African Arguments

Top Menu

  • About Us
  • Write for us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • RSS feed
  • Donate

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Country
    • Central
      • Cameroon
      • Central African Republic
      • Chad
      • Congo-Brazzaville
      • Congo-Kinshasa
      • Equatorial Guinea
      • Gabon
    • East
      • Burundi
      • Comoros
      • Dijbouti
      • Eritrea
      • Ethiopia
      • Kenya
      • Rwanda
      • Seychelles
      • Somalia
      • South Sudan
      • Sudan
      • Tanzania
      • Uganda
      • Red Sea
    • North
      • Algeria
      • Egypt
      • Libya
      • Morocco
      • Tunisia
      • Western Sahara
    • Southern
      • Angola
      • Botswana
      • Lesotho
      • Madagascar
      • Malawi
      • Mauritius
      • Mozambique
      • Namibia
      • South Africa
      • Swaziland
      • Zambia
      • Zimbabwe
    • West
      • Benin
      • Burkina Faso
      • Cape Verde
      • Côte d’Ivoire
      • The Gambia
      • Ghana
      • Guinea
      • Guinea Bissau
      • Liberia
      • Mali
      • Mauritania
      • Niger
      • Nigeria
      • São Tomé and Príncipe
      • Senegal
      • Sierra Leone
      • Togo
  • Politics
    • Elections Map
  • Economy
  • Society
  • Culture
  • Specials
    • #EndSARS
    • Covid-19
    • Travelling While African
    • From the wit-hole countries…
    • Living in Translation
    • Red Sea
    • Beautiful Game
  • Podcast
  • Debating Ideas
  • About Us
  • Write for us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • RSS feed
  • Donate

logo

African Arguments

  • Home
  • Country
    • Central
      • Cameroon
      • Central African Republic
      • Chad
      • Congo-Brazzaville
      • Congo-Kinshasa
      • Equatorial Guinea
      • Gabon
    • East
      • Burundi
      • Comoros
      • Dijbouti
      • Eritrea
      • Ethiopia
      • Kenya
      • Rwanda
      • Seychelles
      • Somalia
      • South Sudan
      • Sudan
      • Tanzania
      • Uganda
      • Red Sea
    • North
      • Algeria
      • Egypt
      • Libya
      • Morocco
      • Tunisia
      • Western Sahara
    • Southern
      • Angola
      • Botswana
      • Lesotho
      • Madagascar
      • Malawi
      • Mauritius
      • Mozambique
      • Namibia
      • South Africa
      • Swaziland
      • Zambia
      • Zimbabwe
    • West
      • Benin
      • Burkina Faso
      • Cape Verde
      • Côte d’Ivoire
      • The Gambia
      • Ghana
      • Guinea
      • Guinea Bissau
      • Liberia
      • Mali
      • Mauritania
      • Niger
      • Nigeria
      • São Tomé and Príncipe
      • Senegal
      • Sierra Leone
      • Togo
  • Politics
    • Elections Map
  • Economy
  • Society
  • Culture
  • Specials
    • #EndSARS
    • Covid-19
    • Travelling While African
    • From the wit-hole countries…
    • Living in Translation
    • Red Sea
    • Beautiful Game
  • Podcast
  • Debating Ideas
Politics

Tamazuj in Kadugli

By Alex de Waal
February 28, 2010
1410
2
Share:

Over the last two days, leaders of the Government of National Unity have been meeting in Kadugli under the banner “First Reflections Forum for Tamazuj States.” Tamazuj is officially translated as “intermingling” but there is no consensus on the exact meaning of the term. In any case, the “Tamazuj states” are the ten states on either side of the internal north-south boundary, plus Abyei district. And whereas official slogans up to now have stressed the aim of “Peace, Unity and Development,” we now see “Peace, Tamazuj and Development.”

This conference should really have happened in the early stages of the CPA. Its focus is on what can be done to bring the people of these states together, building contacts across the north-south boundary and finding means of settling disputes that may arise–the practical agenda of “making unity attractive” that has not got the attention it warranted. The forum heard about efforts for building roads, rehabilitating the railway, expanding electricity, developing agriculture and veterinary services, establishing inter-tribal conferences, and a host of other mechanisms. These will be necessary whether Sudan remains as one country or becomes two.

It is appropriate that the meeting was held in Kadugli, capital of South Kordofan State, because in the last ten months that state has made impressive progress in terms of building infrastructure and settling disputes among the communities. These efforts began late but they are accelerating. This culminated in last week’s decision to remedy the defects of the census in the state — that arose when the SPLM instructed its members to boycott the enumeration in 2008 — by holding a new census. South Kordofan will elect state representatives and a new governor only when that has been done and new constituencies have been demarcated. In the meantime, South Kordofan will send an additional four members to the National Assembly after the upcoming election, to compensate for the missing voters. The governor of South Kordofan, Ahmad Haroun, and his deputy, Abdel Aziz al Hilu, have established an excellent track record of cooperation and problem solving.

Concerns over the implications of the border for the local people are becoming clear. On the northern side, there are worries that when the border is demarcated, some communities will be divided, or cut off from their dry season pastures. On the southern side, concern was expressed that disarmament has proceeded faster in the southern states than in the northern ones, so that northern pastoralists will cross well-armed into the south, facing southern communities that are no longer armed.

It’s not clear what shape the concept of tamazuj will take. It could become a charter for peaceful coexistence and maintaining ties among peoples. If it is to fulfill this potential, tamajuz will need a great deal of effort over the coming months.

It was a pleasure to see Kadugli, looking quiet and prosperous. The last time I saw the town was from a distance, fifteen years ago, when the SPLA held the hills and the front lines divided them from the city. Things have improved.

Previous Article

Two Legal Issues in the Context of ...

Next Article

Political Parties Summit in Southern Sudan

mm

Alex de Waal

Alex de Waal is Research Professor and Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation at The Fletcher School, Tufts University. He was the founding editor of the African Arguments book series. He is the author of The Real Politics of the Horn of Africa: Money, War and the Business of Power.

2 comments

  1. David Barsoum 28 February, 2010 at 20:43

    Dear Alex,

    I agree with you that this and any other such gatherings should have started in earlier stages of the CPA, however it is good that it took place. We should also take into account that there were many implications for the CPA, that needed implementation, problems that developed, disagreements that froze all actions, however I tend to think that there is some realization developing in the Sudan,that the country is facing the most decisive moment in it’s history. Under different circumstances and leaders the transitional period could have been reviewed,unfortunately we no more have a John Garang.

  2. Jamaledin 28 February, 2010 at 23:17

    It’s very nice to read these sort of articles. It’s a very good reprieve from the usual Khartoum versus World chatter. Many thanks.

Leave a reply Cancel reply

  • Politics

    International Criminal Court in Africa: “alea jacta est”

  • At the Church of Our Lady of Zion in Axum, Tigray region of Ethiopia. Credit: Jasmine Halki.
    EthiopiaPoliticsSocietyTop story

    Tigray: Why are soldiers attacking religious heritage sites?

  • Politics

    Time to Reconsider the Japanese Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan – By Michael Edward Walsh & Jeremy Taylor

  • 80698
    Followers

Interactive Elections Map

Keep up to date with all the African elections.

Most read

  • africa elections 2021

    Africa Elections 2021: All the upcoming votes

  • ISIS-DRC US sanctions against ADF come as US military advisers and the UN peacekeeping MONUSCO show renewed interest in supporting Congolese forces FARDC in conducting operations against the ADF. Credit: MONUSCO/Sylvain Liechti.

    The US has placed sanctions on ISIS-DRC, but does the group even exist?

  • “What this generation wants”: African authors publishing direct to the web

  • kenya refugee camps closure

    Whether or not Kenya closes its camps, much damage has been done

  • Will President Samia Suluhu Hassan address gender inequality in Tanzania?

    Tanzania has a female president. Does it have a feminist president?

Brought to you by


Creative Commons

Creative Commons Licence
Articles on African Arguments are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
  • Cookies
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • en English
    am Amharicar Arabicny Chichewazh-CN Chinese (Simplified)en Englishfr Frenchde Germanha Hausait Italianpt Portuguesest Sesothosn Shonaes Spanishsw Swahilixh Xhosayo Yorubazu Zulu
© Copyright African Arguments 2020
en English
am Amharicar Arabicny Chichewazh-CN Chinese (Simplified)en Englishfr Frenchde Germanha Hausait Italianpt Portuguesest Sesothosn Shonaes Spanishsw Swahilixh Xhosayo Yorubazu Zulu