Palgrave Series in African Borderlands Studies

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1 Palgrave Series in African Borderlands Studies Series Editors Gregor Dobler (Freiburg University) William Miles (Northeastern University) Wolfgang Zeller (University of Edinburgh) Advisory Board Anthony I. Asiwaju (African Regional Institute) David Coplan (University of the Witwatersrand) Alice Bellagamba (University of Milan Bicocca) Pierre Englebert (Pomona College) Jan-Bart Gewald (University of Leiden) Amanda Hammar (Copenhagen University) Thomas Hüsken (Bayreuth University) Georg Klute (Bayreuth University) Baz Lecocq (Ghent University) Camille Lefebvre (Panthéon-Sorbonne/CNRS) Kate Meagher (London School of Economics) Paul Nugent (University of Edinburgh) Wafula Okumu (African Union Border Programme) Timothy Raeymaekers (University of Zürich Irchel) Cristina Udelsmann Rodrigues (University Institute of Lisbon) Holger Weiss (Åbo Akademi University) Jerzy Zdanowski (Polish Academy of Sciences) Werner Zips (University of Vienna) Published in cooperation with the African Borderlands Research Network and the European Science Foundation African borderlands are among the continent s most creative and most rapidly changing social spaces, acting as theaters of identity formation and cultural exchange, of violent conflict and regional integration, of economic growth and sudden stagnation, of state building and state failure. Because their unique position at the margins of social and legal spaces offers more flexibility to social actors, borderlands reflect changes on the national level more quickly and more radically than most inland regions. They thus become hotspots of social activity and, on an academic level, ideal places to study social, political and economic change. The Palgrave Series in African Borderlands Studies is the first series dedicated to the exploration and theoretical interpretation of African borderlands. It contributes to core debates in a number of disciplines namely political science, geography, economics, anthropology, history, sociology and law and provides vital insights for practical politics in border-related issues, ranging from migration and regional integration to conflict resolution and peace-building.

2 The African Borderlands Research Network (ABORNE) is an interdisciplinary network of researchers interested in all aspects of international borders and transboundary phenomena in Africa. The network held its inaugural meeting in Edinburgh in 2007 and has since grown to over 250 members worldwide. ABORNE s core funding is provided by membership fees and the Research Networking Programme of the European Science Foundation. The European Science Foundation (ESF) was established in 1974 to provide a common platform for its Member Organizations to advance European research collaboration and explore new directions for research. It is an independent organization, owned by 78 Member Organizations, which are research funding and research performing organizations, academies and learned societies from 30 countries. ESF promotes collaboration in research itself, in funding of research, and in science policy activities at the European level. Published by Palgrave Macmillan: Namibia s Red Line: The History of a Veterinary and Settlement Border (2012) By Giorgio Miescher Violence on the Margins: States, Conflict, and Borderlands (2013) Edited by Benedikt Korf and Timothy Raeymaekers The Borderlands of South Sudan: Authority and Identity in Contemporary and Historical Perspectives (2013) Edited by Christopher Vaughan, Mareike Schomerus, and Lotje de Vries

3 The Borderlands of South Sudan Authority and Identity in Contemporary and Historical Perspectives Edited by Christopher Vaughan, Mareike Schomerus, Lotje de Vries

4 the borderlands of south sudan Copyright Christopher Vaughan, Mareike Schomerus, and Lotje de Vries, Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition All rights reserved. First published in 2013 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN in the United States a division of St. Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the World, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number , of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN DOI / ISBN (ebook) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The borderlands of South Sudan : authority and identity in contemporary and historical perspectives / edited by Christopher Vaughan, Mareike Schomerus, Lotje de Vries. pages cm. (Palgrave series in African borderlands studies) Papers from a workshop held at Durham University in April South Sudan Boundaries Congresses. 2. Borderlands South Sudan Congresses. 3. South Sudan Politics and government 2011 Congresses. I. Vaughan, Christopher, II. Schomerus, Mareike. III. Vries, Lotje de, IV. Series: Palgrave series in African borderlands studies. DT B dc A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Integra Software Services First edition: December

5 Contents List of Tables and Maps List of Acronyms Foreword vii ix xi Editors Acknowledgments 1 Introduction: Negotiating Borders, Defining South Sudan 1 Mareike Schomerus, Lotje de Vries, and Christopher Vaughan 2 Too Much Water under the Bridge: Internationalization of the Sudan South Sudan Border and Local Demands for Its Regulation 23 Øystein H. Rolandsen 3 Unclear Lines: State and Non-State Actors in Abyei 45 Joshua Craze 4 Pastoralists, Conflicts, and Politics: Aspects of South Sudan s Kenyan Frontier 67 Immo Eulenberger 5 The Nuba Political Predicament in Sudan(s): Seeking Resources beyond Borders 89 Guma Kunda Komey 6 Alternative Citizenship: The Nuer between Ethiopia and the Sudan 109 Dereje Feyissa 7 The Rizeigat Malual Borderland during the Condominium: The Limits of Legibility 133 Christopher Vaughan 8 Pulling the Ropes: Convenient Indeterminacies and the Negotiation of Power at Kaya s Border Checkpoint 153 Lotje de Vries xiii

6 vi Contents 9 State-Making and Emerging Complexes of Power and Accumulation in the Southern Sudan Kenyan Border Area: The Rise of a Thriving Cross-Border Business Network 173 Anne Walraet 10 Labor and the Making of Central African Borders 193 Edward Thomas 11 Whatever Happened to the Safe Havens? Imposing State Boundaries between the Sudanese Plains and the Ethiopian Highlands 213 Wendy James Notes on the Contributors 235 Index 239

7 Tables and Maps Tables 6.1 A graphic representation of Peter Kaiyer s life history 127 Maps 1.1 South Sudan map and contested areas Border between Unity State and the Republic of Sudan Abyei s borders The South Sudan/Blue Nile Borderlands, showing official camps for Blue Nile war refugees during Legacies of the past in an ancient frontier zone 218

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9 Acronyms ABC ADC AUHIP CAR CID CMA CPA DC DRC ECSC EPRDF GoK GoNU GoS GoSS GPNRS IDP IGAD IGADD IGP INGO IOM JIU JTA LAPSSET Abyei Boundaries Commission Assistant District Commissioner African Union High Level Implementation Panel Central African Republic Criminal Investigation Department Civil/Military Administrator Comprehensive Peace Agreement District Commissioner Democratic Republic of Congo Ethiopian Civil Service College Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front Government of Kenya Government of National Unity Government of Sudan Government of southern Sudan Gambela People National Regional State Internally Displaced Person Intergovernmental Authority on Development (since 1997) Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development Inspector General of Police International Nongovernmental Organization International Organization for Migration Joint Integrated Unit Jonglei Traders Association Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport Corridor

10 x List of Acronyms LRA MI MP NCP NGO NISS PCA PDF PS RoSS SAF SDP SPLM/A SSLA SSRRC TTI UN UNHCR UNISFA UNMIS Lord s Resistance Army Military Intelligence Member of Parliament National Congress Party Nongovernmental Organization National Intelligence and Security Services Permanent Court of Arbitration Popular Defense Forces Public Security Republic of South Sudan Sudan Armed Forces Sudanese Pound Sudan People s Liberation Movement/Army Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission Teachers Training Institute (Ethiopia) United Nations United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei United Nations Mission in Sudan

11 Foreword Most contemporary maps of Africa depict a uniformity of stateness, typically in the form of a hard line of equal width. They do not easily capture a situation where a state has de facto broken into discrete units, as in the case of the former Somalia, or where large parts of a country are not under meaningful central control, as in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The birth of South Sudan, as the world s newest state in 2011, posed some problems for cartographers, given that sections of its northern border with Sudan remained in dispute. But for the most part, it was clear where South Sudan began and ended. Having made a clean break, after an emphatic referendum result, the new state also had a strong claim to legitimacy on the world stage which also implied respect for its international borders. Whereas it was possible to argue that Eritrea did not set a precedent on the basis that separation from Ethiopia really completed a process of decolonization the secession of South Sudan certainly has done so. Although it could be argued that there was a de facto internal border during the Condominium, the same could also be said, for example, of Northern and Southern Nigeria. Proto-secessionist movements, as well as some active ones, have taken note of the precedent and are in the process of adapting their strategies accordingly. Although South Sudan is a small, poor state, therefore, its significance for the politics of the continent cannot be overstated. There is another reason why South Sudan makes for such a fascinating field of study, namely that we are witnessing the creation of a state before our very eyes. In borderlands scholarship, there is an increasing tendency to insist on the centrality of the margins: that is, the role of borderlands in shaping institutional forms and practices. In South Sudan, this is demonstrably the case for three reasons that are dealt with in some detail in this volume. First of all, the placing of the borders has come before the creation of many of the other trappings of statehood including a fully elaborated bureaucracy and a firmly decided capital city. Second, the SPLA regime that has come to power after decades of war has naturally been intent on securing its borders as a

12 xii Foreword first priority which means that government agencies are often more present in the borderlands than in the notional heartlands. Finally, for a landlocked state like South Sudan, channeling the flow of exports and imports is crucial to maintaining domestic political support and guaranteeing the fiscal reproduction of the state. The different role that particular borders perform in this equation also means that the cartographic lines are not equally hard in every place as the editors observe in their introduction. This timely collection places borders at the center of the analytical frame, affording us the opportunity to understand state-making as a process involving both a spatial dialectic and a temporal dimension. Above all, the authors confirm that local actors play an active and knowing role in imparting meaning to the border and helping to set the parameters of state engagement. South Sudan provides the primary focus of the book, but its implications extend far beyond its borders. Paul Nugent Centre of African Studies University of Edinburgh

13 Editors Acknowledgments This book would not exist without the very patient and understanding chapter authors, so our first thanks go to them. Yet it was the African Borderlands Research Network (ABORNE) and the European Science Foundation that allowed us to come together for a workshop in Durham in April 2011, and who financially and substantively supported this book. We particularly thank Wolfgang Zeller, Paul Nugent, and Thomas Hüsken of ABORNE for their help. We are grateful to Justin Willis, Cherry Leonardi, and John Donaldson for hosting the workshop at Durham University and to John Ryle, Douglas Johnson, and Mark Leopold for their helpful comments. Our thanks also go to the series editors and the publisher for their valuable input. Thanks to Hajo Schomerus for conceptualizing the cover art, and to Chris Orton of Durham s Cartographic Unit for drafting the maps. Our employers the Justice and Security Research Programme at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Durham University, and the African Studies Centre Leiden and the Centre for International Conflict Analysis and Management of the Radboud University supported our work on this volume. Last, but not least we would like to thank each other: Thank you, Chris; thank you, Lotje; thank you, Mareike.