By Jacob Onuha Nelson
The University of Juba has postponed exams amid heavy security deployment over a planned court hearing for the suspended First Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar Teny.
The court proceedings of First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny and seven other South Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) members, which started yesterday, interrupted university examinations.
Some of the students confirmed to this outlet on Monday that due to the ongoing court hearing and security deployment, some of their exams were postponed.
Afendo Oscar Nap, a public health student at the University of Juba, said it happened as usual this morning when they went to campus for their respective papers, where they were supposed to sit at around 10.30 A.M. (C.A.T.). Unfortunately, they were informed the exams were postponed.
“They just told us we should go home for now. There is no examination due to the court proceedings, The examination is postponed. The examination will be communicated after; that is the only information that we have heard from the administration,” Oscar said.
Oscar stated that when the university administration suggested the postponement of exams, students had no other obligation to comment since the high-hierarchy administration decided.
“We students have no voice. When we heard the information, we came home, of course,” Oscar added.
Meanwhile, Isanga Demi, a medical student pursuing medicine, suggested that while according to other students’ perspectives about the Court proceedings, some people claimed it was due to security purposes.
“According to the administration, they know our country very well. The government and the university have a connection. Maybe the information comes from above that the university should not operate today,” Demi noted the situation.
Demi claimed that maybe the university had a hidden agenda to save the students in case of anything that could erupt during these court proceedings.
“Maybe the university is trying to save the students, because we never know the security purpose or what will happen after that. what I actually look like from my own perspective, because the university is trying to look at the security purpose,” Demi narrated.
He also noted that Main Campus was operating, while Custom Campus wasn’t due to the blockage of the road leading to Western Campus for students to do exams, which led to the cancellation of all exams by the university administration.
“The road leading to Custom Campus was blocked by soldiers; students were not able to go to the Western Campus to do their exams,” Demi added.
However, since the house arrest of Dr. Machar in early March, the country had been eager to hear the trials.
Efforts to reach the University Administration to commend were not successful.