SOUTH SUDANESE went to the polls for a second day yesterday as violence near the north of the country threatened to mar a week-long independence referendum otherwise described as “peaceful and orderly” by election observers.
While thousands lined up to cast their ballots in the southern capital, Juba, officials said that at least 30 people had been killed in the disputed region of Abyei, which straddles the north-south divide, over the weekend.
Accounts vary as to what happened, with allegations that the Misseriya Arabs from the north, who move their cattle herds through Abyei and the Ngok Dinka and who have allegiances to the south, were caught in clashes.
Both sides are locked in a protracted dispute over grazing rights. But fears exist that southern and northern forces are moving their armies into the area on the pretext of protecting either tribe.
“As I speak two convoys of 200 vehicles from (the northern army) have crossed into Abyei and are headed to Abyei town,” Lieut Gen Isaac Obuto Mamur of the SPLA, the south’s army, said. “We have been bombed and attacked in the past few months but we will not react as we have to remain disciplined in the eyes of the international community.”
A northern spokesman could not be reached to confirm or deny the allegations. But the government in Khartoum has repeatedly rejected claims that it has backed the Misseriya in the past with arms and ammunition.
Abyei is not taking part in the referendum, which runs until the 15th, but has been promised its own vote on self-determination in the future.
Under the terms of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, 60 per cent of registered voters are required to vote.
Meanwhile, the South Sudan Referendum Commission said that voter turnout was 20 per cent on the first day of voting on Sunday.
According to Paulinoo Wanawilla Unango of the commission, preliminary results for the south, where the vast majority of the voters are registered, would be announced on January 30th.
“And if there are no appeals, the final results will be announced on February 2nd,” he told reporters in Khartoum.
Some 3.75 million people are registered to vote in the south and about 117,000 in north Sudan. South Sudanese living in eight countries around the world, including Kenya and the US, are also entitled to vote in a referendum that has so far been praised by international observers for its conduct.
“Even a couple of weeks ago it looked like it wouldn’t take place but it has been peaceful , orderly and structured,” said Niall McCann, deputy chief observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission for the referendum.
“Everywhere we have been going we have been congratulating the governors of the states and the southern Sudan referendum commission and the commission in Khartoum. The work done here is astounding,” he added.
The EU says it will issue a preliminary statement two days after polling.