Author: The South Sudan Herald

Aweil counties shaken by unexplained bites At least 17 people were injured over a weekend in separate attacks by an unidentified animal in Aweil West and Aweil North counties, Northern Bahr el Ghazal State. The incidents have fuelled fear and renewed safety concerns, according to local officials and residents. Market-day return turns risky in Udhum Payam Local authorities said 16 victims were attacked on Saturday in Udhum Payam, Aweil West County, while walking home from a market day. The encounter happened in a bushy, swampy stretch known locally as Liil, at a place called Wunliet. Colonel Atak Wol Kiir, the…

University of Juba 2026 priorities: welfare first The Vice Chancellor of the University of Juba, Prof John Akech, says improving staff benefits and student welfare will be his administration’s central priorities for 2026 (Eye Radio). In a New Year’s message addressed to the university community, Prof Akech framed the agenda around stronger campus services and faster institutional development, presenting it as a practical roadmap for day-to-day learning and work conditions (Eye Radio). Staff benefits: compensation, incentives and medical insurance Prof Akech said the university plans to improve compensation packages, including allowances and incentives, alongside what he described as comprehensive medical…

Gathering of Hope in Rumbek Agar community leaders opened a five-day conference in Rumbek on Monday, convening chiefs, politicians, academics and activists determined to reverse years of inter-communal bloodshed in South Sudan’s Lakes State. The gathering, expected to conclude on Friday, hopes to draft actionable proposals for reconciliation. Hundreds of participants travelled from cattle camps, universities and the diaspora, underscoring the urgency felt across generations of the Agar people. Observers in Juba describe the turnout as the largest civil-society mobilisation in Lakes State since 2021. Guns and Grievances Governor Rin Tueny Mabor opened discussions by linking most recent deaths to…

Special Court Sits for 35th Session in Juba Monday in Juba, the special court studying the 2025 “Nasir events” opened its thirty-fifth sitting with full legal teams present. Suspended First Vice-President Dr. Riek Machar and other SPLM-IO leaders were in the dock, while a sixth defendant missed proceedings for health reasons, defense lawyer Dr. Giri Raimondo confirmed. Witness Describes Two-Day Offensive on Nasir The sixth prosecution witness, an SSPDF sergeant formerly assigned to the late General David Majur Dak, described a two-day offensive on Nasir County beginning 3 March 2025. He said SPLM-IO fighters, reinforced by the community-based “White Army”,…

Allegations of Mismanagement Surface Three senior managers of Maridi County Hospital were suspended by the Western Equatoria State Ministry of Health on 21 December 2025, following complaints ranging from drug theft to administrative lapses, according to Ministerial Order No. 08/2025 signed by Health Minister James Abdallah Arona. The minister cited letters from citizens, chiefs and hospital board members as impetus for action, underscoring concerns that one of the region’s main referral facilities risked service collapse if internal frictions continued unchecked. Interim Leaders Step In Quickly To avoid service gaps, the ministry appointed Dr Swaka Laku Lugalla as acting medical director,…

Festive Season Gender Violence Spike Reports of seven rapes in Western Equatoria during Christmas and New Year have jolted Yambio, prompting the State Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare to open an investigation and renew debate over holiday safety for women and girls. Survivor Care and Legal Aid Inspector Oliver Paiyansi says every survivor was escorted to a special care unit before being linked with women-led organisations that deliver counselling, trauma therapy and guidance through legal procedures, an approach he believes can prevent victims from feeling abandoned by the system. He notes the holiday calendar heightens exposure as parties…

Battle Lines Redrawn in Unity State Unity State has resurfaced as the epicentre of South Sudan’s newest hostilities, where command chains rely more on personal networks than on decrees from Juba. Field commanders dictate realities on the ground, reviving patterns familiar from earlier phases of the civil war. Government ranks draw mainly from Bul Nuer fighters, whereas opposition units lean on Leek, Jikany, Dok and Nyuong ties. These alignments stem from recruitment routes and shared histories rather than ideology, rendering alliance maps fluid and locally driven. Urban Strongholds Under Government Umbrella Bentiu, Rubkona and Guit remain under the South Sudan…

Health partners deliver new lifeline In Juba, bulldozers rumble as UNICEF, the UK government and South Sudan’s Ministry of Health embark on an ambitious six-month drive to revive frontline clinics. The initiative targets maternal, newborn and child care in communities where conflict, floods and distance often force families to travel days for basic treatment. Scope across seven states By March 2026, renovated hospitals from Upper Nile to Eastern Equatoria are expected to open with expanded maternity wards, solar power and clean water systems, delivering uninterrupted service even during seasonal isolation. Staff quarters, operating theatres and vaccine cold-chain stores form part…

Fresh Fighting Tests Geneva Standards Renewed firefights between the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-In Opposition in Jonglei and beyond have revived fears that hard-won truces are fraying. Observers warn that each clash magnifies scrutiny on whether fighters respect the rules of war rather than repeat the abuses reported since 2013. Key Legal Texts and Command Responsibility Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, Additional Protocol II and the Rome Statute outline clear limits: no targeting of civilians, torture or summary execution, and senior officers must prevent or punish violations committed by troops under…

Presidential Pardon Signals New Approach Sunday’s quiet airlift of Red Belt commander Leek Mamer Leek from Jonglei to Juba capped a presidential pardon intended to lower communal friction in the volatile east of South Sudan. Security sources describe the gesture as part of a broader confidence-building drive, coordinated by the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces, to co-opt grassroots fighters rather than confront them militarily. The Rise of the Red Belt Movement Formed in Bor in 2023 as a night-watch network protecting cattle camps, the Red Belt expanded quickly, filling security gaps left by overstretched state forces. By October 2025, Juba…