Kiir opens condolence book for liberation hero Joseph Lagu

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir is scheduled to open a condolence book at the national parliament on Thursday morning in honour of late liberation leader General Joseph Lagu Yanga, with senior government officials and dignitaries invited to pay tribute to the veteran commander.

The high-level burial committee has invited senior government officials, diplomatic representatives and other dignitaries to gather at the parliament premises from 6am ahead of Kiir’s arrival to sign the condolence book.

Speaking to reporters in Juba on Wednesday, committee member Ambassador John Andruga Duku said the initial programme would be restricted to designated senior officials and invited guests.

Those expected to attend include former vice-presidents, presidential advisers and envoys, the chief justice and deputy chief justice, ministers and deputy ministers, and heads of organised forces.

Other invitees include undersecretaries, senior government officials, prominent personalities, United Nations representatives, women leaders, diplomatic missions, non-governmental organisations, traditional chiefs, community leaders and civil society representatives.

Duku urged invited guests to arrive before 7am, warning that security would be tight and access to the parliamentary premises restricted.

He said members of the public and other groups not included in the initial programme should not go to parliament on Thursday morning, adding that separate arrangements would be made for them to sign the condolence book after the president and senior officials.

He also warned that no additional attendees would be admitted once Kiir arrived and officially opened the condolence book, describing the occasion as a solemn moment of national mourning.

National flags will remain at half-mast until Lagu’s burial, the committee said. Kiir is also expected to attend the state funeral in person.

Burial preparations

Preparations for Lagu’s burial are nearing completion, with about 80% of construction work on his grave completed, according to the high-level burial committee.

Presidential Affairs Minister and Committee Chairperson, Bol Wek Agoth, said concrete casting had been completed, while work on the remaining sections was continuing.

He urged committee members to fulfil their assigned responsibilities with integrity and accountability to ensure the burial arrangements were completed successfully.

The burial ceremony is expected to proceed once construction of the grave is completed.

Lagu, a retired general who led the Anyanya movement during Sudan’s first civil war, died in Juba on Tuesday, November 27, aged 94.

Kiir, who was in Russia at the time, subsequently declared a period of national mourning, describing Lagu as a nationalist and liberation hero who dedicated his life to the struggle for South Sudan’s freedom.

He ordered national flags across the country and at South Sudanese diplomatic missions abroad to fly at half-mast until the burial and said he would personally attend the state funeral.

Liberation legacy

Born on November 21, 1931, in the Madi area of what is now Eastern Equatoria state, Lagu joined the southern rebellion in 1963 after defecting from the Sudanese army.

He became commander-in-chief of the Anyanya movement in 1968 and led negotiations that resulted in the 1972 Addis Ababa Agreement, ending Sudan’s first civil war and granting southern Sudan regional self-government.

He later served as president of the autonomous Southern Region from 1978 to 1979 and Sudan’s second vice-president from 1982 to 1985.

After South Sudan gained independence in 2011, Lagu served as a special adviser to Kiir before retiring from public service.

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