Sharing some of Ngundeng’s predictions
By Gatkuoth Deng
August 26, 2009 — Many people here in USA have been asking me, knowing that I have an audio cassette containing Ngundeng’s prophecies or predictions recorded in form of songs, to publicly share such messages with them and other interested readers. They have been asking me since the time his dang (rod) was brought back after 80 years in Great Britain.
I have been a bit reluctant thinking that it was not necessary. But many of them, some of whom are from non-Nuer communities, kept arguing that the Nuer might be keeping the predictions secret for themselves so that they would be the only ones to know what Ngundeng said about Sudan.
Well, there is no secrecy in Ngundeng’s messages. Whether they were facts or just traditional myths, they are not a secret. They are part of our history whether we believe them or not. History can be shared. And before I proceed, let me attempt to say who Ngundeng was. Ngundeng Bong was originally from Bul-Nuer clan of Western Upper Nile (Unity state). His father Bong migrated to Eastern Jikany-Nuer clan about 200 years ago in the present Upper Nile state where Ngundeng was born. Ngundeng’s mother was from Lou-Nuer (Jonglei state). He was born around 1840s and died in 1906 (as reported).
Ngundeng was a single child of her long time barren mother and her birth story was similar to the birth of a child between Abraham and Sarah in the Old Testament Bible.
Claiming that he was sent by God, Ngundeng, whose name translates “God’s gift”, established his pyramid in a place called Wec Deang in Jonglei state. He claimed he was a prophet of God, but not God himself. He also claimed that he had direct communications with God and was shown to him in a series of visions what was going to happen to the people in Sudan, particularly to the people of South Sudan. He claimed that he was wearing God’s eye glasses to envision the future when he said in his songs in Nuer that he was “Gook mi ca kam neeni wangni deang”, meaning “A prophet who was given God’s eye glasses.”
But Ngundeng believed in God which the Nuer call in his imagined physical appearance as ‘Deng Taath’ meaning ‘God of creation’, and spiritually, ‘Kuoth’. He predicted Christianity to come to South Sudan as the new form of worshipping God to replace the Old Testament kind of worship by God’s prophets.
Ngundeng used to have dang (rod) which many thought was replicating Prophet Moses’ rod of the Old Testament. Ngundeng used the rod as a symbol of his spiritual power. A common myth among the Nuer talks of him once using his dang to prevent the British forces from reaching where he was. Actually the British failed to have direct contact with him, as confirmed in the book, “The Nuer Prophets” but it was not clear whether or not the rod had an influence on their failure to reach where he was. Elders told me that whenever he lifted his dang up against a British convoy of mounted horses, the horses would get stuck and stop moving until it got dark and they would return to their base.
He was known for his peace-making. He succeeded in stopping raids or bloodshed between Nuer and their neighboring tribes such as Dinka, Murle, Shilluk, Burun and Anyuak until his peaceful death in 1906.
Many people from his generation could not believe him and his predictions, but some begun to believe what he was telling them when they witnessed some of his lifetime predictions getting unfolded. Because Nuer at that time believed that they were the only people God created on earth in addition to their neighboring tribes, they called Ngundeng a liar when he told them that a white man would come to stay with them in Nuerland. One of them bitterly accused Ngundeng of misleading people with pure lies; Ngundeng told the man that he would be the first person to witness the coming of the white man. The daughter of the man later on became the first Nuer girl to get married to a British man when they came to Sudan after Ngundeng had already died.
Before sharing with you some of his prophecies on my tape, I want to say that the difficulty I would face is interpretation of such prophecies. I have been listening to them for many years like the rest of us who have the same cassette, but I can say that some of them are clearly black or white but others are difficult to easily interpret. I will make an attempt on my own way of interpreting some of them based on my own understanding and how others, especially Nuer elders interpreted them for me.
However I will try to concentrate on some of his predictions on North-South relations and the final political and economic destiny of the people of South Sudan. He had a lot of predictions on inter and intra-tribal conflicts and fighting within the South. He mentioned specific incidents which have actually occurred in the course of our liberation period right before1955 up to present time. He talked a lot about a temporary crisis within the Nuer community and with other tribes or within among those specific tribes. I will not, however, attempt to go into details on these internal South Sudan affairs because of their sensitivity and irrelevance.
In some of his predictions on North-South relations, Ngundeng prophesied that South Sudan would someday become a separate independent and prosperous nation. He even predicted and rejected the mixing of the current two flags of GONU and GOSS (SPLM), when he said in his song in Nuer that “caa beera de mat kene beer roal (Jalaba)” which translates ‘my flag should not be mixed with the flag of the North.’
I will always try to write what the song exactly says in Nuer so that the Nuer readers can follow with me exactly and in case if my translation is wrong they can correct me. This again is an interpretation I hear from many Nuer elders. I hear his song saying it but I don’t know if he means these current two flags being mixed by the GONU’s First Vice President and President of GOSS. President of South Sudan is said to be putting both GONU and GOSS (SPLM) flags on his car and in his office building. This may also be open to debate in search for any other interpretation.
Ngundeng also predicted the current ten states, and according to my own interpretation which I also share with some others, when he said in his song more than a hundred years ago that there would be ‘wii wal’ in South Sudan. ‘Wii wal’ in Nuer could mean either ten states or ten countries. There is no clear distinction between a ‘state’ and ‘country’ in Nuer language. This can also need more information or interpretation from more knowledgeable people or experts in Nuer language.
On how the South is going to get independence, Ngundeng had predicted painful road through long wars and a final brief war for independence in which ‘rol mac’ (North) would be militarily defeated. “Rol mac” in Nuer language would literally translate ‘colored people with guns.’ People say in this case he means Jalaba. In his song he said ‘rol mac bi duac leer ba lik de theeng, lik gaan deang ba theeng, laathkeer cuare luak tong ke dier Ngundeng Bong e Longar, ce luac mar ke ‘yiel juoc’, ram luth kur cu luak bar, e ji guethni muong be ke nak.’
The above song literally translates ‘Jalaba I will beat and chase you and the thundering sounds of my beatings on you shall be heard; the thundering sounds of the children of God will be heard; soldiers don’t build our nation while getting worried at the same time; Ngundeng Bong is like Longar, he once struck Luac with his rod; any one who obeys God, don’t be scared; let the powerful talk, because I am going to kill them.”
Ngundeng also prophesied the final destiny of the whole Sudan and predicted disintegration of the whole nation. Some of the people said he means the current Government of National Unity (GONU) when he said in his song “Cango baa liac nako e baa dei ke ret pinyo, awa gaat kuol deang cia nien caar kuace ho ci Deng pean.” It translates “The day the pregnant woman with twins shall be killed, her stomach cut open and her twins come out; ah you the children of ‘kuol deang’ you have been sleeping throughout, and you don’t even know that God has descended.’ People say he means GONU as a pregnant woman and that its twins (I don’t know how many twins), could mean South, West, East and Center, will be separated. They think the present system of GONU brought about by the CPA is like a pregnant woman with twins.
This means that the pregnant woman (GONU) which is supposed to give birth to a one confirmed united Sudan in 2011, may instead prematurely give birth to twins that will go their own separate ways. Christians also say that Ngundeng’s prediction goes in line with the book Isaiah 18 in the Bible that likens Sudan to a tree which branches will be cut and spread out.
Ngundeng also predicted bloodshed in the national capital, Khartoum, probably in the final days of determining the final destiny of Sudan when he said in his song “Rol Khartoum bar, rol pajang wang de lony riem muoce weaa; mada ni cuor.” It translates ‘When I see Khartoum, my eyes flow with blood; and vultures will be my friends.’ He continued to say in another prophesy which may mean the civil wars in the whole country that, “Wec e neeno mo bi riem ke wee caw e be beeri muol, be paar ke thiel wec.” It translates “The country you see will have blood bath that will over flow the nation’s flags, and will be like there is no country.” Some people interpret that this may mean a situation like in Somalia without a central government.
He also warned Jalaba that his power will finally overcome the power of Jalaba’s guns. “Kua gueth da le coli gueth mac, en gueth mac e kiethe mo.” He said “do you think my power is the power of the gun; the power of the gun that you are displaying?” He also said he would be watching the Jalaba as the Jalaba is watching him when he said “Laa bim role ke bieme rol ca ko thiel kok nie mee.” This translates “The Jalaba is watching on me, and I will also be watching on the Jalaba; we have ceased our business (soft talks) since then.”
On the prosperity of South Sudan Ngundeng, according to some elders interpretation of his song predicted South Sudan, and may be the previous and current oil productions, in terms of “a cow with a lot of milk but will not be drunk or benefited from by the people” because of war and warned that even if you are inside (towns or government-controlled areas) or outside (villages, bushes or rebels- controlled areas) things will not be okay on either side. He said in his song, “mi taa reec ce bi goa ka wia raar ke cia thuok, jiok thiang deang ci gaat caake bi cam, ca yang koor.’ This literally translates “If you stay inside will not be okay with you, and if you go outside, you will get finished; because the cow’s milk will not be eaten by the children, it has become a cow of war.”
Some elders interpret it differently saying this prophesy could mean the current cattle raiding conflicts going on among cattle-keeping communities in the South. Others say that Ngundeng was simply referring to South Sudan as a cow and its resources as milk. They also defend their interpretation by saying that even God in the Bible was referring to the predicted riches for Israel as a “land flowing with milk and honey.”
But on the future of a prosperous nation of South Sudan after independence, Ngundeng prophesied a green land with huge agricultural output when he said in his song “wec mi ci beele tang tol” which translates that “its agricultural yields will be too much and too heavy and even break its straws or poles.”
On Abyei, Ngundeng predicted a dangerous situation for the people of Abyei when he said in the songs “Ngok kiir e bi ke waang…meeri ke piny, …e cu Ngoka liac nhial.” This also translates “Ngok of kiir will be burnt; they will be searched down with light …and they will look up to me.” To elders, this is Abyei and for Ngundeng to call them ‘Ngok kiir’ may mean those Ngok Dinka living along the River Kiir because ‘kiir’ also means river in Nuer language. The other thing he said about some kind of searching the Dinka Ngok with light is a bit confusing. No body knows what he really meant. But he continued that he would take his cattle to court when he said “be hooke nang luok,” meaning, “I will take my cattle to court.” Since Ngundeng also used to refer to people as his cattle and South Sudan as cow, some people thought that he could mean taking Ngok Dinka to court like what had already happened in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Hague, Netherlands. Others think he means the coming referendum. There is no consensus on that.
Another thing I may add which elders think to mean the current corruption in the South is when he said, “kuale jal ni ke duoth ci jiar beel pay jier, e jiek hoa kua nyok ke nyuth yie…kam yie beel ka ba ku nyok ke runy koryom.” This translates “You walk smiling because you have stolen the grain prematurely; wait for me to show you how bad the world is…I will give you the grain, but I will also send in the locusts.” Many think that it refers to the corruption in the South while others think it refers to the South Sudan’s resources being looted by the North. There is no consensus on that, too.
Finally, in his prophesies Ngundeng warned his people to believe in God and his power to deliver them despite the hardships they go through. He said in the songs “Paale deng ke took, ram wie dhoc bi liade jiak, bi goy daak.” It literally translates “Keep on smiling as you pray to your God; any body that will look unhappy to me will have a violent death and may not reach good things”; (this may mean freedom or final destiny).
As I stated earlier, these are the predictions that I listened to in my cassette and their interpretations by myself and some others. Many Nuer elders know the songs by heart and they can just sing them and also try to interpret them, though difficult to be accurate. This is why they try to fit them into things which have already occurred or see them happening. There are a lot of his other prophesies for North-South relations, but I think these are the main ones I could afford to avail to you. Sorry that I could not present most of them, especially the ones for internal South Sudan affairs.
The author who is based in the USA, can be reached at: [email protected]