{"id":39216,"date":"2025-08-29T11:23:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T09:23:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=39216"},"modified":"2025-08-29T11:23:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T09:23:22","slug":"yei-mourns-as-prominent-medical-worker-laid-to-rest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/29\/yei-mourns-as-prominent-medical-worker-laid-to-rest\/","title":{"rendered":"Yei mourns as prominent medical worker laid to rest"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
People gathered at the funeral rite in Yei (photo by James Innocent)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By James Innocent<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The people of Yei River County on Thursday gathered in their thousands to pay their final respects to Michael Lugala Nicholas, a longtime serving medical worker and former county medical director, who passed away at the age of 66 after a prolonged illness.<\/p>\n

More than 5,000 mourners, including family, friends, government officials, religious leaders, and humanitarian partners, attended the funeral in Yei to honor a man widely remembered for his decades of service in the health sector.<\/p>\n

Born on 28 February 1961, Lugala dedicated much of his life to providing medical care in Yei and surrounding areas.<\/p>\n

According to his son, Sebastian Saba recalled his father\u2019s early religious upbringing said that his father received baptism and First Holy Communion in the 1960s through the guidance of his parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father received baptism and First Holy Communion in the 1960s through the guidance of his parents. In the 1970s, he made his First Holy Communion under Father Tartiyo Ladu and was later confirmed by Monsignor Lino\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Saba, added that his father\u2019s legacy should be celebrated rather than mourned:<\/p>\n

\u201cHe worked for long years in government service, so today we are not just mourning but celebrating his life and contribution.\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In his history, Lugala began schooling in 1967 at Kunuwa in Congo, completing six years before moving to Kit Secondary School in Juba in the 1970s.<\/p>\n

His education was disrupted by the outbreak of war but he later resumed and repeated classes while living independently.<\/p>\n

In 1977, he joined the German Medical Team (GMT) in Juba and worked as a Community Health Worker in Keniko, Mukaya Payam, serving villages and forestry communities for nearly two decades.<\/p>\n

In 1992, he became Primary Health Care In-Charge at Mundri Rural Hospital under Action Africa Help (AAH).<\/p>\n

Lugala\u2019s Colleagues described him as a compassionate, dedicated professional whose service earned him respect across the medical community.<\/p>\n

In his later years, Lugala sought treatment in Arua, where doctors diagnosed him with liver complications.<\/p>\n

Despite ongoing medical care, his condition worsened, and he eventually succumbed surrounded by family, friends, and colleagues.<\/p>\n

During the funeral, Father Joseph Arike Eugenio, Vicar General of the Catholic Diocese of Yei, urged the family and mourners to find comfort in faith.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife has both joy and sorrow. We must accept God\u2019s will with peace and forgiveness in our hearts\u201d Arike said.<\/p>\n

The chairperson of the organizing committee praised the collective effort of communities, government officials, and partners in honouring the late health worker, saying their contributions reflected the impact Lugala had made in public service.<\/p>\n

Representing the health department, Dr. Joseph Khemis of Yei Civil Hospital emphasized the loss felt by the medical fraternity:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe stood together as health workers to mourn our director. He served with dedication until his last days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yei River County Commissioner Emmanuel Taban Seme extended condolences on behalf of the county leadership, describing Lugala as a man of service and commitment.<\/p>\n

He urged the family to remain united, cautioning against disputes over inheritance.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaterial things can never replace human life,\u201d the commissioner said, while acknowledging the county\u2019s limited ability to provide financial support due to current economic hardship.<\/p>\n

Michael Lugala Nicholas is remembered as a devout Christian, a community health pioneer, and a dedicated public servant. His life\u2019s work touched thousands in Yei and beyond, leaving a lasting mark on both the medical profession and his community.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By James Innocent The people of Yei River County on Thursday gathered in their thousands to pay their final respects to Michael Lugala Nicholas, a longtime serving medical worker and former county medical director, who passed away at the age of 66 after a prolonged illness. More than 5,000 mourners,[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":39217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,149],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-yei"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Yei-3.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39216"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39218,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39216\/revisions\/39218"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}