*Let Me Clear the Air*

*Let Me Clear the Air*

✍🏾 *Madalla Kadiri, Zaar Activist*

On the 28th of October, 2025, we woke up to a vague and confusing announcement from the ZDA President on his Facebook handle:

*“Lemp Zaar 2025 has been postponed. Consultation is going on in preparation for a new date to be announced.”*

A sensitive issue like this deserves clarity, but the statement failed to tell us who took this decision.

Was the postponement or suspension of Lepm Zaar agreed upon at a national Congress of ZDA with a specific date and resolution?

Or did the directive come from the palace?

If this was a ZDA decision, then due process demands that such a delicate matter be discussed openly at Congress before any social media announcement. And if it came from the palace, the President should have stated it clearly.

*But what happened?*

Immediately after posting the announcement, the President faced heavy backlash from Zarites who insisted he should allow the palace to do its work. He quickly deleted the post. Days later, the same message resurfaced, this time on a ZDA official letterhead, signed by the Secretary.

*What does that tell us?*

It means one person, without calling a meeting,

Without consulting our elders,

Without a single stakeholder engagement,

Sat comfortably in his house and unilaterally decided to suspend Lepm Zaar.

And we are expected to keep quiet?

*Let it be known: Nobody has the right to stop or suspend Lepm Zaar*.

Lepm Zaar is not a political event. It is not a ZDA project. It is not even a palace invention.

Lepm Zaar is an ancient Zaar cultural festival, one of the core liturgical pillars of our traditional religion.

Its season was fixed by our ancestors for spiritual, cultural, and environmental reasons.

The primary purpose of Lepm Zaar is to offer sacrifice and rituals to appease the god of rain (Chong Fyali) before new crops are consumed. In the olden days, nobody dared eat new crops until the Lepm Zaar rites were completed.

The festival season begins and ends in October. After that come a series of smaller festivals such as Nadamula and Sirr. The traditional cycle is clear and sacred:

The interval between Lepm Zaar and Waktari is six months

And between Waktari and Lepm Zaar is six months

This is our heritage.

This is our identity.

And no individual whether holding a title, office, or influence can wake up one morning and suspend what our ancestors established.

The Zaar nation must not allow its sacred traditions to become the playground of personal decisions.