Interview: Disunity rife in South Sudan than before independence, expert says

A South Sudanese expert said on Wednesday that the youngest nation was now more divided by conflict which erupted in December 2013, than the period before independence from its northern neighbor Sudan in 2011.

South Africa-based law expert Remember Miamingi told Xinhua in an interview that ethnic groups that have for long decades co-existed in harmony were now distrustful of each other due to several local grievances over land, political representation and access to national resources.

"The Dinkas and Nuers (tribes) that have for centuries considered themselves as cousins became archenemies. The Shulluk and the Dinkas that lived in relative peace for years in the former Upper Nile region now are at each other's throat. The Fertit, Balanda and other ethnic groups that co-existed in the former Bahr el Ghazal region now do not see eye to eye," he revealed, warning that this was threat to national identity.

He added that in the once peaceful Equatoria region that has witnessed countless atrocities including rapes, killings in the Yei town South West of the capital has further heightened tension between ethnic groups.

President Salva Kiir since 2015 decided to order for creation of new 28 states that were split from the former 10 states, and these have led to tension among various ethnic groups over boundaries amid allegation of land grabbing by powerful elites from dominant tribes.

"In the former Equatoria region, the hatred for our brothers and sisters from the Dinka tribes has reached dangerous and unprecedented levels. So the longer Salva Kiir stays in power, the sooner the idea of a united South Sudan will disappear," Miamingi said.

He added that in the period before independence there were few South Sudanese refugees, but of late the number has risen to 1.5 million refugees.

"At the inception of the country, South Sudan had billions of U.S dollars in oil and development support monies. Today the country is in billions of U.S dollars of debt and no development support. South Sudanese could feed themselves, but today there are 4.9 million South Sudanese who are extremely food insecure," he disclosed.

South Sudan has been shattered by civil war that broke out in December 2013 after President Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup. Machar denied the accusation but then mobilized a rebel force.

A peace deal signed in August 2015 led to the formation of a transitional unity government in April, but was again devastated by fresh violence in July, 2016.

Tens of thousands of South Sudanese have been killed, with over 2 million displaced and another 4.6 million left severely food insecure, since December 2013. Endit