Close Down Sunday’s Young People’s Discos in Juba
5 min readBy Kuol K. Alberto, Juba, South Sudan
May 17, 2016 (SSB) — It was last year in 2015 when I returned from my studies that I was called by a friend to see him. This was a guy whom we had not met for quite sometimes and I really wanted to see him again. I picked on Millennium hotel as the place to meet because by then and even now, I was and still I am ignorant of many places in Juba.
Millennium hotel is closer to South Sudan Hotel (Buluk) as well as to the main branch of Kenyan Commercial Bank (KCB). Now, these are few of the places my brother took me to in 2009 and as such they remained vividly in my memory. If I have to direct somebody to meet me in Juba by then, the surest place for me not to get lost are these places. And so that is the background of how I told my friend to come there if he truly wanted to meet mem. Whether we met afterwards is not the purpose of this story.
This was on a Sunday at around 5 PM. No sooner had I arrived, I was flabbergasted at the huge presence of young people (both boys and girls) at the hotel. Among the attendees were as young as 10 years old and others were above 18 years from the physical appearance. However, majority were below 18 years.
What struck me more was the representation of our various tribes in that assemblage. Among them were members of the Dinka, Shilluk, Nuer and the Equatoria various tribes. One can detect this from the physical appearance and the language. I took the initiative to inquire some of these details from another gentleman who happened to be there waiting for someone but had background about the event.
Some of the attendees come from humble background while others are indeed sons and daughters of prominent people of this country, so he said.
The gentleman informed me that this occasion is a regular thing every Sunday not only in that Millennium hotel but also in almost every other hotel that grants permission to these young people. Young people have formed clusters and there is membership registration, meetings and collection of funds to support such initiatives. They hire the hall and ensure that they are in-charge for the few hours they stay in, dancing till some minutes to 7 PM.
Some days ago, I happened to visit colleagues on Sunday in another hotel in Thongpiny and there I found the other activity just like that of last year and this confirmed the story of that gentleman who had told me that, this disco party for young people is a common practice every Sunday in many hotels around Juba. From this episode, I remembered what the gentleman told me. This time I found even breastfeeding mothers with kids as young as few months old. Of course, it is evident that, they breastfeeding young women got those kids not in a proper way because they themselves (mothers) are “kids.”
What is perturbing in all this are few things that I would like to share with my readers:
In the first place, I saw these kids drinking seriously this hard liquor fit only for real drunkards or for those that are above 18 years. This is dangerous for their health.
Secondly, the dancing style is what we see in big clubs fit for those that have no purpose in life. Or may be for those that have no future and they do indulge in this reckless style of dancing to attract suitors as a means of getting one’s attention for selection. In short it is better for whores.
Thirdly, some of these boys are very violent especially when their admirers get into the hands of their rivals. They act very rude and vicious. Though, we have not heard cases of murder, it will not be far (God forbids) before we get this news.
What is the future of this country if this could be allowed? There is no hope and indeed South Sudan is heading for a total disaster if this could be allowed.
Was this the reason for liberating this country so that kids could be allowed to act stupid while we watch them pamper into useless life? The faster we act the better.
Therefore I am writing this article to appeal to the concerned authorities to swiftly act by closing down these young people’s discos. It is denigrating their moral and it shows that the future of this country is bleak if the hope for future (young generation) is shattered like this through this immoral activity.
You can reach the author via his email: Kuol K. Alberto <kuolkuol2001@yahoo.com>
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