A 90-year-old woman in the town of Yei in South Sudan’s Yei River State urged the government to bring about peace and render basic services to elderly people before they die.

Mama Lucy Maringa Zachariah, member of the Episcopal diocese in Yei, told Radio Tamazuj that she prays to God so that peace prevails across South Sudan. Lucy said that she was born before the Anyanya One Movement that fought against the Khartoum government, but she couldn’t enjoy dividends of struggle for peace and development.

“I cooked food, provided water and participated in the liberation struggle in early 1990’s in the rural villages of Ombasi in Otogo County,” said Lucy.

“I also voted for the independence of South Sudan, I am very well known revolutionary woman by the top government officials, but today, we the elderly people are being forgotten,” she added.

Mama Lucy, who uses a wheelchair, noted that she lost her legs in bombing carried out by a Sudanese Air Force Antonov plane on Ombasi village in 1999, saying they were targeted by the Sudanese government for hosting  SPLA fighters during the second civil war.

The old lady appealed to the government to take care of the elderly and citizens living with disabilities. Mama Luch added that she resorted to farming in order to produce food for her family although she is disabled.

“I am telling our government to remember me because I worked a lot for the liberation  struggle of this country, do you want me to die before enjoying the fruits of our liberation?,” she asked.

File photo: Mama Lucy