Tonj State Should Rather be Named Kalkuel State
5 min readBy Ariik Atekdit, Tonj, South Sudan
December 29, 2015 (SSB) — In October when President Kiir issued an order NO 36/2015 establishing new 28 states in the country; I took my admirable time to comment on the creation of the new Tonj State. At first I am a supporter of more states in South Sudan. And so in that article, I complained that Tonj region was disappointed by the creators of the new 28 states by making it one big state instead of splitting it into two.
Of course; my complaint was a people call not my own, and I however, did it personally to make their voice heard. It was a genuine complaint that needs to be pursued till the two rightful states in the area are authentically achieved but not until recently we were surprised with the appointment of only 28 governors.
I questioned the method and criteria that was applied for the establishment of 28 states which had victimized Tonj Region to be one state; some few voices from Warrap’s Gogrial section thought that I was against them or trying to create detestation in the outgoing Warrap State.
Few individuals indeed called me on phone in a character intended to intimidate my ideas. They thought that whoever has criticized President Kiir is blaming Gogrial but that is not correct; I implore to vary.
Take for instance: You are an elder son in the family, and that during family’s wealth distribution, your dad decided to give you a smaller share while the younger son enjoys the bigger share; you must of course claim your legitimate share in the family. And that complaint does not automatically mean that you hate your younger brother or does it rather translate disrespect to dad. In a democratic system it becomes one’s right to freely express their views over an issue.
Today, I will have to comment on a different issue about the same Tonj which I want to be named Kalkuel State or Tonjdit State rather. When the Presidential Decree was read out it was named as Tonj State and that the capital would be at Tonj Town.
In reality consultations were not made when states were being created if I am mistaken; then unquestionably the consultations were not wide enough to reach people that would brainstorm over some issues of concern.
Tonj is a name of a community that was made as a district during the British colonial period – it is another piece of territory that makes greater part of the outgoing Warrap State. Tonj is also an area which today has become a town waiting to be a state capital. But in the same time, Tonj which is widely nicknamed as Tonjdit enjoys about 5 other names. The five names of Tonj are: Gen-ngeu, Jurkatac, Gen-anyuon, Tonjdit and Kalkuel. One of these five is a legitimate name of the same region and town and equally representing the same people.
Commonly the spot of the town centre is known as Tonj and that it has spread mostly that way across the region and beyond. Sometimes it is correct to give the right of naming the child to the parents rather than giving the outsiders to enjoy naming over others.
I would rather suggest that our members of parliament in Kalkuel have to sit and decide wisely to give us another name of calling the state. The best sounding names are: Tonjdit State or Kalkuel State instead of a mere Tonj State. This is a matter of home creativity and it doesn’t need President Kiir to decide for us.
In one of the Greater Tonj Youth Union’s meeting at Millennium Hotel, Uncle Kuol Deng (Kuol-alian) brought up this question of changing the name of Tonj State to Kalkuel State, however, the audience at the time were not attentive because majority were seriously angered over the fact that Tonj is made to be one state.
Changing the name to Kalkuel is a popular demand and it has been so much circulated on facebook. Most of the users who are another greater community of Tonj region thought that they would feel much comfortable to call the state as Kalkuel or Tonjdit State.
Indeed, I have seen that my Tonj intellectuals and youth are unhappy by the fact that they are almost beaten down by the politics of the current regime; when in reality the Region never remembers the time of not standing with the SPLM movement and government.
HhhhHowever, it has been clear several times that the loyalists of President Kiir’s government never enjoy their rights and they become victims of loyalty. If anybody questions the loyalty of Tonj people in the current government then try to check on the list of SPLM-FPDs and/or SPLM-IO if you will find any single politician or a commander from Tonj in the list. So I am happy to have observed this situation of Tonj loyalty to Salva Kiir’s regime.
What is now left is that our intellectuals and youths should join hands with our new governor Col. Akec Tong Aleu whatever the case, in order to celebrate Kalkuel State in Juba and in Tonjdit. We must drop now our grievances and stand firm to strengthen our position as a state before we could complain.
The issue should not be whether you like Governor Akec Tong but should base on your love for Kalkuel State or Tonjdit State.
Tonj Community has never done any kind of celebrations since, the creation of the 28 states; however, today it would be meaningful to celebrate in order to give our standing ovation to President Kiir for keeping us united until today not splitting us into more and smaller states.
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