South Sudan: Make Those Little Lights Shine Brighter
5 min readBy Kon Joseph Leek, Juba, South Sudan
May 17, 2016 (SSB) — To me, there is little hope under that neem tree in the centre of Juba City. They call it political tree where all political parties in this land under students’ representation come together in different days to attend the debates conducted by individual party.
I do not know why they call it a debate but I think they know why. It is more of a political rally than a debate because there are no antagonists involved, only the protagonists. The others [those that could have been the antagonists] just stand watching them talk
That neem tree is in the main University of South Sudan, University of Juba. Listening from those youngsters of whom I heard that many of them are setback by those political activities and therefore have spent many years without finishing their studies, I still enjoy their hopeful views and analysis of this State’s situation.
I have personally long stopped listening to the politicians [especially the ones we have in the cabinet and the parliament] because I feel insulted and belittled to sit and listen them lying to us that there is a rule of law, security, prosperity and so on and so force and the ovation that follows after any single utterances of theirs nauseates me most
You could hear them saying too bold statements which do not reflect to the reality on the ground that make headlines the next day on the newspapers and you wonder why always do they tend to be this too much talking without acting on their first said words! Many have been said and broken including those ones that are not yet even said!
Honestly, this is why I have disqualified myself from listening to them. They keep on changing reasons and bringing up excuses – and their bank of lies is not yet bankrupt! So, to be deceived by them in my hear-shot is what I am protecting myself. I will only be getting their lies on the media and those ones that have been deceived
As I was coming from the university cafeteria towards the administrative building, I was lured to stop and listen to an eloquent-Arabic-speaking lady, her Arabic was classical enough that my Juba Arabic barred me from getting anything but her eloquence, boldness and body language enticed me to stand and listen
It was an SPLM rally of course [they call it SPLM Students League]. A short while later, after the lady had spoken, an MC or the speaker for that matter introduced a professor, he did not specify his field of specialization, as he stood up, the professor became a student I have known before at the same campus but the SPLM/SL knows why they called him so
To my own view, the debate or the rally was dominated by this professor guy because he was using the languages I understands-English and local Arabic, my cognition tells me that he is an East African type but he should be the bold type of the East Africa because most of them wants only to attend to their businesses and leaves the politics of appreciations, rallies and debates to the Khartoum type and the Red Army Foundation
This black guy [the professor], I call him black not because of his skin color because all the other speakers were all black anyway but he was dressed in complete black attires [shirt, trouser, shoes, belt and anything else] like he was attending a funeral. He was dressed in black because according to him, he thought that it would be cold that day. I believe that he did not listen to Eye Radio’s weather forecast that morning. He simply woke up, looked in to the sky and saw the nimbus clouds and satisfied himself that it would rain
The guy spoke of almost everything SPLM, Kiir, university sanitation, Congress of Independent Students [C.I.S] and many others
He advised the C.I.S to stop being in the university’s kitchen most of their times because the examinations will soon come and so they better study in their respective classes because no examinations would come from the kitchen
He was disrupted by two different classical Arabic speaking guys [it is kind of interlude]. The first one was too tiny-looking and the second one was bowling hippo of a man dressed in a white T-shirt written behind “peace for business”.
There was more to this debate than the parliamentary one. Parliamentary debates focuses on what is recorded and Freedom Tree’s debates are said there and that is all. Parliamentary debates are worked on and the Freedom Tree’s debates are not. But freedom tree says more of concerns than parliamentary debates; it’s only that no one listens to them. They [Neem tree debaters] only speak to themselves appreciating the results of their various parties but say things their parties have not and will never do
Should the parties attend Neem tree’s rallies, believe me they will have reasons of removing some of their party’s official and replace them with these lanky and talkative students
Their views, talk, diversity and understanding make me to really believe that they are little lights that needed to be made to shine brightly. Padang hymns says this and I am dedicating it t them.
This little light of mine, I am going to make it shine, this little light of mine, I am going to make it shine, make it shine, make it shine make it shine
I am going to put it on that hill, for all the people to see, I am going to put it on that hill for all the people to see it shining, shining, shining
It will shine in the land of Jieng up to the land of Murle, it will shine from the land of Sudan up to the whole wide world, make it shine, make it shine, make it shine
For comment, writer to the author on j.konleek@gmail.com
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