Oil was not among the root causes for conflict in Sudan, clarifying that when the crude was discovered the war had already started.
This is the thesis John Ashworth shared with participants at the ongoing annual assembly of the Catholic diocese of Rumbek, Good News Radio reported.Mr. Ashworth refuted the claim held by those unfamiliar with the history of Sudan that oil is among the root causes of conflict, stating that oil only became a factor in the Sudan civil war.
He quoted Sudanese bishops who said that they have been fighting not for oil, but for freedom.
Mr. Ashworth said oil is the easiest issue to be agreed upon between Juba and Khartoum.
He explained that it is a matter of percentages given the fact that the pipeline is in the North and that it will take a long time before South Sudan constructs a pipeline to Mombasa or Lamu, in Kenya.
Mr. Ashworth said identity is one of the two main causes of conflict, cautioning against the term religion since ordinary Christians and Muslims in Sudan co-exist.
The political analyst described the other root cause of conflict in Sudan as “centre-periphery dynamic”.
He explained that power is geographically situated in one location with a clear manifestation of ethnocentrism and it is the reason for underdevelopment of areas in the periphery.
John Ashworth is a political analyst with close to three decades of experience in Sudan.
He is a consultant with the Catholic Bishops of Sudan.