East Africans in Diaspora Joined Other Revelers to Welcome the New Year 2016
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By EADM Correspondent and Agencies
In Summary: Despite the tight security measures, East Africans in the Diaspora voted with their feet to join other revelers and worshippers across the globe to experience the spectacular fireworks displays and to savor related moments that welcomed the New Year 2016.
Dallas, Texas—Festivities marking the beginning of the New Year 2016 were held across most cities around the world with millions of extra police and other security agents that ensured no terrorist acts disrupted the celebrations observed in all five continents. Millions of believers also thronged places of worship and stadiums for what they termed “a night of crossover” prayers while others prayed in their homes with family members, friends, relatives, and neighbors, international agencies reported Friday.
Despite the tight security measures, East Africans in the Diaspora voted with their feet to join other revelers and worshippers across the globe to experience the spectacular fireworks displays and to savor related moments that welcomed the New Year 2016. . In Dallas and other cities in Texas, hundreds of Tanzanians, Kenyans, Ugandans, Rwandans, and Burundians either congregated with other city dwellers in city squares, public buildings, and other gazette areas to welcome the new year where spectacular displays of fireworks lit-up the skies to welcome the new year at the stroke of midnight. One Tobias Odhiambo, a national of Kenya living in the DFW area told the EADM correspondent that he joined the parade downtown Fort Worth at Sundance Square where a concert was held and a fantastic display of fireworks illuminated the night sky at midnight as revelers excitedly toasted and danced to welcome the New Year.
While many East Africans in the DFW area welcomed the New Year in Restaurants and bars, several were in Churches for the night of Crossover prayers. At the Arise and Shine Church in Bedford, Bishop elect Nosa Onaiwu led the prayers attended by hundreds of Africans including Nigerians, Zimbabweans, Ghanaians, Kenyans, Ugandans, Burundians, Tanzanians, and Rwandans. Rev. Joseph Kamugisha who was in attendance told EADM News that the atmosphere during the crossover service which started from 10:00pm to 5:00am was electric as the congregation experienced the movement of the Holy Spirit.
In New York, a million people converged on Times Square, amid tight security, to watch the famous ball descend, according to BBC News, Friday. Here, a group of East Africans including Sonko from Uganda, Muthuri from Kenya, and Fatuma Lugoye from Tanzania were at hand to share in the excitement that greeted the New Year with ululations, drinking, and dancing.
Elsewhere, in the cities of Seattle, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Johannesburg, Lagos, and New Delhi, East Africans joined the fete either as groups or as individuals. Here in India, especially in New Delhi and Bombay, we as East Africans join together as brothers to celebrate events. That is exactly what we did to welcome the New Year in Bombay,” Sam Kafuko, a Ugandan student in Bombay told EADM News on phone Saturday.
In all East African capitals; Kampala, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Kigali, and other major cities and towns, spectacular fireworks displays ushered in the New Year 2016 despite tight security measures. Atop most of the city hotels and in stadiums around the capitals, thousands of revelers welcomed the New Year with renewed hopes to have their standards of life improved. In Bujumbura, Burundi, however, there were low key celebrations to welcome the New Year as security concerns kept away most revelers from crowded gatherings, agencies reported.
According to the BBC News, while revelers in Australia and New Zealand were among the first to welcome 2016, more than 100,000 people watched the fireworks display by the River Thames in London with thousands of extra police officers on duty. John Ziraba from Uganda and his friend Kamau from Kenya who were among the crowd by the River Thames, excitedly told EADM News by phone that they have made the New Year festivities by River Thames an annual ritual. In Berlin, fireworks were held at the Brandenburg Gate, with one million people estimated to have attended the countdown, BBC reported. Salim Musa, originally from the Indian Ocean Islands of Zanzibar in Tanzania, East Africa but a long time resident of Berlin, told EADM News that despite the heightened security at the venue, the event was “a blast!”
According to the BBC News, in Paris, the traditional fireworks display was cancelled and was replaced by a five-minute video performance at the Arc de Triumphed just before midnight. The screening was relayed on screens along the Champs-Elysees. The city's mayor, Anne Hidalgo, said the video was intended to send "the world the message that Paris is standing, proud of its lifestyle and living together''. In one of the more innovative celebrations, four divers equipped with musical instruments and breathing apparatus performed an underwater "concert" in a fish tank in Yantai, east China while in Moscow, Russia, the first major European city to welcome 2016, a fireworks display was held over Red Square, BBC reported.
Intro Image Source: BBC EPA New Years India