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had known nothing but a bloody and probably senseless war for nearly 56 years.

On arrival at the airport, we were welcomed by searing temperatures that quickly reminded us that this wasn’t going to be one of those usual suit-and-tie trips with the President.
It was scorching hot and within minutes we were sweating as if we were coming from an afternoon jogging session.

As we were driven to the villa where President Mugabe was staying, we came face to face with some of the South Sudanese soldiers who since birth had heard the sound of the gun almost on a daily basis.
The soldiers were tall, menacing and very dark in complexion. Some of them even had marks on their foreheads that made them scary to look at.

As if the hot weather and the menacing soldiers were not enough to unsettle us, reports we got were that it was not safe to drive around at night in South Sudan.
We were told that at any time we could be stopped and beaten up by some thugs who would rob us of our valuables.

There were even chilling reports that there were guns all over the place and the majority of these South Sudanese people were still too trigger-happy that they could just shot at anyone for fun.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni seemed to confirm that violence or even war could break out at any time because he came with a whole army that was armed to the teeth.

But while President Museveni could be forgiven for giving himself such exaggerated security because of his country’s close history with South Sudan, it was South African President Jacob Zuma’s “small army” that was also armed to the teeth that left many people baffled.

It really looked like President Zuma was going into a war zone and his security personnel knew something that the majority of the people didn’t know.
Anyway, the message was simple – stay away from the streets at night or venture out at your own risk!

Unfortunately, for about five of us, finding accommodation was a bit of a problem that Friday night and we were left with no option but to be driven from one hotel to the other on the very same streets we were supposed to stay away from.

To spice it up, this was on the eve of South Sudan’s Independence Day and there obviously was going to be lots of drama, cheering, drum-beating, music and ululating on the streets.
Anything could be expected on such a night.

Around 12:30am as we were being driven around in search of accommodation, the mostly dusty streets of Juba which is the capital city of South Sudan had come alive as the people in this oil-rich country celebrated the coming of independence.

If what I saw in Juba that Friday evening is what was happening in Zimbabwe on the night of April 17 1980, then it must have been one hell of a jolly good night.
The South Sudanese were dancing in the streets with “reckless abandon.”

Some of the youths were dead drunk but they found the energy to run up and down the streets waving their country’s flag. Vehicles with music blaring at high volume and with some people leaning on the open windows were driven at suicidal speeds while hooting all the way from one street corner to the other.

Some of the youths banged on the windows of our vehicle singing and chanting slogans; and we watched silently praying that the situation would not degenerate to the level where some trigger-happy youth would spray our vehicle with bullets as we had been warned earlier on.

After being driven for about an hour, the people of South Sudan really surprised us – this was the eve of their country’s independence and they were not in any mood to spoil their celebrations.
Although I could not understand the lyrics to the music that they were dancing to, I could imagine them singing songs like: “Hama takatambura, kwemakore mazhinji, hona rugare rwauya, tose tose tofara, gwenyambira svika pedyo, tiitewo makorokoto . . .”

At one street corner, there was a small retail shop boldly written “The Freedom Supermarket”, while billboards that told the story of South Sudan were erected on the roadsides.
“The Long Walk to Freedom: Our Heroes and Heroines did not die in vain,” read one billboard. It is estimated that about 2,5 million people lost their lives in the North-South civil war.

Back onto the streets, the celebrations continued and even the menacing soldiers and police officers joined the fun chanting “South Sudan Woyee!” It was such a marvel to watch.
By the time we got a place to sleep around 2am, the party was still in full swing, we had not been robbed, we had not been attacked and we never felt really threatened by the partying South Sudanese.

On July 9 2011, the Republic of South Sudan was born to become Africa’s 54th state.
On this historic day, South Sudan was granted its independence as it was separated from North Sudan known officially just as Sudan.

The easy-going and heavily bearded Cde Salvar Kiir Mayardit, a veteran of his country’s war whose trademark is a big black sun hat, was declared as President of independent South Sudan on July 9 2011, amid lots of pomp and funfare that was punctuated with tears of One just had to be in Juba to see what the attainment of Independence meant to the people of South Sudan.

Although it was a celebration, some were overcome by emotions and they cried uncontrollably during the swearing-in ceremony.
The ceremony was held right at the heart of Juba near the imposing stature of the late and founder of the South Sudan’s struggle for separation from the north, Cde John Garang.
Although it was held in the scorching heat and was delayed for about two hours, it was so eventful that the people enjoyed it from start to finish.

This was South Sudan’s first time to organise such an event and there were so many blips and blunders throughout the day.
To start with, the security officers to the event were sometimes overzealous and they pushed and shoved some dignitaries with so much disrespect that if this was happening in another country, they would have exchanged blows with some bodyguards.

But many forgave them, for this was purely inexperience and not malice at work.
It didn’t matter that one was accredited as a VIP or a journalist to the event. The security personnel really wanted to show that they were in charge and they would embarrass anyone in full view of the ordinary South Sudanese just to make a point that this was their show.

As the proceedings started, the huge crowd of more than 40 000 burst into song; “We shall never, never, never, never surrender.” Surrender was pronounced as “saranda” but this was expected from a people who do not use English as their language of communication.
The previous night, all South Sudanese people, including top Government officials who were booked into hotels had been told at the last minute that they were supposed to vacate their rooms to make way for the visitors and this happened again at the ceremony as the locals, including ministers and army generals were told to leave their seats to give way to the visitors. Clearly, the new government was overwhelmed by the occasion.

“Today is our day; please ministers and MPs from South Sudan vacate the VIP area and give space to our visitors. We can stand, this is our day. Give the seats to our guests,” said the master of ceremony to loud cheers from the people. And indeed the ministers, the MPs and the army generals left their seats.
“To our guests, please bear with us. We have never organised such an event. What is important is not the protocol. It’s your being here which matters,” said the MC.

Even Cde Salvar Kiir had to apologise to the guests before he gave out his speech. “I want to apologise to the guests for the shortcomings. This is the biggest event we have organised and so we are going through a learning process. We have waited for this day for more than 56 years and so please bear with us,” he pleaded.
One of the few newspapers in South Sudan, The Citizen in its editorial on the day, had anticipated that there could be a few problems in terms of organisation.

“At the present moment as a child just born and because of the civil wars, the people can barely say welcome brothers and sisters. But during our independence anniversary celebrations in five, 10 years, we shall invite you again and it may be at that time that you might see some changes.”
Indeed, South Sudan is clearly crying for serious changes in terms of infrastructure development, education and health. One delegate described Juba, the capital city as a “well developed growth point.”

This shows the amount of work that is in the hands of Cde Salvar Kiir.
One columnist in The Citizen, Lily Albino Akol Akol aptly described the state of affairs in South Sudan: “Today, we’re celebrating the end of a dark era and the beginning of a brighter one. We’re folding a chapter in our history as we prepare to write a new one. We’re folding a chapter that’s stained by tales of horror . . . a chapter that’s stained by smells of blood . . . a chapter that’s stained by shadows of death . . .

“Today we’re writing a new history that will tell of justice and equality. We’re writing a new history that will tell of prosperity, peace and harmony. Today we are unfolding a new era that marks the end of our long, long walk to freedom.”

The highlight of the ceremony was when the new South Sudan flag was raised while the flag of Sudan was being taken down by remote control.
As this was happening, President Salvar Kiir stood next to the President of Sudan Omar al-Bashir.

Indeed, the war was over. Emotions got the better of many in the crowd. Some of the veterans of the civil war and some of the war widows wept uncontrollably as they watched their flag going up.
“We shall never, never, never, never surrender,” they emotionally sang with tears rolling down their cheeks. “Long Live John Garang and Bye Bye Al Bashir,” they chanted pumping their fists into the air.

This is what they had fought for, this is what some of their comrades had died for, this is what had maimed some of their colleagues, and this is what independence meant to them.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki told the new government that nation building was going to be a very difficult task urging that for this to happen, there should be peaceful co-existence between South Sudan and Sudan.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon was also there as he welcomed South Sudan to the international community while AU chairman President Theodoro Nguema from Equatorial Guinea expressed hope that the government would work hard to better the lives of the general populace.

Indeed, President Salvar Kiir has a big task on his hands. To start with, he will have to manage relations with Sudan in a way that will not plunge the country back into another war.
Reports indicate that while South Sudan got three quarters of the oil reserves, it doesn’t have the proper infrastructure to process the crude oil. This means in the medium to short term, President Salvar Kiir will have to play his cards right with Khartoum.

It also has to be noted that while South Sudan can rejoice, the threat from the conflict in Darfur and the fight for border areas like Abyei between SPLM and the National Congress Party has not yet been resolved.
Also worrying, is the fact that the people of South Sudan seem to have “unlimited love for the white man” if the way they cheered each and every white person who spoke during the ceremony is anything to go by.

Britain has already seized the opportunity and was the first to open an embassy in South Sudan. This could be a sign of bad things to come, but for now it’s better to give the people of South Sudan the benefit of the doubt.

Fortunately, President Salvar Kiir in his speech seemed aware of the task at hand but he first vowed that “we will forgive but we will not forget” regarding the many years of war.
“Let this be the new beginning of tolerance and unity.

We have different tribes in South Sudan but always remember that you are a South Sudanese first before anything else.
“The challenges we face are great but let’s face them together starting today. Let’s build a strong foundation for our nation. I promise you that in whatever my government will do; public interest will come first before self interest.”

The flag of South Sudan is flying high in that country. South Sudan finally got its Independence. President Salvar Kiir is now officially in charge of South Sudan – the enormous work to rebuild Africa’s 54th State has just begun.