The Easter Holiday is here, and once again, Christians, especially Catholics and evangelicals, are commemorating their holy season. To these believers, Easter is a period where they commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as it is told in the holy Christian book, the Bible, in the New Testament section. Well, the bible makes no explicit mention of the fete but narrates the account of Jesus’ death via crucifixion on a day believed to be on Friday and his subsequent resurrection on the third day, which is believed to be a Sunday.
As is the norm, Easter has been a very crucial day for believers. The holiday presents a weekend where many people take time to bond with their families and relieve work-related stress. For those who are religious, this is the most ample moment for their prayers. Moderates consider this period leisure. They connect with friends and family, plan vacation trips and enjoy their bliss away from their loved ones. In totality, this period brings an overall aura of peacemaking, love, and perhaps reconciliation to ease the surrounding tensions that befall individuals.
The ministry of labour recently gazetted the consideration of the Easter period, and that brings this question: what significance does it have in South Sudan? Can the country reflect back and say that the 2022 Easter period was the turnaround because we were able to achieve A, B, and C as a country?
In his Easter commemoration speech issued on Thursday evening, President Salva Kiir highlighted the need for reconciliation and eased the ongoing tensions in certain pockets of the country. He told his countrymen categorically that they needed to pray for the spread of peace and maintain calm in all parts of the country. It is also imperative to note that Easter comes at a time when the country grapples with an upsurge of violence in areas such as Leer County in Unity State and certain places in Upper Nile. Also, a recent attack said to have been staged by Misseriya in the Abyei Administrative Area is a serious cause for alarm. In response to the Leer clashes, President Kiir commissioned a commission of enquiry led by the Minister of Water Resources, Manawa Peter, to investigate the clashes.
Manawa is the chairperson of the committee, while the members are Rizik Zachariah Hassan, Maj Gen Aboud Stephen, Kuong Dak Wiu, Chabur Goc Ali, Peter Ruai Gatwech, and Malong Thiik Ring. These are deliberate efforts to find peace in these disturbed areas. As these steps are in progress, South Sudanese—both ordinary people and security officers serving various interests—should realise the essence of having a peaceful country.