{"id":45972,"date":"2026-07-10T13:29:03","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T11:29:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=45972"},"modified":"2026-07-10T13:29:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T11:29:03","slug":"citizens-urge-government-to-foster-peace-and-unity-during-independence-day-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/10\/citizens-urge-government-to-foster-peace-and-unity-during-independence-day-marathon\/","title":{"rendered":"Citizens urge government to foster peace and unity during Independence Day Marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sabri Dibaco <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

As South Sudan celebrated the 15th anniversary of its independence, citizens used the occasion to call on the government to strengthen national unity and restore lasting peace across the country.<\/p>\n

The appeals were made during a national marathon organised by Digital Telecommunications Network in collaboration with the South Sudan Athletics Federation as part of the Independence Day celebrations.<\/p>\n

Speaking after the race at the Juba National Stadium, John Lado, a resident of Juba, said the anniversary should remind leaders of their responsibility to unite the people.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndependence has given us our own nation, but our greatest achievement will be living together in peace. I urge our leaders to put the interests of the people first and work together for a united South Sudan,\u201d Lado said.<\/p>\n

Another participant, Mary Ajak Deng, who participated in the marathon, said peace was essential for development and the well-being of all South Sudanese.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to see peace in every state and community so that our children can learn, farmers can cultivate their land, and businesses can grow. Unity is the foundation of national development,\u201d Mary said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, James Wani Lemi called on both national and local leaders to promote reconciliation among communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur message on this Independence Day is that all South Sudanese should embrace one another regardless of tribe or region. The government should continue working to ensure peace reaches all ten states and the three administrative areas,\u201d Lemi said.<\/p>\n

The Minister of Museums and National Heritage, Sarah Nyanath Elijiah Yong, also used the occasion to call on the companies, organisations and other telecommunications to join hands together in promoting the activities in the country.<\/p>\n

Sarah said the development of this country is our responsibility and it needs collective efforts from all South Sudanese, citing that if we want tall buildings, we should make them ourselves.<\/p>\n

The marathon attracted athletes and residents from different parts of the country and other countries like Uganda, Kenya, and Sudan, who all participated, and this formed part of activities commemorating South Sudan’s 15th Independence Day.<\/p>\n

South Sudan gained independence on 9 July 2011 after decades of conflict, becoming the world\u2019s newest nation. Since then, Independence Day has served as an opportunity to celebrate the country\u2019s achievements while reflecting on the challenges that remain, particularly the need for lasting peace, reconciliation, and sustainable development.<\/p>\n

As the celebrations concluded, many participants expressed hope that future Independence Day anniversaries would be marked by greater unity, stability, and prosperity for all South Sudanese.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sabri Dibaco As South Sudan celebrated the 15th anniversary of its independence, citizens used the occasion to call on the government to strengthen national unity and restore lasting peace across the country. The appeals were made during a national marathon organised by Digital Telecommunications Network in collaboration with the[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":45973,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Citizens-celebrating-Independence-Day-in-style-with-smiles-regardless-the-economic-hardship-at-the-Juba-National-stadium-photo-by-Sabri-Dibaco.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45972","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\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45972"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45974,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45972\/revisions\/45974"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}