{"id":49616,"date":"2026-11-11T14:30:21","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T12:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=49616"},"modified":"2026-11-11T14:30:21","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T12:30:21","slug":"hero-gen-joseph-lagu-to-be-laid-to-rest-on-friday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/11\/hero-gen-joseph-lagu-to-be-laid-to-rest-on-friday\/","title":{"rendered":"HERO: Gen. Joseph Lagu to be laid to rest on Friday"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

South Sudanese liberation hero General Joseph Lagu Yanga is scheduled to be laid to rest on Friday at Freedom Square in Juba, the historic site where South Sudan declared its independence on July 9, 2011.<\/p>\n

The burial will take place east of the Pope Francis Pavilion, following arrangements approved by President Salva Kiir Mayardit as part of preparations for the late leader\u2019s state funeral.<\/p>\n

The funeral programme will begin today, November 11, when Lagu\u2019s body will be transferred from the mortuary to the national parliament for public viewing, allowing citizens, government officials, political leaders and other mourners to pay their last respects.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, November 12, the body will be taken to his family home before the final funeral proceedings on Friday.<\/p>\n

A requiem Mass will be held at All Saints Cathedral of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan in Mobil before his burial.<\/p>\n

Lagu, who died in Juba on October 27, 2026, at the age of 94, remains one of the most influential figures in South Sudan\u2019s liberation history.<\/p>\n

He led the Anyanya One movement during Sudan\u2019s first civil war, playing an important role in the struggle for Southern Sudan\u2019s self-determination.<\/p>\n

His leadership was instrumental in the negotiations that resulted in the 1972 Addis Ababa Agreement, which ended the first civil war and granted Southern Sudan regional self-government.<\/p>\n

Beyond the liberation struggle, Lagu served as president of the High Executive Council of the autonomous Southern Region between 1978 and 1979. He later served as Sudan\u2019s second vice-president from 1982 to 1985.<\/p>\n

His burial at Freedom Square is expected to bring together national leaders, former liberation fighters, religious leaders, diplomats and members of the public to honour his contribution to the history of South Sudan.<\/p>\n

The state funeral will provide an opportunity for the country to reflect on Lagu\u2019s legacy and the sacrifices made by earlier generations in the struggle for freedom and self-determination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sabri Dibaco South Sudanese liberation hero General Joseph Lagu Yanga is scheduled to be laid to rest on Friday at Freedom Square in Juba, the historic site where South Sudan declared its independence on July 9, 2011. The burial will take place east of the Pope Francis Pavilion, following[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":49617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49616","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\/11\/Gen.-Joseph-Lagu-to-be-laid-to-rest-on-Friday.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49616","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=49616"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49618,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49616\/revisions\/49618"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}