Southern Sudan Anti Slavery Referendum faces resistance by AU dictators by Prof. Muse Tegegne<\/strong><\/em> Though <\/em>slavery<\/em><\/a> never completely died out in <\/em>Sudan<\/em><\/a>, there has been a relatively recent upsurge in <\/em>slave-taking<\/em><\/span> that has its roots in <\/em>Islam<\/em><\/a>. According to <\/em>John Eibner<\/em><\/a>, an historian and human rights specialist writing in <\/em>Middle East Quarterly<\/em><\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n “<\/span>Sudan is the only place where <\/em>chattel slavery<\/em><\/a> is not just surviving but experiencing a great revival. This renascence of the <\/em>slave trade<\/em><\/a> began in the mid-1980s and resulted directly from an upsurge of <\/em>Islamism<\/em><\/a> in <\/em>Sudan<\/em><\/a> at that time, and especially from the <\/em>Islamist<\/em><\/a> emphasis on the renewal of <\/em>jihad<\/em><\/a>. After gaining the upper-hand in<\/em>Khartoum<\/em><\/a> by about 1983, the Islamists’ immediate goal was to transform the multi-ethnic, multi-religious population of Sudan into an Arab-dominated Muslim state, and to do so through jihad. Under <\/em>Turabi<\/em><\/a>‘s powerful influence, the ruler of the time, <\/em>Ja\u2018far an-Numayri<\/em><\/a>, declared himself to be (sounding like a <\/em>caliph<\/em><\/a> of old), the “rightly guided” leader of an Islamic state<\/em>.”<\/p>\n As Kampala hosts the African Union (AU) summit the question remains: Is Africa neutral with regard to the unity of the Sudan? AU chairman Jean Ping put it clearly during Africa Day last May, with due respect to the outcome of the coming referendum, that AU favours \u2018making unity attractive,\u2019 and cautioned against possible southern Sudan independence in 2011.<\/p>\n
\nThe 2005 Sudanese Comprehensive Peace Agreement<\/a>t (CPA) ignited\u00a0\u00a0the long awaited vision \u00a0to self-determination in the \u00a0Greater Horn of \u00a0Africa subgegated and colonially divided people of Africa. CPA \u00a0is hope and victory against slavery and\u00a0religious\u00a0extremism\u00a0in Africa. The southerners \u00a0have been\u00a0victims\u00a0of an\u00a0abolished\u00a0slavery\u00a0in 21 first century. They merit\u00a0to determine their future in their own hands. They are not fighting for self determination only but also for the eradication of slavery from the last bastion of the\u00a0institution\u00a0in Sudan. <\/span><\/p>\n