South Sudan and Merry Making: A New Nation Style
6 min readSOUTH SUDAN AND MERRY MAKING: it is no-doubts a new Nation!
By KON Joseph Leek, Juba
January 4, 2015 (SSB) — It was in Custom roundabout at City petroleum around 3:00pm of 25th Dec 2014 when I witnessed a drama. One of many gentlemen who were waiting for their friends might have waited for long when he spotted a gentleman whom he very well knows to be a boyfriend to his sister.
Knowing that majority were waiting for their girlfriends and boyfriends for Christmas celebration at Nyakuron cultural center, Galaxy and Jebel Hotel including himself. He knew that this gentleman must be waiting for his sister. To be sure of his presumption, he went into the cafeteria to hide himself snooping his sister’s boyfriend to find out whom he might be waiting really.
In the short while, his sister arrived, as she was preparing to leave with the friend, he tiptoed towards his sister’s boyfriend and slapped him really hard in the face till he flailed, and stumbling back loosely and gained controlled making the young girl speeding away like a bodaboda. Innocent young girl, as light as a feather-too light of foot disappeared in the crowd like magic
We came in to calm the situation from getting worse between the two gentlemen. The slapped-guy had to leave touching the slapped part – mission has failed, where as the slapper remained waiting for his girlfriend
Few minutes later, the girl friend of whom he was waiting with came on a bodaboda, stepped down and rushed to her boyfriend and hugged him when the slapper was surprisingly looking in with his trouser suspiciously bulging in front for no reason at all (other person’s business!)
He tried to call his girl friend on phone but his call could not be answered. This inflicted in him annoyance and left talking to himself looking back that she may appear but he was wrong. The say that, “success comes as failure is almost taking over did not really favor him”.
The guy was not a Nuer, but a Dinka citing his six initiation-lines (scars) drawn horizontally on his fore-head. If he is not an Agaar, Ngook or mony-Luany Aguer Adel then he is from Nyarweng or Hol
The celebration was really peaceful compared to the one of 2013 where many fled the country for safety. The son of Mary was healthily produced, the mother-Mary also as fit as a fiddle prompting many to club, drinking and dancing. Many pubs that used to be broke of people were now marred, there is nothing you could not see including GOSS vehicles recklessly packed at the pubs and clubs, you just know that government officials too are thanking God inside there with us. Showing us simplicity and care, telling us the governmental plans for us (South Sudanese) in 2015 in all the assumed wisdom of the intoxicated minds with liquid
The completely deserted and busy market of Konyokonyo in 2013’s Christmas was now back to life again and fully standing with all its four legs shortly before the Christmas. People mixing up again, many began coming out from their hiding-holes, others coming from far and near to buy their Christmas attires
All the types of people, black, brown, short and tall ones, tiny ones squeezing their ways through fat ones
Short ones disappearing under the tall ones, many people who were unacquainted with the stories of Konyokonyo coming back to their homes heart broken by the pick-pocketers
Hair getting styled with alien hairs, nails, legs and arms painted like walls by women and girls
Many dressed in new fashion – fashion spreads like Ebola in this country. And for men, many had saved for Christmas and were now in the adventure of buying the expensive liquors ever-those ones in tall, thin-necked bottles-it is a good day you would want to yield, shout and sing loudly at least. A day you would talk in assumed wisdom to your accompany
It is the day goats and cows began to diminish. They are bought not to be kept but to be slaughtered. The bar-owners buying more beers because they assumed that the birth of Joseph’s son (not me) will make many drinks like fish.
That is why we love and want peace because we want to always live like this in harmony. Worse came in New Year’s celebration when the SPLA or unknown gunmen (I don’t know how to put it) shot in the air without orders from their bosses. When they heard fireworks at Galaxy, they thought that post-CPA system of shooting in the air has started. They started shooting including some military generals and the barracks. Should that be a mistaking of Galaxy’s fireworks to gun-works or are we still entangled in the post-2005 mindset? Our beloved Nation where Gunshots (gun-works) substitutes fire-works!
A certain lady at the neighborhood ululated and again suddenly called out, ‘where is my child?’ when the shots began to be numerous
There was a stampede in Shirkhat Dinka church; many unwittingly got themselves in the parody of a run deserting the church except of some few.
The new-year was marked with ululation, drum and jerricans beating, gunshots, running and cars’ hooting on the roads but I ululated a little in my room because nobody knows the drunkards who might be shooting horizontally claiming that they are shooting in happiness and later claims that, ‘he was shot by cross fire’. Cross fire!
My friend Paanluel asked me that, ‘Kon Joseph Leek, You would think that the government at war would be the last to waste precious bullets to celebrate a useless occasion’. That is true anyway
Believe me, it was the best time to declare a successful coup against a sitting president (do not misquote me ooh), you would ask yourself how on Earth did Riek Machar miss this chance?
I can’t blame the shooters anyway. Our Nation South Sudan is a country of too many littles; little literacy, little ethics, little ideological training and the biggest mouth of appreciating anything without any reason. My military icon, Thomas Sankara, Burkina Faso’s president 1983-87 once said that, “a soldier without any ideological or political training is a potential criminal”, isn’t it what we almost witnessed on 1st January? Potential criminals on the act!
anyhow, we are happy that we survived last year’s banes and more hopping to live more in our nation and HAPPY CHRISMAS AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR anyway though one theory that explains the formation of 25th Dec for the celebration of Jesus’ birth is that the purpose was to Christianize the pagan festival in Rome of the “Dies Natalis invicti” which means the “birthday of the unconquered sun” the festival inaugurated by the Roman Emperor Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantine aka Constantine the Great or Constantine 1 (270-375, borne almost three centuries after Jesus Christ).
During Constantine reign, Christians assimilates it as the birthday of Jesus associating him with the “Sun of righteousness”.
When Constantine went to battle his most powerful rival in Italy, Maxentius at the Tiber River in AD 312, he had a vision he claimed to have seen Christ superimposed on the sun with the words “in hoc signo vinces” (in this sign, you shall conquer), that is the origin of cross many Christians are now using.
Baptized on AD 337 on his deathbed, he did much to further the growth of the church though he didn’t completely leave his pagan roots
Unless you read Jeremiah 52:31, you will not get the mentioning of 25th December which has nothing to do with Jesus’ birth but was the day when Jehoiachin, King of Judaea was released in jail by the Evil Merodoch of Babylonian kingdom.
Nonetheless happy New Year my Country men & women
The writer is an in independent journalist and a Commentator on Contemporary South Sudan; He can be reached on; j.konleek@gmail.com & 0955091449
About Post Author
