CAUSES OF CIVIL WAR IN SUDAN FROM 1955

The British policy of indirect rule facilitated the civil war, the British had used the northern Arabs to govern the southerners and the whole of Sudan and the Arabs were so brutal to the Negros. On granting independence to the Arabs, suspicion and mistrust arose hence a civil war could not be avoided. President Omar El-Bashir

The existence of two divergent races in Sudan prepared fertile grounds for the war. The Arabs and Africans differed in cultures, physical appearance and to make matters worse there was the Arab discrimination of Africans on an African soil. By the 1940’s it was very clear that civil strife was inevitable in Sudan.
Difference in numbers further created tension in Sudan. The Africans were the minority that is about 11 million. The Africans were convinced that if they don not fight they could easily be evacuated at the same time the numerical strength of the Arabs convinced them that they could not be defeated by the blacks in case of war. It is therefore not suprising that by 1955 stances of war were noticed.
The domination of Arabs in all spheres of life in Sudan called for war; they took all fat posts in politics, controlled commerce and accessed good education at the expense of the southern Africans. This annoyed them so much that war could not be avoided as Arabs were also adamant to a code Africans any reasonable rights.

The historical division of Sudan into two regions that is the south (for Africans) and the North (for Arabs) made the civil conflicts in the later stages inevitable. By the 1940’s the British tried to unite the 2 regions though it did not yield positive results for example in 1947 a conference was held in Juba but the views of the few Africans who attended were never considered to make matters worse few Africans were nominated to the legco that is to say only 13 out of 89. Such created discontent among the Africans and war became inevitable.
The 19th century slave trade, where the Arabs enslaved the southern Africans. This inhumane act remained lingering in the minds of Africans in the south who sought revenge through war especially the Dinkas, Azande and Silluk.
The civil war was also caused by the cultural arrogance of Northern Arabs; they believed that they were so superior in comparison with the blacks in the South who in most cases they referred to as slaves or 2nd class citizens. Such situation angered the Africans in the south and war could not be averted.
The poor hand over of power in 1956 called for war in Sudan. The Africans expected to be considered this time after a long period of serfdom and suffering and when independence was granted in the hands of the Arabs a fertile ground for war had been created.

Introduction of Sharia in Sudan by General Ibrahim Abboud between 1958 and 1964 facilitated war. The Christians were forced to fast the month of Ramadhan, pray five times a day and the civil courts were to judge according to the Quran. This was unacceptable and war was inevitable.
After independence the government of General Abboud embarked on Arabisation of all sectors in Sudan. The official language declared was Arabic meaning that the education sector in the south was affected even the civil service. The Christians in the south were also to drop their names and adopt the Muslim names, to make matters worse the Christian missionaries were forced to leave Sudan with immediate effect such created tension and war could not be avoided.
The role of Christian missionaries in the south called for collision with the Muslim Arabs in the north. They always taught their people to hate the Muslims. There fore with such propaganda a civil war cropped up.
Coupled with the above were the differences in the levels of development. To be more precise the north was more developed in terms of infrastructures like roads, schools, hospitals, politically and socially. They used the revenues from the south to develop the north. This situation after the wind of change blown by world war 11 across the world and Africa in general made the civil strife unavoidable.

The need by the southerners to achieve a separate status and determine their own destiny definitely called for war, mutinies started in the province, the upper Nile and all through the south by 1955 yet the northern government could not surrender the south. This led to war.
The pre-independence arrangements only favored the North, where the British colonial government allowed the formation of parties yet restricted them in the south. For example the Ummah party and the national unionist party were formed to stir the independence program. This annoyed the southerners and Colonel Joseph Lagu started organizing them, real struggle started.
Unemployment was further a factor to lead to conflict. It is lamented that on relinquishing power by the British about 800 posts were left vacant and to the dismay of the blacks only 6 posts were given to them this created a situation of “struggle to live” which was exploited by ambitious men like Lagu to recruit a number of Africans in guerrilla war fare.
The ambitious character of men like Colonel Joseph Lagu and John Garanga. These yawned to lead Sudan at any cost for example in 1963 Colonel Lagu organized all the rebel groups to form Nyanya (snake poison) group to destabilize the northern government to achieve his selfish ends.
The role of the army cannot be under estimated in explaining the out break of civil war in Sudan. It is stated that General Ibrahim Abboud made promotion of a southern soldiers hard however good the were. He even limited their recruitment in the army, out of estimated 2000 cadets recruited in 1959 to 1964 only 4 were from the south, this created suspicion and discontent among the southerners and war could not be averted.

The uncompromising attitude the Nyanya rebels facilitated further the civil war. After the overthrow of Ibrahim Abboud in 1964, Sir El- Khatim Khalifa called for a cease fire in 1965 and called a conference to discuss peace. The peace talks were abused as the Nyanya rebels wanted complete overhaul and a separate independence something they knew could not be granted at once. This scenario called for a civil strife.
The high degree of corruption, embezzlement exercised by the Arabs aroused nationalism. This was manifested in luxurious Muslim festivals, this combined with racism forced the southerners to take up arms and a civil war became inevitable.
The support from external powers facilitated the long struggle between the southerners and the northerners in Sudan. Whereas the northern Arabs were supported by Arab countries like Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia on contrally countries like Israel, Britain and Uganda supported the Nyanya rebels’ militarily, socially, economically and morally. This definitely made a civil strife inevitable.
The rise of a new prime minister replacing El- Khatim that is to say Mohammad Mahgoub who came up with a military approach in solving the issues a rising in Sudan made war unavoidable, for example the 1956 saga where a quarrel between a northern soldier and a southern hospital worker resulted into massacres. In the town of Juba alone over 100 people were killed, houses burnt and women rapped. Note: At a wedding reception at Wau about 76 people were killed. All this were clear manifestation of war.
NB: Mahgoub was at first foreign minister 1956 to 1958, 1964 to1965 and elected premier 1965. He was militaristic therefore war with the southerners could not be avoided.
The indifference showed by OAU and UNO plus the NAM, these condemned but took no serious steps to end the civil war. They thought it was an internal affair and there fore no need to intervene. This was exploited by the southern rebels to continue with war.

The continued famine, droughts in southern Sudan yet the northern government kept a deaf ear with out coming to their rescue convinced them that they are to fight on until they determine their own destiny. It is argued that if the northern government felt sympathetic to or came to help in times of natural hazards war would have stopped.
The rise of president Jaafar Muhammad Nimeiry 1969 to 1985 who was looked at as a figure to bring peace in Sudan later turned against the southerners and when in the 1970’s he declared war on the Nyanya’s they too used it as a chance to continue with the struggle.
The death of John Garang on 30th July 2005 just after 3 weeks in office left a non- reconciliation gap, he was a diplomat who struggled to see a peaceful Sudan. His death robbed Sudan of a courageus figure, the civil war continued till 2011.
The unwillingness of the Arab governments to accommodate Christian views made the civil strife inevitable. To achieve positive change in their favour they got arms to fight.

Note: From 1972 to 1983 a period of peace prevailed, there were no serious fights however this could not be kept for long as war erupted again in 1983 to 2005 even after independence of southern Sudan on 9th July 2011 conflicts continued between the 2 states.

IMPORTANCE OF SOIL STRUCTURE

7 CHARACTERISTICS OF EQUATORIAL CLIMATE

7 ADVANTAGES OF WETLANDS

7 FACTORS INFLUENCING MASS WASTING

5 CONDITIONS FOR EXISTENCE OF CORAL REEFS

3 TYPES OF WEATHERING AND THEIR PROCESSES

6 LANDFORMS OF HIGHLANDS GLACIATION

CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF OCEAN BREEZE AND SEA BREEZE

PLATE TECTONICS THEORY EXPLAINED

9 CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMERCIAL LIVESTOCK FARMING

Characteristics of tropical northern climate

12 FACTORS THAT FAVOURED THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ASWAN HIGH DAM PROJECT IN EGYPT