A morning of few surprises

A morning of few surprises

Making a tour of voting centre this morning, the day after polls closed in South Sudan’s independence referendum, sheets of paper announced the counts of each station.

I was surprised at how fast, and efficient, the process had been.

In my local voting centre, over 95% of cast ballots were for independence. Out of 1915 papers in the urn, only 82 were marked for unity.

If this trend continues elsewhere throughout the country, South Sudan will be decidedly independent on July 9th.

Voting Closes for Independence

It has been a long week in Juba this week, covering South Sudan’s historic voting in their independence referendum. From the jubilant celebrations as voting opened, to the empty voting centres that characterised the last few days.

The ballot boxes were sealed for the final time, and locked away as staff took some repose as the heavy sun set. Armed police guarded the container where they rested, before being brought out under electric light, and tipped open onto the counting tables amid much protocol.

From where we stood behind a small cordon, the ballots seemed to be ubiquitously marked with a thumb-print next to the open-palm symbol of secession.

Returning to the South

During the civil war that ravaged Sudan for decades, many of the people of the south became displaced, either internally within the south, fleeing to the north, or to neighbouring countries before becoming refugees overseas.

As South Sudan votes for their independence from the north, thousands are now returning, coming on boats up the river Nile to Juba, before traveling back to their native states.

Several times a week, barges would arrive in Juba’s port, laden with people and what belongings they could carry with them for the arduous journey taking over two weeks along the crocodile-infested Nile as mosquitos swarm overhead.

Some settle in Juba, but for many, their journey is not yet over. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees and the International Organisation for Migration have been organising buses to transport people back to neighbouring states.

On this, the final day of voting in South Sudan, a dawn departure saw hundreds leave for Torit in neighbouring Eastern Equatoria state, their belongings loaded into huge trucks that would follow in convoy.

For many of these people, the future of their nation-state would be decided by their countrymen, the week of voting taking place as they either sailed the Nile, or sat stranded in the port.

Final Destination: Juba

Whilst voting may have quietened down in Juba, humanitarian agencies were still busy trying to help those returning from the north, as their state is on the cusp of independence.

The World Food Programme distributed tons of aid to those whose final destination was the future capital. And the recipients lugged the sacks of sorghum and lentils under the unforgiving midday Sudanese sun.

The Long Tail

The Long Tail

As the week of voting in South Sudan’s independence referendum drags through to the fifth day, Juba seems to become increasingly ambivalent to the whole affair. The ninth of January was their day, when voting began amid emphatic celebrations.

Whilst a week is needed for voting in many of the rural areas, whose population makes up much of the state, the voting centres of Juba emptied out, with only a trickle of people voting every day.