Elections in Southern Kordofan

Southern Kordofan, where I am based, is awaiting the results of its recently concluded elections Both sides has claimed victory. The ruling party of the north, the NCP is represented by the state's incumbent governor, Ahmed Haroun, who is infamously wanted by the ICC for crimes allegedly committed in Darfur. His opponent is the present deputy Governor, Abdul Aziz Al-Hilu, of the SPLM/SPLA (dominant party of the south).

Situated along the north-south undefined border, Southern Kordofan is a strategic spot. It sits on oilfields, have been the battle ground of years of conflict, its neighbours Darfur and Abyei (another volatile region sitting on oil and one of the Three Transitional Areas awaiting its referendum). The Three Transitional Areas (Blue Nile state, Southern Kordofan and Abyei) were tricky negotiating points of the CPA.

For many years, the people of the Nuba Mountains/SK fought alongside the southerners in the war with the north. War in the Nuba Mountains has killed tens of thousands although much of it unrecorded due to Khartoum blockade of the region (sealed off between 1991 and 1995). The Nuba were cut off from the SPLA in the south in 1991, leaving them to fight on their own and in that time suffered a three-year famine.

The CPA, which will conclude on July 9 has failed to bring satisfactory improvements and for most parts, implementation is slow or worse neglected. The aspirations of the Nuba for self-determination to protect their way of lives, religion and culture may never be realised. For a long time, the Nuba has been left to starve by the Khartoum government, sidelined by their southern counterpart and essentially forgotten by the international community.

As I sit here, waiting to hear what's going on with the elections results, I am left to wonder what fate awaits these people who has been fighting for their lands for decades. The mood has been quietly tense. It's not the same Kadugli I know when I first arrived 7 months ago. A number of my friends have left or will be leaving, some for different reasons, others unsure about what will happen next. The truth is no one knows. But this is not my fight. To predict what would happen would essentially ignore all the intricacies of the politics around here. One can only have a little faith that everything will turn out fine. A little faith.