Joy in Juba: 'We're free, at last!'

By Eva Krafczyk Jul 10, 2011, 10:02 GMT

Juba - Mary Matut is one of thousands watching excitedly as Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir lowers his country's flag. As the pennant inches down, the South Sudan flag moves up a second pole, until the symbol of the world's youngest state reaches the top amid frenetic jubilation.

'This is our day!' cheers Matut, stretching up from her plastic chair, wiping sweat and tears from her face. 'We're free, at last!'

'South Sudan, South Sudan,' chant the thousands of people gathered on the square opposite the mausoleum for freedom fighter John Garang. They are waving flags in their new national colours.

Mathilde Pasquale tightly grips her young daughter, nestled in her arms. The two-year-old looks a bit perplexed at the shouting and drumming all around her. The declaration of independence, read out by President Salva Kiir, can barely be heard above the noise.

The young mother has dressed her daughter in her best Sunday dress. 'I want her to be able to say one day that she was here the day our country was born,' Pasquale says.

This Saturday, the joy is boundless in Juba, the world's youngest capital. From the early hours, masses of people filled the square, where they spent hours in the scorching sun, indifferent to the fact that the independence ceremony began more than 90 minutes late.

'Well, this is African time,' shrugs a young man, draped in the South Sudanese flag.

'Today, we witness history,' booms the voice of UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon, welcoming the birth of Africa's 54th nation after years of struggle.

'Today, we open a new chapter - a day when the people of South Sudan claim the freedom and dignity that are their birthright,' Ban says.

Charles Alfred Willia has brought his trusted Bible to the independence celebrations.

'This is our day of joy,' the priest says. 'But there is sadness, too. The pain ... thinking of the many who died and did not live to see the day.'

A war veteran nods sagely, dressed in his old civil war uniform. He lost a leg in combat.

Around 2 million people died in the civil war between the north and south of Sudan, before a peace deal was signed in 2005. South Sudan has a population of around 8 million.

'Free at last!' is a constant chorus, repeated on posters and t-shirts.

'We are finally first class citizens in our own country,' says Manuel Kamlete. Most of his family still lives in Kenya, where they fled during the war.

'The first time I was here after the war was in 2006, but I left after two weeks because I could not face it,' Kamlete says. He returned two years later, and witnessed the gradual pace of change.

'This is only the first day in our new nation, there is a lot left to do. We need true democracy, and it does not come easy after so much violence,' he adds.

'But this time I'm going to stay,' Kamlete says.