Juba, South Sudan
(John Davies, Operations Manager for Warrior Security, describes the days following independence)
There is what can only be described as furious activity in Juba, the capital of newly independent South Sudan , as a genuine optimism has ignited a touch paper of building and development.
Everywhere you drive amongst the warren of red dusty roads that turn into a sticky quagmire of mud after the seasonal rain storms, small plots of land are being cleared and built on. What was bare batch of scrub last week now contains a phoenix like concrete structure. The inflated cost of just about everything here has done little to dampen this speculative activity, but crucially such investment would only be possible in an environment of genuine stability, or at the least a realistic hope of it.
The view from the ground over the independence weekend was one of good natured celebration, and the control room at Warrior has not detected any noticeable increase in criminal activity as the euphoria wares off.
Juba is located in the southern tip of the country, only some 100 kilometres from the Uganda , Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya , and it is easy to feel detached from the ongoing problems along the disputed border area with Sudan
Warrior outstations in areas such as Wau have reported unplanned curfews being imposed with little or no notice, resulting in night guards having to extend their shifts in some cases by 24 hours in order to maintain protection of clients such as the UN’s World Food Programme.
Confrontation between the Sudan Armed Forces and the South’s SPLA is complicated by groups of southern rebels, offered amnesty by President Salva Kiir in an attempt to integrate them back into the South Sudan Army. Only yesterday Rebel leader Colonel Gatluak Gai was shot and killed near Pakur in Unity State
At the beginning of the week the government began circulation of the new South Sudan currency, and I happened to be at the junction of the main branch of Equity Bank when a heavily armed cordon was laid down to receive the crisp new notes featuring the image of Dr. John Garang de Mabior, the hero of the struggle for independence, but omitting a date, which prompted hasty radio broadcasts reassuring everyone that despite this, it was still legal tender.
More evidence of the government’s investment in infrastructure can be seen along the airport road, on which solar street lighting has been installed, and in the centre of the largest of the three roundabouts in Juba, an impressive ornamental fountain was recently commissioned which at night is illuminated with a multicoloured display, and now referred to in Warrior circles as the ‘Bellagio’, although after three days it was out of action.
Probably the greatest threat to all of this remains the issue of oil, most of which is extracted from southern oilfields close to the northern border, and which are the subject of conflict over ownership. But crucially the only way extracted oil can leave South Sudan is along pipelines through their northern neighbour, whose President Bashir has threatened charging enormous sums for the privilege, and some estimate that it will be three years before a reliable route can be constructed south through Kenya.
In the United Kingdom we talk about a North/South divide, whereby the prominence of London and home counties as the commercial and financial hub has led to a clearly defined split in the wealth and welfare of those above and below an imaginary line that I would place somewhere through Shakespeare’s ancient forest of Arden in the Midlands. Let’s hope the nation builders of South Sudan don’t make the same mistake.