Madar (Juba) - South Sudan is observing national mourning from Wednesday, October 28, 2026, following the death of Joseph Lagu, a key figure in the independence of the world's youngest country, at the age of 94, Africanews reported, citing AFP.
Lagu was a founding member in 1963 of Anyanya, named after the poison hunters used to coat the tips of their arrows, the first armed movement to fight the Sudanese government. Current South Sudanese President Salva Kiir served under his command.
"While his family and the nation mourn his death, I also ask the public to celebrate his life, because he lived to see the birth of a country for which he fought," Kiir said in a statement, describing Lagu as "a statesman, military officer, seasoned diplomat and prominent South Sudanese politician" whose career "places him among the most significant figures in the history of South Sudan".
In 1972, Lagu led negotiations that ended Sudan's first civil war, which killed about 500,000 people, and secured regional autonomy for South Sudan within Sudan. He later served as Sudan's second vice-president and as its permanent representative to the United Nations.
Kiir has declared national mourning until Lagu's burial. The date of the funeral has not yet been announced, according to the same source.
"We started fighting for independence empty-handed," Lagu told AFP in a 2011 interview, as South Sudan prepared to vote on secession. "We knew our cause was just, but we had no means." South Sudan broke away from Sudan in 2011 after years of conflict.
