Author: The South Sudan Herald

Predawn Skirmish Rocks Kapoeta At 04:00 on Thursday, gunfire rattled the quiet streets of Kapoeta, Eastern Equatoria State. Governor Louis Lobong reported that suspected Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in-Opposition combatants opened fire on the National Security Service base, disrupting the town’s pre-dawn calm. Conflicting Injury Counts Lobong said five officers were wounded and rushed to Kapoeta Civil Hospital. Medical director Dr. Kherbino Awad later stated that nine security personnel arrived, adding, “Six are stable, but one sustained a critical head wound.” Local administrator Juma Justin confirmed no fatalities. Pursuit of Armed Assailants Security forces chased the attackers toward the Singata River…

Deadly Night Assault in Gogrial East Local officials in Gogrial East County confirm that suspected armed youths crossed from neighboring Unity State on Saturday night, opening fire on two cattle camps. Five people, among them one woman, died, while four others sustained injuries. Raiders Escape With 80 Stolen Cows Commissioner Marko Garang Anyar reports that the assailants seized 80 cattle from Ayiidit and Mangol camps during the chaos. Community attempts to recover the animals failed, leaving herders counting heavy material and emotional losses. Tragic Crossfire Claims Civilian Life Officials say the female victim was caught in crossfire as local youth…

Investment Sparks Juba Cement Ambitions Malaysian firm B Smart pledged in May 2024 to inject USD 100 million into a new cement plant on the outskirts of Juba. Company executives say production could start within 24 months, pending standard approvals from national and state authorities. Raw limestone will travel 275 kilometres from Kapoeta in Eastern Equatoria, opening a long-awaited commercial corridor between the mineral-rich east and the capital. Population Surge Drives Domestic Demand With the world’s fastest-growing population, South Sudan adds classrooms, clinics and houses daily. Each new wall requires cement, meaning demand rises in tandem with the birth-rate and…

Strategic Partnership between WFP and Jonglei State Set to break ground in mid-October 2025, the new road programme unites the World Food Programme with the Government of Jonglei State, reflecting a deliberate push for resilient infrastructure across South Sudan. During a briefing in Bor, WFP engineers told state officials that contractors will be mobilised before the end of September, clearing the way for heavy machinery to roll by mid-October and for the initial corridors to open in the 2026 dry season. From Bor to the Counties: Scope and Scale The project will surface critical corridors linking Bor town with multiple…

Rising Street Crime Alarms Residents Recent reports of late-night robberies and assaults unsettled residents of Gumba Sherikat, a rapidly growing suburb of Juba. Worried shopkeepers described masked youths roaming unlit streets, prompting urgent calls for visible policing and coordinated intervention. Precision Raids and Police Tactics Between 22 and 24 September, joint units from the National Police Service and local stations executed targeted raids at identified hideouts. Major General Monday James Enoka said intelligence mapping and plain-clothes surveillance narrowed suspects’ movements before uniformed teams moved in swiftly. Seized Weapons and Youth Profile Officers seized machetes, iron bars, daggers and makeshift slings…

High-stakes Courtroom in Juba A court in Juba has placed Vice-President Riek Machar behind a metal enclosure, confronting charges of treason, terrorism and crimes against humanity. Seven allies share the dock. Their first appearance, after months of silence, instantly became a televised spectacle across South Sudan. Fragile 2018 Accord at Risk President Salva Kiir suspended his rival earlier this month, a decision lawyers say collides with the 2018 peace accord that ended five brutal years of civil war. They argue that trying Machar violates power-sharing commitments still anchoring the country’s transitional institutions. Ethnic Undertones and Public Perception Analysts note that…

Court Resumption Signals Stabilization in Upper Nile After a 12-year hiatus triggered by civil war, Malakal’s High Court reopened this week, restoring a crucial pillar of governance in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State. Observers say the development reflects a gradual return to security and state authority across the oil-rich but war-scarred region. Newly Appointed Chief Justice Takes Office Justice Yai Anyuon Akuot, recently appointed to lead the court, arrived in Malakal on Saturday to take his oath and resume hearings. His presence officially re-establishes the judiciary’s footprint in a town where cases have been handled by mobile courts since 2013.…

Timely Payroll Confirmed For the first time in months, South Sudanese civil servants reported seeing their September salaries before the calendar page turned, a development confirmed by the Ministry of Finance and Planning on 24 September. Officials credited a standing order from Vice President for the Economic Cluster directing that payroll clear by the 24th of every month, framing it as a marker of discipline within public finance. Directive Reinforces Fiscal Discipline The ministry’s statement emphasized that meeting the deadline was not a one-off gesture but part of an institutional routine expected by the presidency and spearheaded by Vice President…

Dawn Offensive in Mundri Rebel fighters aligned with Dr. Riek Machar’s SPLA-IO and Gen. Thomas Cirilo’s NAS say they stormed the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces outpost at Kadi’ba, Western Equatoria, at around 04:00 on 24 September, claiming a swift tactical victory. A joint communiqué asserts that the attackers overwhelmed government trenches in minutes, seizing one armored personnel carrier, several heavy machine guns, more than a dozen AK-47 rifles and boxes of ammunition, while loyalist troops retreated. Motives Behind the Strike SPLA-IO spokesman Col. Lam Paul Gabriel and NAS counterpart Lt. Col. Kenyi Mogga Lomeling describe the raid as retaliation…

Life Inside Juba’s Mahad IDP Camp At the heart of Juba, Mahad School has shifted from classroom to refuge for 8,800 internally displaced people. Twelve years after South Sudan’s conflict erupted, the site now mirrors the nation’s unresolved humanitarian needs. Residents recall regular food rations, clean water drums and mobile clinics before 2022. Their sudden suspension has turned daily life into a precarious calculation of meals, medicine and safety. Food Insecurity and Health Concerns Camp director Peter Kaka lists food shortages, unsafe water and inadequate sanitation as the gravest threats. Without a functioning clinic, treatable illnesses advance unchecked, compounding the…