Emmanuel Kembe, VIP, Kawaja Revolution – all on one stage!

The unusual artistic trinity came to life in Malakal early this week, as they fired up a boisterous crowd at a peace concert fittingly called Malakal United.

“’Malakal United’ was a very, very wonderful title; I saw all people holding hands together at the show,” declared South Sudanese legendary musician, Emmanuel Kembe, after he had moved the euphoric crowd with his popular songs, including Stand Up for Someone’s Rights Today, recently written especially in support of human rights.

Organized by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), the concert was a special event to mark the International Human Rights Day, with messages of peace and peaceful coexistence in the war-scarred country.

“I pray that those who came to the stadium today will convey those messages of peace to others, so that our people will prepare themselves – prepare with their strength, with all their knowledge – to rebuild Malakal,” said Kembe who, using his huge platform as a popular musician, has partnered with the UN Mission on many occasions to spread messages of peace.

Comedian Reagan Jasstin Zegno Gonda, popularly known as VIP or ‘the ambassador of happiness’, had the crowd of more than 4,000 in stitches with his relatable jokes, as he urged everyone to respect one another’s human rights, and build unity in diversity.

“I performed my comedy on the message of tribalism,” he later said. “I also I performed about unity. When you play a football match – as it was in the South Sudan national team – there is a Nuer, Dinka and others. When they play football, unfortunately, that was the reason we were defeated at the [international] matches because we were not united. Every tribe talks to only their tribe mates,” he said, underscoring the need for unity among the different South Sudanese ethnic groups.

 “We need to respect everyone’s right to education,” declared Kawaja Charles Abondjo Abbe, popularly known as Kawaja Revolution, as he appealed to the mostly young crowd with his catchy tunes and cool demeanor, emphasizing the right to education – especially for girls – and freedom of expression.

 His song Radio Miraya, written for the UN Mission’s radio station, had everyone joining in to sing along and dance.

“We still think that we have left a legacy, which they [Malakal youth] will carry on,” noted Kawaja after the concert. “And with the other upcoming musicians from Malakal, they can take this and develop it, and make it work, and they will become great artists like us,” he said.  

There were performances by UN peacekeepers, too, with Rwandan and Indian peacekeepers mesmerizing the crowd with energetic, colourful performances.

Some 1,000 displaced people had been ferried to the concert from the UNMISS Protection of Civilians site in Malakal, to join the rest of the townsfolk for the concert of their lifetime.

12-year-old Nelson John was one of them, and he was clearly enthralled by the performance.  

“I’m overwhelmed by the crowd that I saw today here,” said star-struck Nelson. “I danced with all my heart simply because I was happy to physically see my favorite musician Emmanuel Kembe dancing and singing near me,” he said, unable to contain his excitement. “I’m grateful to UNMISS who made it possible for me to come out for the first time, from the POC [Protection of Civilians site] to town,” he declared.

Mary Nyok, an elderly woman from Malakal town expressed her joy, too, encouraging everyone in Malakal to defend girls’ rights to education.

“My message on this day is for all girls to go to school,” she said. “It is vital for all of us to discard the harmful practice of early marriage in our communities, especially here in Malakal,” she said.

The concert – none like it seen in Malakal for years – had been long coming. In fact, it had been 70 years in the making, if one were to go by what occasioned it. The world commemorated 70 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in on 10 October 1948 – the day that is now celebrated as the Human Rights Day, and Malakal, with the help of UNMISS, marked it in a special way.