Carrying our history in our names

Will our histories and our cultural backgrounds make our decisions on who to vote for next month?  Or can we be truly free in our final decision?

What is the history you carry with names such as Lamogo, Magoro, Chol, Altilabara, Ruja Mafi, Munuki and Libasi Mafi?

Our names already determine our backgrounds and sometimes our fate.

For example, if you are called 'Lamago' or 'Magora', you are from the Bari tribe in Southern Sudan and your name means you were born during a period of famine.  If your name is 'Chol', you are from the Dinka tribe and your birth was preceded by the death of an a sibling.   The name 'Altilabara' means 'Come out!' and was used by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) to wake the residents of a village to find rebels hidden in the Tukuls (homes).  If you were named 'Rujal Mafi',(without men) you were born in an area where there was only women, as the men were away fighting in the war or dead. If you were called 'Munuki', (I have hidden) this an area North East of Juba town and it was a hiding place where babies were often put for safety from the invading armies. The meaning of the name 'Libasi Mafi' (without pants) seems still fresh in the mind of Sebastino Laku Jubek a 65 old man, who recounted to me in a lowered tone with his head down here the government soldiers rape the women, young and old indiscriminately, so the women said they had to live without pants to ease the rapist.”  So if you are called 'Libasi Mafi', it means that you are the child of a raped mother. 

Our names help us remember our past and depict the scars of our wars.

So could our names also dictate the election cadidates we vote for?   Do our tribal and historical identities come before our political identities?  For example will most Dinka peoples vote for our Southern President Salva Kiir, not because of his policies, but because he is also a Dinka?   Or can these elections be a chance to mark our real choices for our country?

And carrying our history in our names is not in the South alone. In Khartoum there is a hill inhabited mostly by non Muslims called Ras Sitan (Head of Satan).  Anybody from Ras Sitan suffers great prejudice from others in the area.  In Kasala there is an area north of mount Taha predominantly for internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Wau in South Sudan.

Our names help us remember our past and depict the scars of our wars.

The area was name Wau Nar meaning Wau is on fire, but in the last two years the name has been changed to Wau Nur (Wau is light) after the construction of the dam in Wau which supplies electricity to the whole town.   Can this change in name give example to the new identities we can all find in the bright blaze of peace?  With the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005 new names are still emerging, like Dar Salam (land of peace).

Elections are due next month and our names are a reminder of the past and our present loyalties.  But let the election paper be a reminder of the future we can forge together with all our histories.