South Sudanese determined to make voice heard

November 17, 2010 (JUBA) — VOTERS in south Sudan have begun registering for the January 9 referendum that is widely expected to divide Africa's largest nation in two.

The referendum follows almost five decades of civil war between the Arab-Muslim north, and the south's predominantly Dinka and Nuer tribes.

With about 5 million south Sudanese eligible to vote, tens of thousands of intending voters have crowded registration centres across the south.

Peter Majok, a 24-year-old political science student, said there was a note of celebration in the air despite a wait of more than eight hours in the southern capital of Juba.

''Today is a very great day for all south Sudanese,'' he told The Age. ''I lost both of my parents in the civil war. I am finishing what they started, and that gives me so much happiness.''

Civil war veteran Samuel Mut Gai, 48, who fought against the north with the Sudan People's Liberation Army, said the mood was clear. ''Firstly, I am very happy to be a part of an intellectual solution to this conflict - a peaceful, and orderly vote,'' said Mr Gai.

''But I don't think there is any doubt about what the result will be. We, all the people of south Sudan, did not fight for the unity of the country. We fought for separation and I have no doubt at all that will happen.''

Juba accountant Uriya Amale John, 28, said the vote was a step forward for both north and south. ''Sudan as one country was a creation of the British born in 1950s,'' he said. ''But they knew then that it could not work and it has served neither side well in the years since.''

At least 60 per cent of registered voters must turn out and a simple majority of more than 50 per cent will then determine the result.

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has appealed to voters. ''A referendum happens only once,'' he said. ''People must come out en masse, otherwise it would mean people fought and died for nothing.''

In Khartoum, still the official capital of Sudan, the referendum is viewed with hostility.

But cars fitted with loudspeakers drove through Juba's streets blaring the refrain of a song: ''We are heading towards the promised land.''