A national clergy has described the SPLA Day marked yesterday as the celebration of the struggle for independence by the people of South Sudan.
South Sudan marked yesterday 28 years when a handful of military constituting the SPLA core shot the first bullets in Bor, the capital of Jonglei State, against the Sudan Armed Forces in protest against marginalization and in a search for identity.Fr. Benjamin Madol Akot is a diocesan priest of the Catholic Diocese of Rumbek and he served as a SPLA chaplain.
He told Good News Radio that the celebration recalled all martyrs who died during the struggle.
He insisted that the main purpose of the civil war was to gain independence for South Sudan and that the results of the referendum were the sign that the fighting was not in vain.
Fr. Madol attributed the lack of general progress to what he called lack of education and selfishness among the ruling class.
He appealed to Lakes State residents to stop violence and promote life, prosperity and development instead.
Fr. Madol was an active member of the SPLA and assisted war displaced people in Ethiopian camps.
The SPLA anniversary celebration in Lakes State was postponed to tomorrow.
Citizens of Lakes State are mourning the death of their SPLM Secretary General, Samuel Mathiang Ker, who passed away on Saturday in Australia.