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By Tesfa-Alem Tekle
January 10, 2011(ADDIS ABABA) – Southern Sudanese living in neighbouring Ethiopia turned out in large numbers on the first day of the week-long independence voting.
- Opiew Obang Kwot, SSRC Representative for OCV in Ethiopia, recruiting and training volunteers in Fugnido Refugee Camp, 8 January 2010(Anyuak Media)
The week-long referendum is a climax of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed to end Africa’s longest running civil war.
About 3.9 million southerners were registered to vote with some 3.7 million in south Sudan and over 60,000 will cast vote overseas in eight countries including in neighbouring Ethiopia, Kenya Uganda and elsewhere in the USA, Australia and Britain.
With hope shining in their faces, hundreds of southerners were lined up in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa centre to cast their votes. The celebration to accept the world’s newest state seemed to begin early with many - confident enough for secession – as they were singing and dancing on the streets.
Approached by Sudan Tribune voters among also a group which had been celebrating said, “this is an event they have waited for too long.”
They said the referendum will be a turning point for new era in the history of south Sudan.
“The time has come for me to say I have a country and also to begin being proud of it” said a voter, Puot Arop, adding “it seems that the time has come for all of us to return home.”
In Addis Ababa polling centre, which is among the three voting centres in Ethiopia, more than half of the total registered have already turned out on the first day, said Government of South Sudan (GOSS) office in Addis Ababa.
“There was a big turnout in Addis Ababa; more than half of the total 775 registered voters have already cast their vote on first day” Deputy head of mission David Dang told Sudan Tribune.
The southern Sudanese official believes that the referendum will lead to the end of a long running north-south civil war. However, he went on to say that, “the north are not happy in any way about the referendum but they have to let it go.”
Akutien works in Ethiopia’s northern town of Mekelle, which is a day and half drive to Addis Ababa. He had to fly all the way from the town to cast his vote on the first day.
People like Akutien say they are not sure whether the referendum will be a final solution to end north-south war. He says north won’t stop aggression against the south even if south secedes.
“Although the referendum brings secession, I don’t think it will absolutely stop future conflict because the north will always seek some kind of aggression as a means to benefit from oil in south” he told Sudan Tribune.
“There are some people in north Sudan who are giving wrong direction, to instigate new war, and they need to stop that and instead must recognize a peaceful separation” he added.
Beyond a voting centre in the capital, Addis Ababa, voting is taking place in two other centres, at Sherkole and Fugnido refugee camps.
According to a representative of Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia, vote counting will begin late on 15 January, after which, preliminary results will begin to be released.
(ST)
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