Atoroba Peni Rikito crowned as new Azande King

Atoroba Peni Rikito Gbudue has been crowned as a new Azande King after 117 years following the death of King Gbudue in 1905.

He replaced the late King Gbudue, who was dethroned by the British colonial power and slain after he attempted to fight the British power to reclaim African freedom. 

Rikito is the grandson of King Gbudue and he has been paramount chief of Yambio for over 20 years. He has also been the leader of traditional authorities in Western Equatoria, according to Badagbu Daniel Rimbasa, one of the grandsons of King Gbudue and a member of the royal family.

Rimbasa, who spoke to The City Review after the Kings instalment at Yambio Freedom Square, revealed that it was a new era in the Western Equatoria State, especially for the Azande Kingdom.

“At the moment, in Yambio, people are feeling jubilant as the King has been restored, in the place of Gbudue, and there were hundreds of hundreds of people in the freedom square, including the representatives from the national government, which is headed by the minister of presidential affairs, Dr Marial.

He said among the others were the Central Equatoria State Governor, former Governors, and Shuluk representatives, as well as other dignitaries, were all witnesses.

“It is officially, he is now the King of Azande Kingdom as a result, Yambio is filled with joy, and there is much jubilation everywhere as their kingdom is restored and their King is crowned. People are really happy to know that their culture is now going to be preserved and promoted, ” a Royal member narrated.”

He said that their new king will operate under the laws of South Sudan, especially its constitutions and local government acts, and will continue work on social work and social cohesion by providing services and supplementary government programs to the people in terms of agriculture, education, and health, including the empowerment of women and youths.

“What is important here is that the king’s message is peaceful co-existence and the kingdom is not coming to infringe on other people’s rights.”

“He has talked a lot about the unity of the people of South Sudan. He talked about the peaceful co-existence of Western Equatoria State. He talked about working together to promote unity to promote development and the rich culture of the South Sudanese people and preserve it,” Rimbasa emphasised.

Gbudue was a royal Azande chieftain and possibly the most significant person in the history of the Azande people, who live in the western parts of South Sudan’s, Western Equatoria State.

On Tuesday, Rimbasa revealed that the restoration of the Azande Kingdom would not infringe on other people’s culture.

“Azande people are also celebrating King Gbudue, who was murdered by the British when he was fighting for the rights of Africans as an empire. “The Azande people will remember him for the good things he did and the contributions he made to the community and the African people as a whole,” he said.

“People are very excited about this, and they know the cultures of African people have been dying because of globalization. Now they see this as a way of preserving good cultures with good values, ” he said.

He said there were already signs of unity among Azande people as well as other neighbouring groups of people.

Keeping the values

He claims that it will give children a chance to see who their forefathers were and how Africans lived before colonial powers arrived and destroyed their cultures.

“Its only objective is to preserve and promote culture in terms of food that people used to eat and dancing, just to build up that growing up of children to prepare our culture to be sold to other people.”

He added that the Azande people as a whole will not infringe on or interfere with any ethnic setting within that area, adding that each ethnic group has its own culture and has the right to promote and preserve it.

“Azande is not saying anything about the other groups. What is going to happen is a  and traditional [thing] which has nothing to do with fear of invading other people’s rights,” Rimbasa added.

“This one is just a symbolic modern kind of kingdom which will have only two things: one, its objective is to preserve and promote the culture of the people; and two, it will develop a system that will supplement the government’s work. It is going to work under the government, ” he explained.

He explained that there would be no interference with government operations, as is explicitly stated in the South Sudanese constitution and local government acts. He added that even though paramount chiefs will be present, the King will be present as a symbol to ensure that people’s cultures are revived and that social and economic activities are carried out to empower people economically, in agriculture, education, and health.

He repeated that there is no interference with the government system; it is just a social traditional thing that is stipulated clearly in the government local act.