Juba–Residents in the South Sudan capital Juba say vast improvements have been made in the region since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), an accord between northern and southern officials that ended more than two decades of civil war, was struck in 2005.
Southerners now enjoy a supply of clean water, electricity and vegetables, they say.
Due to such improvements, the move towards secession, set to take place during the 9 January referendum, is on an irrevocable path.
“It was the war’s bitterness behind the separation choice,” Zeinab, a young woman who witnessed the death of her mother and sister during the war, told Al-Masry Al-Youm. “I’m afraid of losing my husband and children after I had lost my family because of the northerners. The referendum will be a good chance to achieve independence. If southerners don't take it, they won’t find it again.”
Juba residents, however, says northern misinformation still poses an obstacle to secession ambitions.
“Newspapers in the north don’t depict the reality in the south," said Scholl Mayon, a Juba market vendor, in his 40s. "Everyone works for his own interest. One cannot know what’s true exactly.”
Describing himself as a “first rate secessionist,” Mayon considers separation just compensation for the suffering southerners have been subjected to. Moreover, Mayon reiterated calls that South Sudan boasts functional sovereignty.
“Everything can be found here in Juba," he said. "We live in peace. We move freely in Juba and other cities of the south as we now have streets and aspects of development. We have a life better than what the northerners have.”
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
