Page 23 - EVOLUTION OF THE SUDAN PEOPLE’S LIBERATION MOVEMENT(SPLM),

accounts of SPLM or there are observable biases of the personal or even journalistic accounts of
the movement. A true or objective account of what the movement sought to achieve during or
after the war has not been carefully analyzed. Research on how SPLM as a liberation movement

sought to address challenges of nation-building, including social and national question has not
received scholarly attention. Indeed, secrecy associated with the war and lack of official material
and records made it even harder to dig deeper into the movements’ hopes, fears and aspirations.

Research after the formation of Government of Southern Sudan in 2005 is limited in scope and

quantity. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and think tanks have undertaken studies on
small arms proliferation, improvement on social and economic indicators; others have focused on
whether the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, CPA, was being implemented successfully or not.
There are studies that examined the relationship between National Congress Party and Sudan

People’s Liberation Movement, SPLM, but not in the context of what the movement sought to
achieve. Some scholars have researched on how SPLM is making a changeover from a liberation
movement to a political party together with security sector reforms aimed at cutting costs.

The post liberation agenda of social economic transformation and dealing with the issues that

triggered the quest for self-determination is yet to receive scholarly attention. Indeed, from
2005-2015, not much was done to transform or create functional state institutions but most
importantly, the country moved from one crisis to another precipitating a rethink of what the

armed liberation struggle was all about and the nature of the post liberation society anticipated.
Wolfram Lacher (2012), observes that SPLM administrative structures are rudimentary and
SPLM lacked effective control over its territory and population. What is more is that SPLM has
a very weak taxation base and systems frequented by graft and corruption. With the outbreak of
war in December 2013, the focus shifted to ending the war and post conflict political settlement

aimed creating political and economic stability. The national question was raised by nationalists
upon the finish of Second World War and answered in the plural in the decade of independence
in Africa.

Wamba Dia Wamba for example refers to the national question as how global forms of societal

being embodying the in-house diversity and the connection of the society to its environment are
historically reached. Mazrui (1999), postulate that nations forge national consciousness out of
social diversity characterized by class, gender, and racial, ethnic and generational differences. It

is the agenda of nation building that is articulated as the national question. Nzongola Ntalaja in
contributing to the same observes that the national question is theoretically related to the question
of what is a nation and what can be done to forge nationhood. As such, argues, democracy,
economy social issues, foreign policy and global south solidarities form part of the national
question.

Likewise Mkandawire (2009) distinguishes between the national and social question in Africa.
Societal enquiry addresses complications prompted by social differentiation alongside ethnic,
class sex as well as other societal cleavages unresolved within a nation. National and social

question at times might collapse into a single question of survival of the nation and might thus be
examined. Yash Tandon (2008), on the other hand elaborates on the national question observing

17