Abyei: An Unending Historical Controversy
By: Advocate: Monyluak Aguer Rou
· CEO of Monyluak Rou & Co.Advocates.
· Former Advisor of Abyei Chief Administratoron the Legal Affairs;
Abyei is the permanent homeland of the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms, Abyei mean a tree in the Dinka language since thepre-colonial era, the Ngok Dinka inhabited in Abyei region prior to the Seventeenth century, having migrated from the Greater Upper Nile region, They settled along major waterways stretching from the areas north of the Ngol River down to the South of the Kiir River, as well as around lakes Nyamora and Lou.
In contrast, the Arab Misseriya tribe migrated to Al-Muglad and Babanusa around the Nineteenth century as part of the Greater of Arab groups across the African Sahel. Some of
these groups settled in West and Central African Countries (such as Chad, Niger, Mali and the Central African Republic) prior to their secondary migration through western Sudan Gate. A portion of these Arabs diaspora and settled in Darfur, while the Misseriya Humr group advanced into the areas north of the Goz belt near Al-Muglad and Babanusa at the expense of the Chat tribe—who, according to historical accounts, were the original inhabitants of that region. Meanwhile, the second group, the Misseriya Zurug, penetrated eastward toward Lake Keilak during the same century.
The Misseriya Humr remained settled in Al-Muglad north of the Goz belt, while the Ngok Dinka remained in their ancestral territory in Abyei along the courses of the Ngol and Kiir rivers. The distinct ecological environments of each group were reflected in their cattle breeds: the Misseriya Humr cattle evolved to endure long journeys across sandy dunes (Goz), whereas the Ngok Dinka cattle thrived in the clay plains and river valleys. Prior to administrative decisions issued by the British colonial authority, the region was governed as an integral part of Southern Sudan—specifically within the boundaries of Bahr el Ghazal Province until it was annexed to Kordofan Province in 1905.
The Turko-Egyptian conquest of Sudan in the 19th century and the Mahdist Revolution against colonial rule (1881–1898) created significant regional instability.
Following the Turko-Egyptian occupation of Bahr el Ghazal in the mid-19thcentury, the ivory and slave trades expanded into the region. The notorious slave trader Al-Zubair Pasha Rahma established a center and empire for slaving operations South of the Kiir River / Bahr al-Arab, from which he launched military campaigns against the Darfur Sultanate and seized control over portions of Southern Kordofan.
During this period, the Ngok Dinka became primary targets for Al-Zubair Pasha and his Misseriya Humr allies. Sultan Arop Biong, The chief of the Ngok Dinka, managed to secure partial protection for his people and other Dinka groups further Southern Sudan. Later, when the Misseriya Humr fell out with Khalifa Abdallah El-tashei and faced raids from Mahdist forces, they sought refuge and protection within Ngok Dinka lands north of Abyei. It was from this time that initial contact—and what came to be known as co-habitation between the Ngok Dinka and the Misseriya Humr began. In reality, this dynamic was largely defined as personal friendship between Sultan Kuol Arop the chief of Ngok Dinka and The Nazer of Maseriya Humr, and there is no any social contact between the two tribes, reflecting contrasting instances of success and failure in bridging the identity divide separating the leaders and their subjects.
During the tenure of Sir Francis Reginald Wingate Pasha who governed Sudan from 1899 to
1916 under Anglo-Egyptian Condominium rule, when Sudan comprised nine provinces, Equatoria Province was divided into two, Equatoria with its capital moved from Mongalla to Juba and Bahr el Ghazal (with its capital at Wau). Later, under Sir Robert Howe, it became clear that most grievances raised by Abyei’s population stemmed from friction with neighboring Misseriya Humr coming from the north, who were active in cattle raiding and slave trading. To streamline administrative oversight and resolve these recurring disputes, Sir Reginald Wingate Pasha decided in 1905 to annex the Abyei area to Kordofan
Province.
In 1929, during the administration of Sir John Maffey, the Native Administration system was established in Sudan. Civil Secretary Sir Harold MacMichael’s report drew upon Lord Munro's commission, which recommended reducing the direct British administrative footprint in the colonies and delegating authority to local entities to govern by proxy, thereby lowering costs and minimizing friction with colonized populations. Consequently, the Governor-General adopted a dual system of Native Administration:
Northern Courts: Operating under Islamic Sharia law (eleven courts, which excluded Abyei). Southern Courts tailored to each tribe in Southern Sudan based on local customary law. A local court was established in Abyei operating strictly according to Ngok Dinka customary law similar to thr courts in Southern Sudan .
In 1952, Sir Alexander Knox Helm convened the Contact Zones Conference in Abiemnom and offered Ngok Dinka Sultan Deng Majok theoption to return the Abyei area to Bahr el Ghazal Province. The Chief declined at the time, believing that remaining administratively attached to the North would provide better developmental opportunities for his area. Before a final decision was reached, Sultan Deng Majok requested a time period to observe and compare the Native Administration system in Southern Sudan with the administrative court system under Kordofan.However, on December 19, 1955—prior to the conclusion of the designated transitional period (1954–1956)—the Sudanese Parliament unilaterally declared independence in session No. 43. The Sultan was unaware of the departure of the last British Governor-General, Sir Alexander Knox Helm; Chief Justice Sayyid Muhammad Ahmad Abu Rannat had been appointed as acting Governor-General for a one-year transition (January 1, 1955 – January 1, 1956), culminating in Ismail al-Azhari becoming the first Prime Minister of independent Sudan.
Subsequent petitions by Abyei’s youth and leaders demanding that their territory be returned to Southern Sudan—similar to the administrative transfers of Twic and Ruweng between 1912 and 1930—were repeatedly ignored. This refusal led many educated youth from Abyei to rebel and join the Anyanya I movement established in 1955. A decade later, armed Misseriya militias, backed by the central government under Prime Minister Al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, launched destructive attacks against Ngok Dinka villages north of Abyei (the "Ngol" areas), displacing local populations. This prompted Abyei youth to travel to the Congo to procure arms to defend their lands, and many of them integrating into Anyanya I.
In 1972, the Addis Ababa Peace Agreement was signed. It provided for a referendum for the
people of Abyei to determine whether to remain in Kordofan or return to Southern Sudan, Addis Ababa Agreement granting the regions that culturally and geographically formed part of the Southern context the right to self-determination under Article 3, Paragraph 3. However, President Jaafar Nimeiry later reneged on the agreement, famously declaring that it was "neither the Quran nor the Bible," effectively putting an end to the accord.
In 1982, Abyeiyouth and intellectuals formed the Abyei Liberation Movement, which merged into Anyanya II and eventually formed a core nucleus of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), founded on May 16, 1983, under the leadership of Dr. Col. John Garang de Mabior. The SPLM/A continued the armed struggle against successive central governments in Khartoum until 2005, when the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed, containing a specific protocol for Abyei.
The Provisions of Abyei Protocol Article 1 (Paragraph 3) stipulated a referendum for the nine
Ngok Dinka chiefdoms simultaneously with the South Sudan self-determination referendum. Article 3 (Paragraphs 1–6) outlined oil revenue sharing between the North and South, granting the Misseriya strictly grazing, pastures and passage through Abyei for grazing.
The Abyei Boundaries Commission (ABC) experts submitted their report defining the territory of the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms, which was binding according to the protocol. President Omar al-Bashir rejected the report, claiming the commission exceeded its mandate, bringing the CPA to the brink of collapse. Tensions culminated in the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) invading Abyei town on May 10, 2008. The occupation ended after the SPLM and the Sudanese Government signed a roadmap Agreement on June 8, 2008, referring the border dispute to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague. In 2009, the PCA redrew the boundaries of the Abyei area defining the "Abyei Box" or Ngok Dinka territory, leading to the establishment of a joint administration between the SPLM and the National Congress Party (NCP).
In January 2011, the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms initiated consultations to declare their integration into South Sudan before the South Sudan independence, as both parties had failed to establish the Abyei Referendum Commission. However, the SPLM leadership dispatched a high-level delegation requesting a temporary delay to prioritize the South Sudanese Independence, assuring that the new state's leadership would resolve the Abyei issue post-independence.
One month before South Sudan’s formal independence, the Sudanese army re-invaded Abyei town on May 21, 2011. The occupation ended with the signing of the Agreement on Temporary Arrangements for the Administration and Security of the Abyei Area, which deployed the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) to maintain security within the "Abyei Box."
On September 21, 2012, The Chair of the AU High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP), Former President of South Africa H.E. Thabo Mbeki proposed October 2013 to holding the
Abyei referendum, after finalizing voter eligibility criteria. South Sudan accepted the proposal immediately, while Khartoum offered no clear position.
Facing persistent political obstruction from Khartoum, the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms organized a Community referendum biased Mbeki's Proposal and monitored by international and regional observers. The population voted 99.9% in favor of joining South Sudan. After the result, the major Ten South Sudan political parties signed a joint Statement of endorsement the choice of the Abyei people and result of Community Referendum.
Following thatPresident Salva Kiir Mayardit issued an executive decree establishing the Abyei Special Administrative Area, marking the official administrative incorporation of Abyei into South Sudan pursuant to Article 97(4) of the Transitional Constitution of 2011 as amended. In that time Khartoum did not object at the time.
Then The UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2445, authorizing UN cooperation with the Juba-appointed Abyei Area Administration separate from the Khartoum-appointed administration in Al-Muglad.
The 8th South Sudan Governors' Forum recommended formally adopting the 2013 Community referendum results. Consequently, on December 27, 2024, the Abyei Area Legislative Council officially ratified the October 2013 referendum results.
On January 14,2025, The former Minister of Justice of South Sudan submitted a formal legal
opinion urging the National Government to endorse the 2013 community referendum, aligning with the Transitional Constitution Of Republic Of South Sudan 2011 as amended, and The administrative Order, and Presidential Order No. 10/2020 concerning to retaining to the ten states and three administrative areas.
Conclusion;
Through thisconcise historical records, the Abyei issue stands as one of the clearest cases
whose political and historical trajectory cannot be altered. Over a century (1905–2005), the Ngok Dinka people engaged in an unyielding struggle, leaving a legacy written by martyrs so that the people of Abyei and South Sudan might live in Peace, Justice and Prosperity. Despite this well-documented history, persistent betrayals and attempts to falsify historical facts continue to make Abyei an unending historical controversy.
References;
1. Dr. Francis Deng, War of Visions: Conflict of Identities in theSudan, Center for Sudanese Studies, 1st Edition, Cairo, 1999.
2. Sudan intelligence Reports (SIR) No: 128, March 1905.
3. Dr.Douglas H. Johnson, When Boundaries Become Borders: The Impact of Boundary-Making in Southern Sudan's Frontier Zones, , Rift Valley Institute, Nairobi, 2010.
4. Dr.Francis Deng, A Man Called Deng Majok:, Center for Sudanese Studies, 2ndEdition, Cairo, 2004.
5. Dr.Muhammad Abu Al-Qasim Haj Hamad, Sudan: The Historical Dilemma and Future
Prospects (Dialectic of Structure), Vol. 1, 2nd Edition, Dar Ibn Hazm, Beirut, 1996.
6. Dr.Salman Mohamed Ahmed Salman, The Secession of South Sudan: The Role and Responsibility
of Political Forces, Fairfax Research Center, Virginia, 2015, p. 74.
7. Dr.Mansour Khalid, Abyei... Who Severed the Thread? Naivasha Protocols: Beginnings and Outcomes, August 2005.
8. SouthSudan cabinet endorses controversial 2013 Abyei referendum, Sudan Post.
9. AropMadut Arop, The Ngok Dinka of Abyei, South Sudan in Historical Perspective, House Publishing, UK, 2018.