South Sudan

“ South Sudan is founded on justice, equality, respect for human dignity and advancement of human rights and fundamental freedoms. 2 Sovereignty Sovereignty is vested in the people and shall be exercised by the State through its democratic and representative institutions established by this Constitution and the law. 3 Supremacy of the Constitution This Constitution derives its authority from the will of the people and shall be the supreme law of the land. It shall have a binding force on all persons, institutions, organs and agencies of government throughout the Country. ”

“ All Sudanese believe that this place exists somewhere down in the south of the Sudan towards Uganda. I have seen them draw maps on the sand to show its position. In this mysterious country all the men become dogs at sunset time and roam about the gloomy forests like the werewolves of mediæval fiction. I have heard the men yarning over the camp fires and saying how their cousin’s wife’s brother—or some such distant relation—actually reached this country and returned alive. ”

“ Ethnically Eastern Sudan comprises all the lands east of the Chad basin, where the Negro or Negroid populations are predominant, that is to say, Wadai, Darfur, and Kordofan in the West, the Nile Valley from the frontier of Egypt proper south to Albert Nyanza, both slopes of the Nile-Congo divide (the western tributaries of the White Nile and the Welle-Makua affluent of the Congo) , lastly the Sobat Valley with some Negro enclaves east of the White Nile, and even south of the equator (Kavirondo, Semliki Valley) . ”

“ A considerable nomadic population is scattered over the habitable parts, and in the more favoured regions there are settled communities. The Sudan, which lies to the south of the Sahara, and separates it from the more elevated plateau of Southern Africa, forms a belt of pastoral country across Africa, and includes the countries on the Niger, around Lake Tchad (or Chad) , and eastwards to the elevated region of Abyssinia. Southern Africa as a whole is much more fertile and well watered than Northern Africa, though it also has a desert tract of considerable extent (the Kalahari Desert) . ”

“ The former started from a reformed Moslem "community," settled on an island at the mouth of the Senegal—in other words, it shows Islam already finding centres for recovery and expansion in Negroland, exploring the Sudan from the north and west, creeping along the Atlantic Ocean, and spreading from the neighbourhood of Cape Verde into the interior of the populous land to the south of the Great Desert. ”

“ If this reading of history be accepted, the people of the Central Sudan will be described as a mixed race recently forced into an Arab mould and in varying degrees modified by Arab blood. And we may prophesy that future researches will prove the other elements in this race to be akin to the other races on its borders, to the Nubians and Begas on the north, to the Negroes, Gallas, Abyssinians, etc., on the south and south-east. ”

“ The Southern Heartland also has its wide open grasslands, which in the Sudan gradually increase in fertility from the edge of the Sahara towards the tropical forests of the Guinea Coast and the Congo. The forests do not spread completely across to the Indian Ocean, but leave a belt of grassy upland which connects the grasslands of the Sudan with those of South Africa, and this immense, open ground, thus continuous from the Sudan to the Cape Veldt, is the home of the antelopes, zebras, and other large, hoofed game, which correspond to the wild horses and wild asses of the Northern Heartland. ”

“ In the south-west of the Bahr-el-Ghazal are the Bongos and other tribes, and along the Nile-Congo water-parting are the A-Zande or Niam-Niam, a comparatively light-coloured race. (All the tribes mentioned are separately noticed.)
Social Conditions.—In contrast with the Egyptians, a most industrious race, the Sudanese tribes, both Arab and negro, are as a general rule indolent. Where wants are few and simple, where houses need not be built nor clothes worn to keep out the cold, there is little stimulus to exertion. ”

“ In what follows the term Sudan is used to indicate the Anglo-Egyptian condominium only.
Physical Features.—The Sudan presents many diversified features. It may be divided broadly into two zones. The northern portion, from about 16° N., is practically the south-eastern continuation of the Saharan desert; the southern region is fertile, abundantly watered, and in places densely forested. West of the Nile there is a distinctly marked intermediate zone of steppes. In the southern district, between 5° and 10° N., huge swamps extend on either side of the Nile and along the Bahr-el-Ghazal. ”

“ The stem is perhaps a little twisted, for the Nile makes a vast bend in flowing through the desert. South of Khartoum the likeness is again perfect, and the roots of the tree begin to stretch deeply into the Soudan. I can imagine no better illustration of the intimate and sympathetic connection between Egypt and the southern provinces. The water—the life of the Delta—is drawn from the Soudan, and passes along the channel of the Nile, as the sap passes up the stem of the tree, to produce a fine crop of fruit above. The benefit to Egypt is obvious; but Egypt does not benefit alone. ”

“ The name “Sudan” is used throughout to indicate the country referred to by the Arab and early European geographers under this name, that is to say, the country inhabited by negroid people north of the purely negro zone and south of the Saharan deserts. The “Anglo-Egyptian Sudan” is more correctly described as the “Nilotic Sudan.”
[2] The geography of the Sahara as a whole is briefly treated in Le Sahara, by E. F. Gautier, Collection Payot, Paris, 1923, and with greater detail in Le Sahara, by H. Schirmer, Paris, 1893, but much recent work is not included in the latter. ”

“ The Shilluk nation, the only people in the Sudan who acknowledge one head as immediate ruler or mek, extends along the west bank of the Nile from Kaka in the north to Lake No in the south. There is also a colony along the banks of the Sobat, near its mouth, extending 35 miles up this river to Nagdyeb, and chiefly living on the north bank.
The country is almost entirely a grass country, and as a result its wealth consists almost entirely of cattle. ”

“ The Sudan was costing Egypt more money than its revenue yielded, though it must not be forgotten that large sums found their way illicitly into the hands of the pashas. The successors of Mehemet Ali, in an endeavour to make the country more profitable, extended their conquests to the south, and in 1853 and subsequent years trading posts were established on the Upper Nile, the pioneer European merchant being John Petherick, British consular agent at Khartum. [6] Petherick sought for ivory only, but those who followed him soon found that slave-raiding was more profitable than elephant hunting. ”

“ The Egyptian Pro-consul lived in state at the confluence of the Niles. The representatives of foreign Powers established themselves in the city. The trade of the south converged upon Khartoum. Thither the subordinate governors, Beys and Mudirs, repaired at intervals to report the state of their provinces and to receive instructions. Thither were sent the ivory of Equatoria, the ostrich feathers of Kordofan, gum from Darfur, grain from Sennar, and taxes collected from all the regions. ”

“ Agriculture production remains Sudan's most important sector, employing 80% of the work force and contributing 39% of GDP, but most farms remain rain-fed and susceptible to drought. Chronic instability - including the long-standing civil war between the Muslim north and the Christian/pagan south, the ethnic purges in Darfur, adverse weather, and weak world agricultural prices - ensure that much of the population will remain at or below the poverty line for years. ”

“ Chapter 2 Citizenship and Nationality 45 Citizenship and Rights Every person born to a South Sudanese mother or father shall have an inalienable right to enjoy South Sudanese citizenship and nationality. ”

“ The result was that certain traders established themselves in, and claimed a sort of proprietary right to large districts, especially in that part which lies to the South of Darfur and Kordofan, and borders the course of the White Nile, now known as the Bahr El Ghazal. Traffic in slaves was the real business carried on, and for this purpose the traders organised armies of brigands, and formed chains of stations, of about 300 men each, throughout their districts. ”

“ Elias Khamis, the former Fung ruler of the Jebelawin of Beni Shangul lives on the Tomat with a following of Sudanese refugees from Beni Shangul. Sheikh Fakir is similarly in charge of Arab refugees from the south.
Language.Arabic is understood by the Sheikhs of the district, but the rotana in use on the left bank of the Nile is that used by the Hameg of the Blue Nile, and by the Jebelawin and Berta. On the right bank, in the Fazogli district, the Gumz language is totally different.
Religion.The Sheikhs alone profess Mohammedanism; the majority of the Jebelawin are heathen. ”

“ This Constitution shall be interpreted and applied to advance the individual dignity and address the particular needs of the people by dedicating public resources and focusing attention on the provision of gainful employment for the people, and improving their lives by building roads, schools, airports, community institutions, hospitals, providing clean water, food security, electric power and telecommunication services to every part of the country. ”

“ In Kordofan, Darfur and the Bahr-el-Ghazal the slave trade continued however for some years later.
With good administration and public security the population increased steadily. The history of the country became one of The Regenerative Work of Great Britain. peaceful progress marked by the growing contentment of the people. The Sudan government devoted much attention to the revival of agriculture and commerce, to the creation of an educated class of natives, and to the establishment of an adequate judicial system. ”

“ The Arab-speaking and Mahommedan population found their religion and language respected, and from the first showed a marked desire to profit by the new order. To the negroes of the southern Sudan, who were exceedingly suspicious of all strangers—whom hitherto they had known almost exclusively as slave-raiders—the very elements of civilization had, in most cases, to be taught. In these pagan regions the Sudan government encouraged the work of missionary societies, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, while discouraging propaganda work among the Moslems. ”

“ The occasion that brought you here today is a triumph to the government of the Sudan, the people of Southern Sudan and to Ethiopia. It has been said that no one can put asunder what God has joined together. ”

“ The Sudan, though geographically in Central Africa, belongs to the Mediterranean civilisation. The great empires of the Niger, Melle and Songhai, the Fulani Empire of Sokoto, the Emirates of Kano and Katsina, and the Empire of Bornu, were all products of contact with the north. Commercially and culturally, the Sudan faced north with its back against an impenetrable belt of tropical forest inhabited by savage negro tribes, through whose dripping and steaming jungles there was little or no access to the sea. ”

“ The State recognizes that Southern Sudan, Southern Kordofan, Blue Nile, Abyei Area and other conflict affected areas face serious needs; they shall be enabled to perform basic government functions, establish civil administration, rehabilitate and reconstruct the social and physical infrastructure in a post-conflict Sudan. ”

“ Nile region is generally taken as the eastern frontier of Sudan, although it properly reaches to the foot of the Abyssinian highlands. Hence modern maps have introduced the appropriate expression 'Egyptian Sudan' for those eastern districts comprising Senaar, Kordofan, Darfur, and some others. Sudan is therefore, strictly speaking, a broad tract of country reaching right across the whole continent from the Atlantic seaboard almost to the shores of the Red Sea, and is the true home of the Negro races. ”

“ The once comparatively civilised Sudan is now occupied by a barbaric power hostile to both European and Ottoman influence. It blocks [625] the way from the central plateaus along the Nile valley to the Mediterranean; it seals up districts which were at one time fairly tranquil, and open to the influences of commerce and civilisation, while the various countries by which it is bordered are now being gradually opened up. Intercourse between them and the outside world is becoming easier; trade is pushing obstacles out of the way ”

“ But the last six years have wrought a great change in the prospects of the Sudan. It is still, and must remain, the key of Egypt, but it is no longer a mere conduit-pipe or line of communication to be guarded at all hazards. Under British administrators it is beginning to justify its existence on other grounds. Conquered for the sake of the Nile, it shows signs of bearing fruit of its own, like the vineyard that was dug over and over for the sake of its hidden treasure. ”

“ But as the area of cultivated land increased, and the demands for water began to exceed the supply to be distributed, the need of insuring the present and increasing the future prosperity of the country forced the rulers of Egypt to turn their eyes once more to the upper waters of the Nile, and the reconquest of the Sudan became a political necessity. ”

“ Politically, the governments of the Sudan present much the picture of the old feudal days of our own ancestors. The king is supreme, and in him all legislative power is vested, influenced by the local chiefs of the towns into which the inhabitants are gathered for purposes of protection. Under the king, a council and chief officers execute his commands. Each town is administered by its local chief, who is supreme in his district. All alike furnish soldiers for the king’s army, and pay tribute to the royal treasury. Below the aristocratic class are the freemen ”