South Sudanese musicians to play for refugees in Uganda

The concert, titled Peace Jam 2018, is sponsored by the German Zivik programme and organised by South Sudanese record label Talent 211 Filmz in partnership with Platform Africa and #DefyHateNow, a community peace-building initiative aiming to combat online hate speech and mitigating incitement to offline violence in South Sudan.

The musicians set to perform include Duku Mulolo Diki, Samse Sam, Dr Franko, Mac Ville, Deyo Da General, Nicky Jay, Filter Bob, Jackia Ug, T-Bang, Ronny Riddimz, Mary Dudu, Rule-Kid Kataal, Danieta, Free-Boy Adams and Pasha Amaro.

A new peace song titled ‘Kifaya’ (Enough), which features the above-mentioned artists, will also be unveiled during the concert.

“International Day of Peace is paramount to us,” Talent 211 Filmz boss Samse Sam said. “As an artist this day requires me to go out and encourage peaceful coexistence, reconciliation and nation-building. It is also a day to show our solidarity with those affected by conflict and political instability, in this case the refugees.”

On 12 September, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar signed a peace agreement in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which is meant to end a civil war that has killed at least 50 000 people and displaced about 3.5 million since it officially began five years ago.

Samse Sam said the new development offered hope for those living outside the country. He said that despite a faction of rebels rejecting the agreement, he was optimistic that the country would begin a process towards absolute peace.

“If our leaders, who are supposed to be our mentors, signed the peace deal without any hidden agenda, then there is hope for a sustainable peace in my country,” he said. “I would encourage them to open-mindedly implement this accord practically to rejuvenate the hope of the new nation and put the interest of the citizens above their own.”

Samse Sam said many refugees had expressed interest in returning back to South Sudan, but many were discouraged by the collapse of previous peace agreements.

He said #DefyHateNow had conducted social media and hate speech training with the Peace Jam 2018 artists on 7 and 8 September in Arua, Uganda, where they were advised on how to use their online presence in a positive manner.

“As musicians we have thousands of followers and it's always imperative to use social media effectively to promote peace rather than inciting people and sharing unverified information. This is very common among South Sudanese musicians and citizens in the diapora."

For more information about Peace Jam 2018, click here.