Dangerous Encroachment on our Territorial Integrity: The Case of Nadapal
6 min readPatriotism: Napadal South Sudan, and Nadapal, Kenya. Love your country; love your mother/fatherland
By Mamer Deng Jur
February 21, 2015 (SSB) — In every country in the world, the most fundamental, and the unifying symbol of love is to have a sense of patriotism. When people love their country they defend it, from externally affairs; and when they love one another, they don’t kill one another, when they misunderstand one another. But they would rather table their issues and differences in a peaceful manner. Rather than by AK – 47. This is when there is a sense of patriotic in people minds and hearts.
I do know that, many South Sudanese country men and women are very concerned about South Sudanese issues. And that why they are strongly, encouraging their tribes and the other tribes across the country to welcome and appreciate what is called peace, unity, and the love. What is most important above all is love. A community that had a sense of solidarity is the community that supports one another in times when there is a need. Standing together and sharing the same feelings is the greatest symbol of love. We must train ourselves, and learn to love our fellow countrymen and women in their own rights. If we had a dream that, one day South Sudan would be prosperous country in knowledge and wealth, we must always pray to God to bless us with more wisdom, so that we could develop peaceful South Sudan. Love is not only in words we may express to one another. But it must be in action, we take when there are crisis. Peace and solidarity are not only for weak tribes. They are needed by the strong and the weak tribes. Majority tribes should always work tirelessly for love, peace, and the unity. For the greatest prosperity of South Sudan. If they don’t preach peace, then the country would always have a number of enemies breaking away, and cause instability in the country. Majority tribes have a power to bring stability into South Sudan. A power to unite all the citizens in South Sudan. But not a power to discriminate minorities’ or people who are crying for better governance for common good.
If we love our country, then we must need to lay down our guns. And let begin to solve our differences in a peaceful manner. We all know very well that, there would be no day Obama and Ban Ki-moon would solve our country issues. We need to read between the lines. Barrack Obama is an American citizen by birth. He is the president of American and a businessman, selling his country’s policies to the world. We are boosting Western economy, every time we had misunderstood one another, and such misunderstanding is always solved by AK-47. Instead of dialogue. This in my opinion, prove that we are idiots’ beings.
Encroachment –a coward move!
Kenyan encroachment into South Sudan’s territory, I think it was a coward move by so current president of Kenya. Uhuru Kenyatta to allow his government to stroll into South Sudan areas in such a funny way. Currently, situation in South Sudan is volatile and no one actually have time to waste to focus on external issues facing the country. All our neighbours had moved their borders into South Sudan. And citizens of these countries are very arrogant. I remember when I got off at Kenya, Napadal on 5th of January 2015. Which was about ten to fifteen minutes’ drive from South Sudan, Nadapal. We Arrived at Kenya Nadapal, we were ordered to proceed to the registration desk. This where they recorded all the passport numbers before you could be allowed to enter immigration office to buy entry visa. On that day, we South Sudanese at Kenya’s borders were more than fifty in the line. The line was moving very slow, and the sun wasn’t giving in. People were sweating badly but they couldn’t change anything. My turn came and I handed over my South Sudanese passport to police officer who was recording the passports numbers. While he was jotting down the passport digits and was about to finish. He asked me, hey Bwana (Kiswahili word for mister)! You need to pay 100 Kenyan shillings. I replied, yea what for? You know bwana, it is for the exercise book. What exercise book?” I asked him. “We need to replace this exercise book we are recording your passports numbers on it”. I told him, “it was not my job and I don’t care if you don’t have an exercise book, to record our passports numbers”. “In addition, I reckon you should ask your president Uhuru Kenyatta to provide you guys with more exercise books”. I left the donkey shed, and I was directed to this temporary immigration office. At the door there was another officer waiting there. He approached me, “hi there boss!” “Do you have any spares note for a soda?” he asked me! I told him, “well I need to get a visa first, and then I will see if I had any spare notes”. He replied, “All good boss”. I went in and I got a visa. So I came to the officer who was waiting at the door, and I gave him 100 Kenyan shillings, and I gave another 100 Kenyan shilling to the guy who wanted to buy an exercise book. They were all appreciative.
I walked to the waiting area. The waiting area had two purposes; it was a place whereby all the cars, and their passengers had to wait for an escort to Loki due to the insecurity on the way. It was a custom area too, where they check all the bags, and the goods going to Kenya. Checking was very slow, and I became tired of sitting in one place, so left where I was seated and I went for walk, I was just strolling within the immigration precinct. When I looked on my left hand while walking, I saw a big army barrack divided by fence to the immigration department. I saw large – calibre weapons pointing to South Sudan. Fuck! “What’s this?” “Oh yea, they are trying now to scare Southerners”, I said to myself. I met this guy, he was an officer working on the side of immigration. We went into conversation and I asked him, why did they move into South Sudan? He laughed, and he told me, “Look my friend there is something that South Sudanese don’t get at all”. “This is not South Sudan’s territory; if you don’t know that! It is Kenya’s territory brother”. But we Kenyans are capable to ‘sort out’ anyone who think that, this territory belongs to South Sudan”. He continued.
I know, it may not be an easy saga to get over it very soon. But I had hoped that, when everything is settle in South Sudan; there would be a time South Sudan would start disputing the borders with her neighbours. Currently, her neighbours are taking advantage of the instability in this country. Otherwise if South Sudan didn’t go back to war, killing one another for the power; then these countries, would never had a chance of moving their borders into South Sudan. During the war, the border of Kenya and South Sudan was keybase (Keibase), but it wasn’t Nadapal. Currently, South Sudan, and Kenya are sharing Nadapal.
IN CONCLUSION, WE NEED PEACE, UNITY, AND LOVE SO BAD. These are important elements of patriotism.
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