It’s four years ago today since “Dr. John” as he was referred to by all the Southerners I knew at the time, was killed in a helicopter accident (an incident officially cleared of “suspicious circumstances” – yet suspicions remain).  Like all who are taken from us before their time, there has been a tendency since […]

Following up on my last post regarding the ongoing contestation of the Heglig oilfield following the Abyei decision, this piece was sent to me by a friend of a friend that I first worked with in South Sudan five years ago. Garang Kuot Kuot works at the Council of Ministers, Northern Bahr El-Ghazal State, and […]

Twenty-four hours after the fact, the initially rosy press bites on the Abyei decision are starting to take on a tinge of gray. Immediately after the ruling, the GOS delegate to the PCA tribunal in The Hague said “We welcome the fact that the oil fields are now excluded from the Abyei area, particularly the […]

Today the ad hoc tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague handed down what reads to me like a “let’s avoid war” decision on the contested Abyei area; it gives both the SPLM/A and the GOS something they can claim as a victory. The tribunal’s first task, under the terms of the […]