of Sudan faces drought due to the unreliable rainfalls. This water shortage in Sudan prevents crop farming and animal rearing in the country. In addition, human settlement is also inhibited in the areas that face acute water shortages. Due to the poor water supply in Sudan, many people suffer from water related diseases. A small percentage of the Sudanese residents get access to pure drinking water and this increases the danger to water related illnesses.

Apart from having a low supply of water in the country, the water is polluted by industrial products such as oil and sewage. In addition, most of the Sudanese land is a desert and the continuous lack of rainfall has led to continued desertification of the land. Over the past years, Sudan has been facing continuous land degradation that is caused by overgrazing of fragile soils by the livestock keepers. Irregular rainfalls cause climate change in Sudan. Poor climate in Sudan causes conflicts among people and reduction in food production, Idris A.

(2005). Despite the long periods of drought in Sudan, flooding also takes place in the country contributing to human vulnerability. The history of Sudan can be linked to the history of Egypt. This is because the two countries have been politically united for a long period. Military and cultural aspects of Sudan have faced influences from neighboring countries such as Egypt, Ethiopia and Chad.

In addition, considerable influence from the world powers such as United States and United Kingdom has been witnessed in Sudan. Before the coming of the Europeans, there were traditional societies that acted as the basis of leadership in Sudan. Kush was a traditional society in Sudan that served the purposes of administration. It also controlled trade between Sudan and Egypt. Later, the Egyptians took control of the Kush society.

According to Collins O. (2008), Influence from Egyptians led to the spread of Egyptian religion to Sudan with the Egyptian officials constructing worshipping places in Sudan. The people of northern Sudan developed a religion that contradicted with that of the Egyptian officials in Kush. The religion of the people of northern Sudan was monotheistic.

The Sudanese people were ruled by kings whose positions were justified by a divine law given by divinity.The United Kingdom and Egypt administered Sudan in two portions where the northern and southern regions were administered separately. During the colonial era, the British people had passed a rule that passports were essential for traveling between north and southern Sudan. In addition, people were required to get permits to conduct business between southern and northern Sudan.

The British colony also ensured that the southern and northern parts of Sudan had separate administrations. In the southern part of Sudan, English was one of the official languages while in the northern side, Arabic and English were used as he official languages. The British colonists discouraged Islamic religion in the southern part of Sudan where the Christian missionaries were allowed to work.The British colony had decided to add the southern Sudan to the list of their east African colonies. The European colony in Sudan focused on improving the economy and infrastructure of the northern Sudan since they had limited authority over the southern region.

Later, the British colonists began preparing the northern part of Sudan for its self-governance where they advised on the control of the six provinces of the northern region. In 1946, the British colony decided to unite the north and south regions of Sudan. Many people in the southern Sudan were not pleased by the British colonist's decision to unite the two regions of Sudan because they felt that they were excluded from the new government. In addition, the political structure in the southern region of Sudan was not well organized as compared to the one in the north.In 1953, United Kingdom and Egypt agreed to provide for self-government and self-determination in Sudan, Johnson D. (2003).

The process of state formation in Sudan started with the launching of the first parliament in 1954. With the agreement between Egypt and the united king, Sudan achieved independence in 1956, Johnson D. (2003).Though the British government recognized the Sudanese government, the Arab-led Sudanese government broke its promises to the southern army officers that led to a seventeen years' civil war. During this war, most of the literate officials serving in the southern part of Sudan were killed.

Due to political instability and economic problems, the Sudanese government was overthrown shortly after independence. Continuous riots and strikes made the Sudanese military to surrender their powers. According to Jok M. (2007), there are several internal and external factors that led to the Divisioning of Sudan. These factors include influence from external powers, ethnic and religious conflicts, economic difficulties and internal wars.

Sudan has had various internal wars. In 1983, continuous political and military struggles led to a civil war, Jok M. (2007). The signing of a comprehensive peace agreement which gave autonomy to the southern region of Sudan ended the civil war.

This was followed by the referendum that held in January 2011 that people hope will bring peace to the entire country of Sudan.According to UN news Centre (2010), economic crisis was the major cause of conflict between the southern and northern regions of Sudan. This required the funding of the southern region that was economically poorer than the northern region. The UN and other aid donors appealed for more funds to help the southern region of Sudan and this made this region the largest humanitarian maneuver in the world. Food insecurity in the southern region of Sudan led to prolonged periods of war.

Poor climatic conditions in the region were the main cause of food insecurity that led to high food prices, UN news Centre (2010). Due to food insecurity, many people engaged in violence that claimed the lives of a large number of people. Due to lack of peace, many humanitarian organizations advocated for the Divisioning of Sudan into north and south regions. There was also lack of bureaucracy in southern Sudan that had caused the rebelling of the government and other inter-tribal wars.

Poor economic factors were also another cause of the Divisioning of Sudan. Sudan required a happy society and this could only be attained by improving the economic and financial positionns of the entire country. To improve on the economic and financial factors of Sudan, integrity and honesty were key concepts. Financial factors made it difficult to differentiate between the private and public since many people had decided to become rich at the expense of others. The privatization of public properties made people lose confidence with the government and this had caused conflicts between the two regions of Sudan because the northern region had more wealth than the southern region. Financial problems were a major cause of conflict in southern Sudan and therefore there was a need to divide the country in order to get peace.

The southern part of Sudan also felt that they did not take part in the ruling of the country since most of the leaders came from the northern region. In this connection, there was need to divide the country to ensure that all the people participated in the leadership.Apart from economic and financial pressures, serious religious conflicts were other factors that led to the Divisioning of Sudan, Johnson D. (2003).

The northern side of Sudan was occupied by a large number of Arabs while the southern side was occupied by Christians. This led to the endless conflicts between the two regions and thus there was a need for the two regions to be separate entities. The Christians in Sudan felt that the government of Sudan composed of many Muslims and thus they felt that the Muslims had been given greater opportunities. Moreover, the Muslims were also a great source of conflict since they were many and were powerful than the other religion.

Ethnic clashes were also another factor that led to conflicts in Sudan. The tribes in the northern region fought with those in the southern region. Some of the things that caused inter-tribal clashes were land for the livestock farmers and also for crop production. In addition, inter-tribal clashes came as a result of the oil production in Sudan where some tribes felt that other tribes had dominated the oil production zones. Inter-tribal clashes were thus mainly due to income generating opportunities in the country.According to UTC news (2010), there was great influence from foreign powers that led to the Divisioning of Sudan.

World powers such as America and United Kingdom led to the Divisioning of southern Sudan. This is because they felt that the Divisioning of the country would end the prolonged conflicts and save the lives of many people. In addition, neighboring countries also advised the Sudanese leaders to divide the country because independence of the two regions would terminate conflicts. The world powers had realized that the southern region of Sudan could stay on its own because the signing of the comprehensive peace agreement in 2006 had helped to end a pierce conflict between the two regions, Lokosang LB. (2010). The world powers and humanitarian organizations felt that the Divisioning of Sudan would help to bring peace to the entire country.

Western hegemony also led to the Divisioning of Sudan. The black American felt that there was a need for the Divisioning of the country in order to end the prolonged period of war. The black and white Americans were divided over the Divisioning of Sudan but the black Americans felt that it was necessary to divide the two regions in order to end conflict, Khalid S. (2011). There was a need for the globalization of Sudan and this could only be made possible through ensuring peace.

In this connection, the Divisioning of Sudan would help create peace and thus there was need to for the Divisioning of the country, Hanafi H. (2003).