This article was last updated on May 25, 2022
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Elder Lubari Ramba Lokolo, the advisor and the founder of “Ayiki” Kakwa folk music Band told Gurtong that some South Sudanese music has not started to play the role it should play in the society as music should not only instruments, but rather it should send a message to the community on how to live.
He added for a piece of music to be fully understood, a musician should use the language that the societies understand, adding music used to educate the society should be indigenous, dealing with the problems existing in the society, with each song showing directly or indirectly where virtues and verses are.
Today some of the songs being sung in the country are mixtures of Kiswahili, English, Local Arabic and some musicians do add the Congolese Lingala languages which do leave some music lovers in great suspense in trying to interpret and understand the wording being used.
Lubari said languages that the societies know are to be found in South Sudanese folk music, but this folk music has been suppressed in some areas by some religious teaching that eminent religious culture is necessary immoral.
He added the two decades of civil war in the Sudan has made it impossible for communities to organize their traditional dances, saying in Yei River County in particular if you hear a South Sudanese music, it must be a funeral dance, or ordinary dance called “Leri” in Kakwa dialage organized by a family, a church considers it stubborn and irreligious.
Lubari also sighted that ordinary dances have started to appear on government festivals, expressing worry on the survival of the indigenous cultures.
He said the international music is what people hear or watch on various media outlets in bars, television, radios or computers which are far away from a woman or a man in the street or in the country side.
Lubari added although some of these international music send messages, people who hear or watch these types of music daily, virtually learn nothing because of language barrier.
He urged those playing load sounds in the residential areas to control it calling it “noise pollution.”
Today South Sudanese folk music industry is facing a lot of threats from the International music industry, as most musicians and music funs prefer international music to folk music.
Besides that there are few men and women like Lubari Ramba who sees the future significances of the folk music.
Elder Lubari Ramba Lokolo is the advisor and the founder of “Ayiki” Kakwa folk songs, a leading advocate for the preservation and development of the invaluable aspects of Kakwa indigenous cultures, a renowned South Sudanese politician, a member of SPLM and the first Speaker of people’s Regional assembly in Juba during the regime of field marshal Ja’afar Mohamed Nimeri in the old Sudan.
Lubari joined music industry basically the folk music after feeling that he has served in the politics for long and now, it is time for him to come back home and rescue the diminishing South Sudanese folk music and culture.
He uses traditional drums made out of animal skin which require constant warming by fire due to weather condition.
The group band consists of women and men of age 45 to up years residing at Lasu Payam Yei River County bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo.
He has so far recorded about 100 Kakwa folk songs and in circulation within the country and abroad.
He also wrote books about the Kakwa tradition, origin and naming system, the life styles of the kakwa people and Kakwa dictionary, translated from kakwa language into English, this is to enable none kakwa to learn how the kakwa people live, and also for the kakwa who grew abroad and lost their language and those who do not speak their language to learn it.
He has so far distributed over 2000 copies of his books, but the financial burden has made him handicapped to produce more copies.
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