Famous South Sudanese musician Emmanuel Jal has defended “We Want Peace Concert’’ affirming that the gig is not meant to serve political interests.
The artist arrived in Juba yesterday, where he addressed a press conference, showing his determination to negotiate with the law enforcers to allow him to proceed with the event.
According to the organizers, the “We Want Peace Concert” was supposed to take place on April 8, 2022, at Nyakuron Cultural Centre, but it had to be postponed after the law enforcers slapped a restriction on it.
The former child soldier recently went live on Facebook to express his displeasure, claiming that “some politicians” have blocked the peace concert merely because of his attachment to the First Vice President, Dr Riek Machar.
“I was surprised to learn that our peace event had to be cancelled, and some of the reasons given to me by security officials included the fact that the event was political and that I was related to Dr. Machar, which made me wonder and ask myself if there is a specific group of people who are allowed to organise such an event?”
On arriving at Juba International Airport yesterday, Jal said he was returning to the country to prompt authorities for an answer about what went wrong and how they could work with the government to reschedule the event.
He said ‘‘no one should be terrified of the event,” adding that the “We Want Peace” concert was solely for the purpose of bringing young people together and had nothing to do with politics.
“It irritates you when you desire something and someone comes out to prevent you from getting it. Of course, we spent a significant amount of money on the event, which resulted in a loss of about $200,000. That is similar to our own programs, particularly citizens contributing their own monies,’’ he lamented.
“Peace is achieved when problems are handled maturely and violence is avoided. Peace is a wonderful thing. Our gathering is just for the sake of peace. It is not about who is who: it is about my country and the destiny of the next generation.’’
The most essential thing, he continued, is that if a man or woman has not discovered what God has called them to do with their lives.
“We are not going to say we are making peace from a distance, we will only make peace when we are here,’’ he added.