The South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) has announced that it will not officially celebrate the 41st anniversary of SPLA Day on Thursday, saying it doesn’t have the money.
The army used to commemorate its anniversary with events across South Sudan, celebrating the formation of the former rebel movement in Sudan – now the South Sudanese army- on 16 May 1983.
Addressing journalists in Juba on Wednesday, Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang, the SSPDF Spokesman, said there will not be official celebrations to mark SPLA Day, but individuals and groups are free to peacefully and responsibly celebrate in their own ways and places of choice.
“On behalf of the SSPDF command and leadership, I would like to inform the ranks and file and the public at large that May 16, 2024, is the SPLA or SSPDF Day. Hence, it will be a public holiday. On the same note, 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,” Ruai said.
Maj. Gen. Lul said the army is reserving “the little resources to cater for most pressing issues.”
“We have not been celebrating in the recent past for the same reason that our economy is in distress and holding a celebration countrywide requires a huge budget and therefore, bearing in mind that we have competing priorities, yes, it is good to celebrate when you have in plenty, but if there is scarcity then it is wise to reserve that for most pressing issues,” he said.
The founding of the SPLA started the second civil war in Sudan, which continued for 21 years, killed over two million people and displaced millions but led to the independence of the world’s youngest nation as part of a peace agreement signed in 2005.
On 16 May 1983, a group of soldiers from the Sudanese army’s 105 garrison in the Bor area mutinied. The mutiny was followed by 104 garrisons in Ayod, Akobo and Pachalla later. The defection of southerners in the Sudanese army affected the 1972 Addis Ababa peace agreement that was abrogated by former Sudan’s president, Jaafar Nimeiri.
John Garang, who had been dispatched by the army leadership to quell the new rebellion, joined the mutineers and became the leader of the SPLA movement until his death in 2005 after he signed a peace agreement with the Khartoum government in 2005.
On 9 July 2011 the SPLA became South Sudan’s army.