South Sudanese men look at members of their tribe, the Mundari ethnic group, wrestle in a dusty patch where the tribe brought cattle and sheep for sale in Juba on July 7, 2011 two days before South Sudan secedes from the north and becomes the world's newest nation. The Mundari are majorly cattle keepers who live in the south and pride themselves in being good wrestlers. AFP PHOTO. 

It is just a day to the Independence of South Sudan from the north but the latter seems to be in a hurry to part ways with their erstwhile compatriots.
For many in South Sudan, Saturday’s event is just a formality – a merely symbolic confirmation of a divorce that they have dreamt of for several years; a separation that some of their fathers and mothers fought and died for.
Even those in South Sudan who had somehow shared political ideology with the north, the members of the President Omar el Bashir led National Congress Party, yesterday dissolve the Khartoum-based party’s structures in South Sudan and – in a hugely symbolic gesture – joined the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.

The former Deputy Chairman of the National Congress Party, Dr Riek Ghai, told journalists at a press conference in Juba that because the people of South Sudan had chosen to part ways with the north, the NCP leadership in the south had also decided to follow suit.
“We in South Sudan need unity,” he said. “Although we need pluralism and multiparty-ism, I think the right cause of action is for us to join hands with our brothers and sisters in the SPLM so that we face the challenges of building the new nation of South Sudan together without any perception of division because a lot of people, especially some brothers in north Sudan, will wish that we don’t make it as a viable state.”
If the NCP was the political symbol of the Khartoum government, the Sudanese Pound perhaps served as an economic symbol during the entire time that the two territories constituted one country. And, at the same event yesterday, South Sudan Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin announced that they would no longer use the currency from the north of Sudan after getting independence.
“As soon as the country becomes independent, we will have our own currency which will be circulating in South Sudan,” he said. “We are already discussing what to do with the old Sudanese currency that is circulating here in the south.”
With South Sudan seemingly eager to impose its new status on their erstwhile compatriots, the government is intent on playing hard ball with the north over the currency – as with many of the other contentious issues.
“There is no more Sudanese currency coming from Khartoum so what we are discussing with the Central Bank of Sudan is what will we do with the balance of Sudanese money going around because the old money which is here was bought by the Bank of South Sudan with dollars. And we are saying if they want to retrieve it, they will have to give us our dollars back,” explained Mr Marial.
The north and south of Sudan still have many unresolved issues even as South Sudan gains autonomy. According to the Chairman of the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration Commission, William Deng Deng, they intend to get what is due to them.
“We will continue to negotiate with guys in the north regardless of how we go, whether they like it or not because we are going to have the longest border ever and whatever problems we have we have to continue to negotiate, we have to continue to try to use our partners to find amicable solutions to any conflicting areas,” he said.
While they have promised to play hard ball, South Sudan is however wary of raising tensions with the north. Instead, according to Mr Deng Deng, they intend to use diplomacy.
“We are tired of war,” he said. “The reason brought this CPA is because we fought for our independence and now we are among the nations, we must now use the diplomatic approach in order to settle conflicts.”
But South Sudan is not all hard talk. The government in Juba has offered an olive branch to the Sudanese from the north resident in South Sudan to gain citizenship of the country if they wish to do so.
“Those who have stayed here for a long time and would like to get South Sudan citizenship, they will apply and will definitely be considered according to their years of residence. And should they even if they choose to go back to the north, we shall not object them getting northern citizenship,” said Mr Marial.
According to Mr Marial, they are also open to the idea of South Sudanese in the north having dual citizenship of both the old and new country. However, they providing transport to those who have decided to return from the north to the south.
As the independence hour draws closer, security in Juba has got ever tight, with armed soldiers lining up nearly every road. But Mr Marial said the heavy security presence is only precautionary, and should not cloud an occasion they expect every Sudanese to celebrate in any way they wish.
“We would expect our citizens to light candles all over the place, share meals together and when it comes to one minute past midnight, we want our citizens – especially our women all over the country – to be ululating. We want as much noise as possible because a new child is being born.”