South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Awan Achiek
The South Sudan People’s Defense Force (SSPDF) on Wednesday said it will not hold official celebrations to mark the 41st anniversary.
The SPLA Day is the day when the first bullet was shot in Bor town to kick start the liberation war of independence from neighboring Sudan.
Gen. Lul Ruai Koang, the SSPDF Spokesman said the celebration of the SPLA Day marked annually on May 16 has been canceled due to the prevailing economic crisis.
He said the army is reserving the little resources to cater for most pressing issues.
“It is good to underscore that there will be no official celebration. However, individuals and groups are free to peacefully and responsibly celebrate in their own ways and places of choice,” Koang told journalists at a press conference held at military headquarters in Juba.
However, Koang noted that the day will be marked as public holiday across the country.
“We have not been celebrating in the recent past for the same reason that our economy is in distress and holding celebrations countrywide requires a huge budget,” he said.
Koang said that SPLA Day is set aside to remember the contribution of heroes and heroines who fought the liberation war that paved way for independence of South Sudan in 2011.
“I would like to recognize the ultimate price paid by fallen heroes and heroines of the liberation war,” he disclosed.
SPLA Day is a public holiday in South Sudan celebrated annually on May 16 to commemorate the formation of the then rebel group in 1983.
On 16 May 1983, a group of mutineers from the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) opened fire in a barracks in Bor and would form the core of SPLA.
Colonel John Garang de Mabior was sent to quell the rebellion but instead became its leader.
