By Simon Deng
The ground breaking ceremony for the construction of the building to house the national archive and heritage took place on Friday in Juba.
Rebecca Nyandeng Garang, the Vice President for Gender and Youth Cluster who presided over the ground breaking ceremony said the building upon completion will display South Sudan’s history, culture and diversity for many generations.
“It has been over a decade since the government of Norway pledged to build a national archive for the ministry of of culture and heritage, and today we thank God that we are finally here to mark the ground breaking for the construction of the South Sudan national archive building,” Nyandeng said.
Nyandeng revealed that last year she got shocked to find historical documents dating as far back as 1898 in the national archive.
She said some of these important things included traditional court documents in local dialects of 1920, in addition to newspapers and gazettes from the 1950’s.
“Although it has been a long time coming and there have been many challenges along the way, it is my honor to finally stand here at the site of our national archive building. This is a milestone achievement that will be cemented in our history,” Nyandeng said.
Siv Kaspersen, the Norwegian Ambassador to South Sudan, said that the Norwegian government and people thought of building the national archive as a gift to South Sudan.
Adding that the building will strengthen bilateral ties between the people of South Sudan and Norway.
“The national archive is a gift to the people of South Sudan, it is important to unify the nation, South Sudan needs national archive the archived documents are important for the public,” Kaspersen said.
Kuac Wek Wol, the Undersecretary in the Ministry of Culture, Museums and National Heritage, said the new building will host both library and museums.
“The national archive will provide a comprehensive historical resource on South Sudan, drawing information from across the country, the national archive preserves, informs and educates us of our history,” Wol said.
