Nairobi — The Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia of Kenya, immediate past General Secretary of the Geneva-based World Council of Churches, has been relentlessly urging African and world leaders to guarantee peace in Sudan, where a civil war that ended in 2005 killed over two million people, mostly civilians. Sudanese and African church leaders have been warning that a 9 January referendum - in which southerners, led by the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement (SPLM), are expected to vote for separation - could provoke renewed conflict between the SPLM and the administration in Khartoum, which wants to retain the oil-rich south.
In his role as ecumenical envoy for Sudan, Kobia has repeatedly visited Europe and North America and has traveled across Africa, meeting with political and religious leaders and organizations. He addressed a gathering convened in Johannesburg by former South African president Thabo Mbeki, who chairs the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel on Sudan. In October, he facilitated a delegation of Sudanese church leaders who visited the United Kingdom, where they spoke to the UK Conservative Party and held a press conference with the Archbishop of Canterbury, and to the United States, where they met United Nations Secretary General Ban ki-Moon and several UN Missions and briefed the Council on Foreign Relations, White House officials and media, as well as consulting with a range of religious groups.
In November Kobia’s efforts included conducting a workshop on Sudan for Swedish parliamentarians. He has traveled to Geneva, where he helped facilitate an ecumenical meeting to prepare to respond to any emerging emergencies in Sudan. And he is continuing to engage with African leaders, including meeting in Nairobi, Kenya with former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, who heads the United Nations panel on the referenda in Sudan.
During his travels, Kobia took time to talk about his work. Here are excerpts from what he told AllAfrica in conversations in Washington DC and Nairobi:
The Ecumenical Message
The message of the African ecumenical community focuses on three main areas.
The Referendum
First is the referendum, emphasizing two points:
a) that it must take place on time on 9 January, 2011 and
b) that we know there will be dissent, whatever the result of the referendum will be. The north will not accept for the south to go - they have already said that - and the south will not accept a vote against separation.
We want the international community to be aware of this and put into place mechanisms to resolve these disputes.
Three special situations
Our second area of focus has to do with the transition areas: Abyei, Southern Kordofan, and Blue Nile. Abyei [an oil producing area of southern Sudan near the border with the north] will be difficult because the referendum commission there hasn’t even been appointed. Therefore the preparations are so far behind that perhaps it will not take place. That means that the people of Abyei will not feel that they have been given their right to self-determination. That’s a trouble spot.
Many in the south see the Sudanese government as holding Abyei hostage, to wring additional concessions from the south. The southern government of President Salva Kiir may be considering what ransom it is willing to pay for Abyei. But the churches, reflecting the views and voices of the people of the south, are saying that there have been enough compromises.
Additionally, there are two states - the Southern Kordofan and the Blue Nile - who were denied the right to self-determination by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) but were allowed to have "popular consultations." In Blue Nile, there were elections in April - the majority of those elected belonged to the National Congress Party [the ruling party in the North], which does not represent the people of Blue Nile and will not carry out the popular consultations on behalf of the people. The people feel they haven't been given their opportunity.
In Southern Kordofan, there haven't even been elections. That means that even if the referendum were to go well and the south separates, still there's a possibility of violence erupting because of the dissatisfaction of the people of this state, who will feel that their aspirations have not been met.
Post-Referendum Security
The third area regards security. We are very concerned about the security of southerners living in the north, come the referendum. They know their security is not guaranteed. The government in Khartoum has even stated through their [cabinet] ministers that the people of southern Sudan who will be in the north when the south separates will have no rights whatsoever, including the right to be treated in hospital and the right to own property. This is a very serious matter.
We aren't as worried about the northerners living in the south, because the president of the government of South Sudan, Salva Kiir, has already said that all minorities in the south, whether ethnic or religious, will have their rights. We haven't heard a similar statement from the north.
This is the message that we have been sharing with all those that we have visited. Archbishop Daniel Deng has been to London; last year he met with Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The most recent visit he had a press conference with the Archbishop of Canterbury, giving the messages I have spoken about.
In my work as the ecumenical special envoy to Sudan, I have - with the general secretary and chair of the Sudan Council of Churches - visited the Arab league, meeting with the Secretary General Amr Moussa, and Kenya, meeting with President Mwai Kibaki as well as the foreign affairs minister. Kenya is a top priority, because it was the broker for the protocol on popular consultations, and of course the host of the CPA.
We have also had meetings with the African Union, particularly former South African President Thabo Mbeki, who is the chairperson of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel on Sudan. We have visited with Norway, Switzerland, and the European Union, as well as the United States, including White House officials.
Church Organizes for Peace
There are three areas where I see the churches in Sudan, with the support of the ecumenical community in Africa and worldwide, acting for the people.
Peace and Reconciliation
The churches, under the framework of the Sudan Council of Churches, have been involved in maintaining peace and building peace in Sudan for a long period of time. During the civil war, it was the churches who took the first steps to bring together the leadership of the SPLM [Sudan People's Liberation Movement] when they had differences and when they started fighting amongst themselves and causing problems in communities, so there would be peace in those areas that had been liberated by the SPLM. So there is a legacy, an experience, and skills that the churches have that can be used. These are being put to good use now.
There was a very important meeting [in October] in Juba, called Kajiko Two, building upon an earlier meeting in a town called Kajiko. This was a people-to-people peace dialogue which also brought together government leadership - from the president himself to his deputy ministers. They all accepted that churches are best placed to help with peace, reconciliation, and healing.
Towards the referendum, the churches are going to continue with this call for peace, so that there will be a peaceful process during and after the referendum. So this is a major area for the churches in Sudan.
Voter Education and Referendum Monitoring
The second area has to do with civic and voter education. Already, the Sudan Council of Churches has started to design a very comprehensive civic education program, with the help of the churches in Kenya and the All Africa Conference of Churches. We even are going to have some help from the Interim Independent Electoral Commission of Kenya. One of the commissioners there has had meetings with the Sudan Council of Churches in Juba, so they can help with designing the mechanics of voter education and registration.
In the area of monitoring and observation, the All Africa Conference of Churches has already started to put together an ecumenical team to do the observing and monitoring of the referendum. We can learn from Kenya, in that in the last election it was possible [for church representatives] to monitor, and even help in counting the results of the elections. It made rigging almost impossible. This is an experience that we are proposing to put at the disposal of the Sudan Council of Churches. So that's an area where the churches can make a very important contribution.
Internally Displaced People
Another area is dealing with the IDPs. The Sudan Council of Churches' offices are being visited every day by IDPs who are saying, "Can you help us? Just give us lorries [trucks] or buses and transport us to the south, because we don't want to be found here on the day of the referendum." That is another way the Sudan Council of Churches can help, but of course they don't have the financial means to do this. This is one of the areas we wanted to appeal to the ecumenical community for funding, or to anybody else that can give the financial aid so this exercise can be carried out.
Conflicting Identities and Religious Differences
In the recent history of Sudan, the conflict is around the issue of identities. It is a country of many identities, and no identity should be allowed to dominate. But this is what the government of Khartoum has been trying to do – to have one identity, that of Islam and Arab, as the dominant identity.
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It is very clear that the government in Khartoum still considers Islam as the religion all people of Sudan should have. So the Islamization process that started some time back continues; the Arabization of Sudan also continues.
Also, there hasn’t been any attempt by the north in the last five years to try and say, “Look, we are prepared to deal with the historical injustice that has been there because of the conflict of identities, so that we can live together as a united country. That is another factor that has made the people of Southern Sudan – as Africans, Christians, and animists – think that they have no possibility of becoming equal with the Muslims and Arabs. This has been a major bone of contention. As there are no indications that this will change, the only way, clearly, is to separate and form a different country.
Peace Is Possible - With Coordinated Effort
We are trying to show how serious the situation is, but also say that [peace] is possible, if the international community works together with the two principals, the governments in Khartoum and in Juba.
The churches of southern Sudan, with knowledge, experience, and the trust of the people, can bring to the international community this message - that while the referendum could be postponed on technicalities, the people will not accept that at all. We know that the post-referendum negotiations on the issues of citizenship, border verification, and wealth sharing, can all be dealt with during the six-month period after the referendum, and they shouldn't be used as preconditions for the referendum to go forward.
I think it is possible to talk with the government in Khartoum. The government in Juba is not a problem; we have talked with them, and we know where they are coming from. I think we can pull through the referendum on 9 January 2011. We feel it's doable, and we want the political will to be there.
