Pulsating in Juba

Stevens Muendo was in Southern Sudan for the Miss Malaika pageant and brings you an exclusive on beauty and the guns

We were only 25 passengers and crew in the 200-seater African Express XU712 aircraft jetting out of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Nairobi, to Juba last Saturday morning.

And in two hours, the plane touched ground at the port of Juba where the temperatures was over 40 degrees Celsius.

"Nairobi journalist? Over here," said an immigration official as he pointed at the immigration desk for clearance.

After stamping our passports, a smiling man in his 50s unchained the door and quipped in baritone: "Welcome to New Sudan."

Well, I was in Juba for Miss Malaika contest, a beauty pageant which was conceptionalised in Nairobi four years ago by Chris Kirwa. The franchise has since been bought by Lam, Nairobi-based gospel musician, a former SPLA child soldier and UN Peace Ambassador.

Miss Malaika is one the biggest showbiz events in Southern Sudan. It brings together Pulsers, artistes, politicians and players in entertainment industry to celebrate the newfound peace and diverse culture.

And true to it’s billing, it is one of the biggest shows in Southern Sudan, one would be shocked by the massive turn out at the Nyakuron Cultural Centre, owing to the small Juba population.

As early as 7pm it was pomp. The local celebs arrived in style looking glamorous.

The heavy presence of mean looking SPLA, armed to teeth with AK47 almost freaked me out. And the revelation that almost two thirds of the crowd was armed with personal pistol made it even worse.

However, besides this, everyone looked relaxed as a host of artistes took to the well-lit state-of-the art floating podium to thrill the receptive crowd.

A ‘spleng’ named Sister J, Mr Leng, Duop Pur, David Garang and a battalion of vibrant upcoming artistes by the name Freedom Boys received the loudest cheers from the crowd.

And not the way Kenyans fans appreciate by clapping and shouting only. Here, fans leave their seats and dash on stage for a jig heaping the artiste’s pockets with money. At one point police had to stop supporters of a visually challenged singer by the name Unique Arafat as his pockets could not carry more notes.

The event was full of humour as one of the MCs (call him Maal) displayed his rib-cracking antics as the beauties hit the runway.

"This is ‘booty’ (beauty) with a cause, ‘booty’ you can believe in, original ‘booty’ from New Sudan, ‘booty’ you can have here in Juba," the MC kept on yapping sending the crowd into laugher. His accent was partially annoying. Occasionally, his co-host, Josephine would use her diplomacy to restore sanity in him.

But there was an annoying mix by an inexperienced deejay who rewound one song so much that the CD got scratched.

The beauties at the MTN sponsored show did not disappoint. With well- choreographed catwalk moves, they strutted their outfits designed by among others Kenyan designer, Grace Kahi of Nikita Creations. With a brand new car at stake for the winner and a golden chance to make a name in the international stage, it was black beauty and the brains, wit and creativity carried the day. Over 20 government ministers joined in the celebration.

And there were many sideshows in the successful extravaganza. A young man drew his gun and threatened to shoot a Kenyan crewmember who had crossed his path.

In a town under a strict curfew and a heavy presence of SPLA, several people got arrested on their way from the event.

In fact, as early as 11pm, nightlife in Juba town was dead and all Kenyans crawled back to their tents at the Da Vinci Hotel by the shores of River Nile.