South Sudan becomes an independent country today after successfully making their view on secceding from the Northern Sudan in a referendrum that was held in January of this year.Watching the proceedings of the celebrations going on at the Garang Mausoleum that are being aired live on most TV stations in Kenya i was both happy and sad.Happy that after decades of war and thousands of lives lost the people of South Sudan now had a place they could call home and whose destiny they could be a part of but sad that this was not Kenya being born again.
The Southerners have got so much hope for this new nation that the excitement was infectious ,seeing all the celebrations that have been going on all week.These people have their whole lives ahead of them if they do things right and do not get infected with the diseases of tribalism,corruption and impunity that have destroyed Kenya.With their oil reserves and if they are able to mange them well,South Sudan could surpass Kenya in growth by 2030 as it is blessed with vast oil reserves which remain untapped.
The President of the new nation Salva Kiir has his work cut out for him, in driving the growth of Africa's and indeed the worlds newest nation.It is my hope that he is going to keep the momentum already being shown and even surpass it so that the thousands or indeed millions who have immigrated to other countries have reason to come back home and be a part of stirring the growth of this country.
The whole world will be watching how this new country takes its baby steps and with time we hope the southern Sudan people will be able to erase the years of conflict they have had to live through and face the promising future ahead with courage and bravery.They need to put their best feet forward in ensuring that the dreams the leader of the SPLM had, Dr John Garang are realized and that the Sudanese people are able to enjoy being free to determine the direction their country takes.
So today am going to choose to be happy and pop a bottle of champagne for this new country taking g its baby steps in the world of democracy.
