The First Sudanese Civil War

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The First Sudanese Civil War

Africans, Arabs, and Israelis in theSouthern Sudan, 1955–1972

Scopas S. Poggo

the first sudanese civil warCopyright © Scopas S. Poggo, 2009.

All rights reserved.

First published in 2009 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the Unites States—adivision of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this isby Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered inEngland, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, HampshireRG21 6XS.

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Design by Scribe Inc.

First edition: February 2009

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Chapter 5 is a revision of “General Ibrahim Abboud’s Military Administration inthe Sudan, 1958–1964: Implementation of the Programs of Islamization andArabization in the Southern Sudan,” Northeast African Studies Journal

, 9, no. 1

(April 2007): 67–101, reprinted with permission of the editor of the journal.

Chapter 8 contains revised material from “The Politics of Liberation in theSouthern Sudan 1967–1972: The Role of Israel, African Heads of State andForeign Mercenaries,” The Uganda Journal 47 (November 2001): 34–48, reprintedwith permission of the editor of the journal.

Map credit: Sudan as of 2006: Permission of the UN Cartographic Section.

Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2009 978-0-230-60796-5

ISBN 978-1-349-37474-8 ISBN 978-0-230-61798-8 (eBook)DOI 10.1057/9780230617988

In Memory of My Beloved FatherDaniel Poggo Waran-Wunyang

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CONTENTS

List of Maps ixPreface xiAcknowledgments xvIntroduction 1

1 Ethnicity and Race in Modern Sudan 9

2 The Torit Mutiny of 1955: Its Causes and Failure 21

3 Legacy of the Failed Mutiny: Government Repression and Rise of the Resistance Movement 49

4 Government Counterinsurgency Methods, 1955–72 73

5 General Abboud’s Response: Repression, Islamization, and Arabization, 1958–64 91

6 Emergence of Southern Sudanese Political Movements,1960–72 113

7 Reorganization and Consolidation of the GuerrillaMovement, 1963–71 131

8 External Political and Military Involvement in Sudan’sCivil War, 1960–72 145

9 The Road to Peace, 1969–72 169

Conclusion 193Notes 197Bibliography 229Index 241

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MAPS

Egypt under British Protection and the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan xviii

The Provinces of Sudan from 1948 to 1973 xix

The States of Sudan as of 2006 xx

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PREFACE

I am one of the five children of Daniel Poggo Waran-Wunyang (nowdeceased) and Anna Poni Wani-Buluk. I was born in the village of Dajurin Kajo-Kaji County in Southern Sudan in the early 1960s. My fatherwas a farmer who also managed a grocery store for Mr. Habib, a Syrianmerchant who owned the business. When I was still a little boy, my parentsand I fled from Kajo-Kaji to Moyo, a town in the Madi District of Uganda,for refuge. The Sudanese government security forces wanted to arrest myfather and several other Kuku businessmen for allegedly providing moraland financial support to the Anya-Nya guerrilla forces (the Southern Sudaneseresistance movement) that were waging a war of liberation against theSudan government. Indeed, many Kuku men had joined the Anya-Nyamovement in Southern Sudan by the mid-1960s. But the vast majority ofKuku people fled to Uganda and became refugees in the Northern, WestNile, Central, and Western regions of that country. My parents and I settledin Gulu, a town in Northern Uganda, and were later joined by my sisterand one older brother. Not until 1969 did I meet our oldest brother, whohad taken refuge in Nairobi, Kenya, after the civil war in Sudan intensifiedin the mid-1960s. Our youngest brother was born in Gulu.

Refugee life in Gulu was a difficult matter for my family and otherSouthern Sudanese families (Kuku, Latuko, Madi, Bari, Lakoya, Moru,Azande, and Acholi of Southern Sudan). We had to start everything overfrom scratch in a new environment whose inhabitants often labeled usloring ayela, an Acholi expression literally meaning those who run awayfrom a problem. To be sure, it was the civil strife in the Sudan that hadcaused us to flee into Northern Uganda. Our parents were hardworkingand resilient—they made sure we had enough food to eat every day, hadsufficient clothes, and above all, had adequate health care.

Although my parents did not have the opportunity to attend school,they envisioned sending all their children to school. While they bought usschool uniforms and other educational supplies, the United Nations High

Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Roman Catholic Churchin Uganda paid our fees and tuition. Uganda provided us with the qual-ity education we would otherwise not have obtained had my parents notsought sanctuary in that country. Mrs. Atey, a Ugandan Madi teacher inPrimary One at Obiya Catholic Church School in Gulu, encouraged meto work hard and master the local Acholi language and culture. I alsolearned English, Swahili, and Kinubi, a heavily convoluted Arabic dialectstill is spoken in Uganda today. As I grew up in Northern Uganda, Iinteracted with people from various ethnic and linguistic backgrounds,and this gave me a sense of appreciation of and respect for the people, cul-ture, and languages from other parts of Southern Sudan and Uganda.

My intent to write about the history of the first civil war in Sudan isbased on two events that had a profound impact on me as a refugee. First,a local Kuku clergyman named Eli, who preached the Sunday sermons inour church, one day abandoned his pastoral duty and joined the Anya-Nya movement in Southern Sudan. This remarkable decision was anexpression of the frustration of most Southern Sudanese people, as well asa reflection of the magnitude of tension and conflict between the Northernand Southern regions of the country. Second, in 1966 through 1967, theUgandan government under President Milton Obote cracked down onthe Southern Sudanese refugees in Uganda who were allegedly raisingmoney to support the Anya-Nya movement inside Southern Sudan. Mymother was secretary of finance for the local Anya-Nya chapter in Gulu.Three Kuku men, who belonged to the same chapter and who also raisedmoney, were arrested by Uganda General Service Unit personnel, tortured,and jailed for a short period. My mother was spared.

My decision to major in history at the University of Juba in the 1980s(1982 through 1986) was based on my keen interest in studying the his-tory of Sudan, but above all in understanding the nature of the relation-ship between the South and the North. I particularly wanted to learn theroot causes of Sudan’s first civil war. In my course of study, I also realizedthat the history of Southern Sudan had largely been written by foreignand Northern Sudanese scholars/historians. I also learned that very fewSouthern Sudanese historians had attained postgraduate qualifications, incontrast to Northern intellectuals. A case in point was the employment ofthree Southern Sudanese lecturers in the history department at the Universityof Juba. This was the first generation of Southerners who had majored inhistory at the University of Khartoum. My ambition was to pursue post-graduate studies to the Ph.D. level and subsequently make my own con-tribution to the historiography on Sudan in general, and on SouthernSudan in particular. I realized one of these ambitions when I wrote my

PREFACExii

master’s thesis, The Pattern of Azande Resistance to the British Rule in theSouthern Sudan, 1898–1914, in the history department at the University ofMemphis, Tennessee, in 1992.

My six-year experience (1983 through 1989) of the second civil war inSudan had far-reaching effects. Surviving the mortar and artillery androcket bombardment of the city of Juba, the capital of Southern Sudanwhere I lived, strengthened my resolve to investigate the root causes ofSudan’s first civil war and write about it. I realized this dream when Icompleted my doctoral dissertation, War and Conflict in the Southern Sudan,1955–1972, in the history department at the University of California, SantaBarbara, in 1999.

I was initially motivated to write about the first civil war in Sudanwhen Professor Robert O. Collins of UCSB gave me permission to accesshis huge collections of primary material on Sudan. Fellowships and grantsfrom the University of California at Santa Barbara and San Diego enabledme to travel and conduct research at the Hoover Institution at StanfordUniversity (1997), the Sudan Archive at Durham University (UnitedKingdom, 1997), and the Missionary Comboniani Archive in Rome andVerona (1998). These research trips also afforded me the opportunity tointerview Southern Sudanese politicians and combatants who were directlylinked with the first civil war. Among these important personalities wereGeneral Joseph Lagu Yakobo, Colonel Stephen B. Madut, Gordon MuortatMayen, and Lawrence Modi Tombe in the United Kingdom; Father Vantiniin Verona, Italy; and Brigadier General John Ukech Lueth, Professor RobertO. Collins, and Dr. Douglas Johnson in the United States.

The combination of information gleaned from primary material (writ-ten text) and elicited from interviews makes my book unique in the his-toriography on the first civil war in Sudan. This study attempts to providean in-depth investigation and analysis of the political, economic, social,cultural, and religious problems that led to the outbreak of the first civilwar in 1955. It discusses the involvement of foreign missionaries andSudanese clergy, Arab countries, African countries, the former SovietUnion, and the Israeli government in the civil war. Foreign interferencein the domestic affairs of Sudan shaped the magnitude and trend of thewar and its sustenance for seventeen years. The atrocities committed bythe Sudanese security forces against the Southern rebels and people areexamined in the context of the North-South conflict. My holistic treat-ment of the first civil war is intended to assist in a full understanding theroot causes of the second civil war in the Sudan, which lasted anothertwenty-two years from 1983 to 2005.

PREFACE xiii

My book is also designed to contribute to the literature on intra-regional and inter-regional wars and conflicts that have plagued much ofthe African continent in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In addi-tion, it sheds light on the tensions and conflicts that have risen around theworld as a result of the struggle for supremacy by two of the great religionsof the world, Islam and Christianity. The first civil war is also a classicexample of conflicts that were fueled by the United States and the formerSoviet Union as they struggled to extend their influences over the Africancontinent during the Cold War period.

It is my hope that this book will be of value and service to the manypeople and institutions that would benefit from a greater knowledge andunderstanding of the two Sudanese civil wars. Whether individual scholarsand politicians, Africans south of the Sahara, the Arabs of North Africa andthe Middle East, the Israeli government, university study courses, peaceand conflict resolution centers, or, and especially, Sudanese from all walksof life, all may profit from learning more about what transpired in Sudanin the second half of the twentieth century.

PREFACExiv

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am deeply indebted to Dr. Douglas H. Johnson, a historian on theSudan who read my book manuscript in its early stages of preparation forpublication. His constructive criticisms, advice, and words of encourage-ment helped shape my thoughts, analysis, and discussion throughout thework resulting in this book. I am also very grateful to Dr. C. MagbailyFyle, my colleague and professor of African History in the Department ofAfrican American and African Studies at The Ohio State University, whoread the book manuscript during the revision phase and gave me valuablesuggestions and advice.

I would like to register my profound thanks to Dr. RaymondDominick, professor emeritus of history at The Ohio State University,Mansfield, who read the manuscript at its earliest stage of writing andprovided me with valuable insights on its various themes.

I owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Jan Ryder, who read the manuscriptin the final stages of preparation for publication and provided me withvaluable editorial comments and advice.

This book would not have been completed without the financial sup-port I received from the Center for Black Studies, the Graduate Division,the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center, and the Academic Senate at theUniversity of California, Santa Barbara. The Institute on Global Conflictand Cooperation at the University of California, San Diego, also providedme with research and travel funds. To them, I express my deep gratitude.

A research project of this kind would not have reached its conclusionwithout the support I received from many individuals. I would like toexpress my special thanks to the following individuals in Sudan, Kenya,and Uganda who, realizing that it was important to have an oral historyof the first Sudanese civil war committed to writing, agreed to be inter-viewed: Mr. Barnaba Dumo Wani (Khartoum, Sudan), the late Mr. ClementMboro (Nairobi, Kenya), Mr. Eliaba James Surur (Kampala, Uganda), Mr.Daniel Jumi Tongun (Yei, Southern Sudan), Lt. General James Wani Igga

(Yei, Southern Sudan), Wojia Masiri and Enoka Digga Amen (Kajo-Kaji,Southern Sudan), my mother, Mama Anna Poni Wani-Buluk (Nairobi,Kenya), and my father, the late Baba Daniel Poggo Waran-Wunyang(Moyo, Uganda). I am very thankful to Mr. Evans Sokiri Kijore, Mr.Benjamin Lou Poggo, Mr. James Duku Janak, and Mr. Nathan Wojia Pitia,who sacrificed their time and effort to locate and interview these individ-uals on my behalf.

In the United Kingdom, I interviewed the following Southern Sudanesecombatants and politicians who were associated with the first and secondcivil wars in the Sudan: Colonel Stephen Baak Madut (London), the lateMr. Gordon Muortat Mayen (London), Mr. Lawrence Modi Tombe(London), and Lt. General Joseph Yakobo Lagu (London). My interviewswith these personalities would not have been possible without the assis-tance of Dr. Cosmas Wani Lo-Wolli. By introducing me to these indi-viduals, sacrificing his time and energy, and providing me with food andaccommodation in his house in London in the spring of 1997, he ensuredthat my research trip in London was a success. I owe him many thanks.

In the United States, I was fortunate to interview Southern Sudanesecombatants, politicians, and academics who were directly or indirectlylinked with the first civil war, as well as those who served in the regionalgovernment of Southern Sudan in the period 1972 through 1983. Myspecial thanks go to Dr. Pacifico Lado Lolik (Dallas, Texas), Dr. DominickMohammed Akec (Miami, Florida), Mr. Oliver Batali Albino (Cambridge,Massachusetts), and Brigadier General John Ukech Lueth (Santa Barbara,California). I would also like to express my deep appreciation to Dr.Laura Nyantung Beny, who interviewed Mr. Albino on my behalf. I amgrateful as well to the late Professor Emeritus Robert O. Collins and Dr.Douglas H. Johnson, historians and authors on the Southern Sudan, whogranted me interviews and provided me with valuable foreign perspec-tives on the first Sudanese civil war.

The complexities pertaining to investigating Sudan’s first civil war andits aftermath required the acquisition of material from a variety of sourcesscattered across the world. Within the United States, I obtained valuabledocuments from Professor Collins’ private collection, now in the possessionof the Sudan Archive at Durham University (UK) and Bergen University(Norway); the Hoover Institution at Stanford University; and the privatearchives of Mr. Sabit Alley in New Jersey and of General Lueth in DesMoines, Iowa.

In the United Kingdom, I also acquired substantial material from theSudan Archive at Durham University. My research there was facilitatedby Mrs. Jane R. Hogan, Miss Lesley Forbes, and Ms. Margaret G., all of

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSxvi

whom are keepers of the Sudan Archive. Mr. Gordon Muortat Mayenand Mr. Lawrence Modi Tombe donated their personal papers to me. Iowe them a treasure of thanks.

The scholarly assistance given to me by the archivists and librarians ofthe Missionari Comboniani in Rome and Verona will remain a lasting,positive impression in my academic life. I would like to express my sin-cere thanks and deep appreciation to their archivists and administrators:Fathers Pietro Ravasio, Mario Cisternino, and Torquato (Rome), andFathers Gino Barsella and Bruno Novelli (Verona).

This book would not have been conceived if my beloved parentsMama Anna Poni Wani-Buluk and Baba Daniel Poggo Waran-Wunyanghad not had a vision for their children’s education. This book is dedicatedto them. Academic role models are important in life, and I must indeedacknowledge Mr. James Duku Janka and Mr. Zamba Duku for theirinspiration when I was a young refugee in primary school in Uganda inthe early 1970s. I owe them a debt of gratitude. My brothers John GwoloKamanga Poggo, Benjamin Lou Poggo, Wilson Duku Poggo, Robert Ramba,Anthony Kenyi Awani, the late Robert Doru Lo-Kojo, and George MaringLonga, my sister Josephine Kajo Poggo and my sister-in-law Alice KejiKamanga continuously supported me in my research and writing throughadvice, encouragement, and prayer. They deserve my deepest gratitude!

My special thanks also go to my former lecturers in the Department ofHistory at the University of Juba (Southern Sudan) who inspired me tostudy African and Middle Eastern history: Dr. Kenneth Okeny, Dr.Lazarus Lek Mawut, the late Dr. Damazo Dut Majak, and the late Mr.Ogweta Opoka. This book is also dedicated to the University of Juba, thefirst institution of higher learning in Southern Sudan (1977).

I am also deeply indebted to Dr. Evelyn B. Freeman, dean and director,Dr. Ted Dahlstrand, associate dean at The Ohio State University,Mansfield, and Professor Kenneth W. Goings, department chairman ofAfrican American and African Studies at The Ohio State University,Columbus, for their academic, financial, and moral support. Their pro-fessional advice and words of encouragement will never be forgotten.Mrs. Cathy Stimpert in the Office of Human Resources and Dr. BarbaraMcGovern, associate professor of English, Dr. Christopher B. Phelps,associate professor of history, Dr. Heather J. Tanner, associate professorof history and Dr. Glenn Hartz, professor of philosophy at The OhioState University, Mansfield, gave me much moral and spiritual supportduring my period of writing. I owe them special thanks. I am most gratefulto Dr. Harold A. Ballitch, my ophthalmologist, for his continued medicaltreatment and moral support.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xvii

Last but not least, I would like to thank my research assistant, Mr.Adam Reno, who typed most of the new research material that I includedinto the manuscript.

Egypt under British Protection and the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (Cambridge Modern History Atlas,1912. Courtesy of University of Texas Libraries).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSxviii

The provinces of Sudan from 1948 to1973, showing the three Southern provinces of Bahr al-Ghazal,Upper Nile, and Equatoria (U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Courtesy of University of TexasLibraries).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xix

The states of Sudan as of 2006, showing the modern division of the former Upper Nile, Bahr al-Ghazal, and Equatoria provinces (Courtesy of the UN Publication Board).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSxx