No need to Close Nightclubs and Declare Islamic law in Juba
4 min readBy Malith Alier, Perth, Australia
Tuesday, May 14, 2019 (PW) –- Two or three weeks ago Peter Mayen Majongdit, the Liberal Party leader, was ambushed and hit by “snipers” on the stairs of the luxurious Dembesh Hotel in Juba. Some observers alleged that the act was political in nature. However, there is need to discern a bigger picture. The incident at the hotel had politics thrown in the mix to score targeted “assassination” of a promising rival.
South Sudan is not yet completely weaned from the old system in the Sudan where sharia law prohibits among others; sex outside marriage, alcoholic drinking and theft. Since the time of the first mayor of Juba, Mr. Al Haj Babala, Juba City Council (JCC) has been at the forefront of moral crusade to rid the city of nightclubs, bars and brothels. The subsequent mayors tried to maintain the momentum with little success.
In 2019, things have escalated as reported by Ugandan Daily Monitor as well as Sudan Tribune online. Approximately, on Friday, 10 May, 2019 the governor of Jubek State issued a decree banning nightclubs, bars, and brothels from operating in the city. The same decree went as far as banning donations; financial or otherwise from “immoral” nations to his perfect state.
One would imagine that South Sudanese are heading back to the bush to fight morality war after the successful 1983 – 2005 war. I bet that this round of war is definitely going to be lost for the following:
The 1983 – 2005 war was fought for freedom to warship whatever god, to drink alcohol as much as you like and to practice your culture as much as it takes. Some folks already questioned whether the 2.5 estimated deaths died in vain in this case. Is the country drifting back to Sudan and the Arab world?
Adults with the exception of children are free to choose whatever they do with their bodies any time, day or night. You want to drink, have sex (hundred times a day or never) it’s absolutely your choice provided that you harm or cause to harm no one.
Who is the arbiter of morals? No clause of the S.S. constitution prohibits drinking or whoredom. Who are you to judge other nations for allowing their citizens the freedom granted to them under their constitutions?
“Illegal sex,” if there is something like that, is not, solely confined to brothels or nightclubs. It takes place at homes, shops, in the cars, on trees, on the road gutters, cemeteries, and on the banks of River Nile and possibly at the governor’s residents in the many rooms! Can you ban them all?
Your energies should instead be targeted at programmes to protect children. Make children go back to schools and assist parents to keep their children in the family before the age of majority. Take astray children off the streets and rehabilitate them. This is where your responsibility lies!
South Sudan has many problems and prostitution is the least of them. Stop the war, disarm the population of illegal guns, embark on development of the country. Create employment for the unemployed masses. Build hospitals to treat the sick. Embark on agriculture to put food on the table. Construct schools and make primary education free for all. This is where your responsibility lies!
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