03/08/2026
: The National Question in Maridi County: How We Keep Living Together
By Emmanuel Eluzai, a son of Maridi.
For over 20 years people have been asking the national question about places like ours: can different tribes live in one county and still feel at home? In Maridi we are already living the answer to the national question.
We are Murukodo, Zande, Mundu, Avukaya, Baka, and others. We also have families who came from other parts of South Sudan and decided to stay. On paper the national question looks like a problem. On the ground in Maridi, it has been peace.
Do we have issues? Yes. Land, politics, and others. Every place does. The difference in how Maridi handles the national question is simple: we never let small disagreements turn into big fights. Our elders set three rules early to answer the national question: *share the land, share leadership, share families*. We have stuck to that.
*The National Question Is Not Theory Here*
In Maridi the national question plays out in the market, in school, at the borehole, in the boma meeting. Who speaks, who is heard, who gets land, who leads. Because we answered the national question early, our children grew up and continue to do so by seeing all of us as neighbors first.
We are not the first to face the national question. Tanzania held many tribes (120 or so) together by respecting all languages and building one civic identity. We did the same with Juba Arabic, English, and our mother tongues. Switzerland lets communities run their own affairs and come together for common issues. That is how our payams work. Rwanda chose to sit and talk after hard times. Our MCTC on the national question follow the same idea: talk first.
*Intermarriage: Our Answer to the National Question*
If you doubt how Maridi answers the national question, come to a wedding. A Zande man with a Mundu wife. A Baka home hosting Avukaya in-laws. Dowry talks with elders from three communities.
Why does it work for the national question? Because it makes us family. You cannot call "them" enemies when they are your nephews. Culture moves through kitchens, not seminars. And when there is a land quarrel, in-laws are usually the first to step in. No law created this answer to the national question. Our grandparents did. We should teach it in schools and celebrate it in public.
*Protecting Our Answer to the National Question*
There are people who benefit from breaking the national question. Politicians who say one group is left out. People who stir boundary fights to grab land. Rumors on WhatsApp that paint neighbors as threats. That is sabotage of the national question.
We fight it with simple things: peace committees with elders, youth and women from all groups, meeting once a year at MCTC. Open land records with witnesses from different communities. And one rule for radio and WhatsApp: if the Chiefs and county have not confirmed it, do not forward it.
*What Next for the National Question in Maridi*
Mix our farms and markets so our money depends on each other. Keep leadership balanced and competent. Fund youth sports and skills centers that bring everyone together. Add a short "Maridi Civic" lesson in schools about our history and how to handle the national question peacefully. Support quick justice through elders, with courts for serious cases.
The world says the national question must break diverse places. Maridi says no. We farm together, pray together, bury together, and marry each other.
The national question in Maridi is no longer "can we live together?" It is "how do we grow together?" If we can answer the national question here, South Sudan can learn from us.
Let us guard this peace like we guard our gardens. With work, with water, and with all hands.
