Machar Trial Reverberates in Bentiu Camp
Bentiu’s cramped internally displaced persons camp slipped into silence this week after classes went dark for seven days, a move linked to the high-profile Juba trial of South Sudan’s suspended First Vice-President Riek Machar.
Camp leaders, acting through the Community High Committee, instructed all primary, secondary and alternative education centres to close, citing solidarity with Machar and seven co-accused over an alleged March assault on an army base that officials say left more than 250 soldiers dead.
On Thursday thousands of residents, many in school uniform, poured onto the dusty lanes demanding Machar’s release in what observers described as a peaceful show of defiance toward Juba’s special court proceedings.
Education Ministry Enforces Authority
State Director-General for Education Stephen Mayiel Gatkoi Chuol reacted swiftly, suspending 24 head teachers for obeying the closure order and, in his words, allowing children “to be seen as party cadres rather than learners” (Radio Tamazuj interview).
Chuol insists all camp schools fall under Unity State authority and should stay above factional quarrels, adding that education must not be “dragged into party issues” because, he argues, “children are children of the community.”
The suspended heads span every education tier, from primary desks to alternative programmes. Chuol says he attempted private dialogue before sanctions were signed, yet the leaders “declined to separate politics and administration.”
Negotiations Hint at Quick Resolution
A follow-up meeting between the ministry and the educators is slated for Tuesday. Officials sound optimistic that classrooms will reopen and that the disciplined teachers will be quietly reinstated once a written pledge of neutrality is secured.
Meanwhile Bentiu’s pupils, already facing overcrowded tents and chronic textbook shortages, endure another pause in studies, a reminder that in South Sudan the classroom often mirrors the fragile national peace.