Sudan on Tuesday shut down for its first census in 15 years, a milestone in the peace deal that ended Africa’s longest civil war but clouded in dispute threatening to undermine the accord further. The two-week census is crucial to prepare constituencies for national elections.
Formerly warring north and south Sudan were at loggerheads on Sunday as the south pulled out of a national census, a cornerstone of their fragile peace agreement, citing a barrage of grievances. ”We have deferred the census until sometime this year,” the information minister in the southern government confirmed.
Cash-flow problems and logistic headaches are blighting preparations for Sudan’s census, a cornerstone of the fragile peace ending a devastating civil war and paving the way for key elections. The largest civic exercise in national history will go ahead from April 15 to 30 despite complaints about disorganisation.