Charlton Doki, the Editor of the VOA South Sudan in Focus Program who died in a road accident in Juba on Thursday - Courtesy

South Sudanese journalists and fans are saddened by the demise of Veteran journalist and the Coordinator and Editor of Voice of America South Sudan In Focus Program, Charlton Doki who was reportedly involved in a grisly motor accident on Thursday evening.

According to a family member, “Charlton died at Juba Teaching hospital after an accident that involved two motorbikes-crush on Dec. 14, 2023.

The accident happened on the evening of Thursday at the roundabout located along Munuki-Bilpam road.
Reacting to the incident, Chief of Communication at UNICEF Sri Lanka Bismark Swangin, a South Sudanese said and I quote;

“I’m Profoundly shocked to hear that Doki’s life was claimed in a grisly accident. South Sudan has lost a dedicated journalist, a humble man, and a solid voice. It’s such a great loss, not only to the family but the media fraternity. May his gentle soul rest in peace,” end quote.

Meanwhile, Mabor Dhieu Majuac Dak, a reporter who was under the supervision of Late Doki said and I quote;

“On behalf of all VOA journalists who are under training, we convey our condolence messages to relatives and family of our late Doki,”

A former Co-Host for Voice of America’s South Sudan In-Focus program, Charlton graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from the Islamic University in Uganda and a Master’s in International Applied Communication from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in the United Kingdom.

Before he took up the position of Coordinator and Editor at VOA South Sudan in Focus, he worked as a Communications Specialist for South Sudan Interactive Radio Instruction (SSIRI) – a project of the Education Development Center (EDC).

He also worked as a Senior Producer for Sudan Radio Service (SRS) – also a project of the Education Development Center and as a Copy Editor and Senior Reporter for the Sudan Mirror newspaper.

Charlton loved telling stories as a child and later became passionate about providing information to enable people to make informed choices and decisions.

Speaking to Eye Radio at the Juba Funeral home where the late’s body was kept, some VOA reporters described his demise as shocking and expressed their profound sorrow at his sudden and untimely departure.

Others described him as diplomatic a very committed journalist with a good heart.

“It’s with heartbroken and devastated news that our editor late Charlton Doki whom I worked with for the past few years died. He was a very professional editor and mentor as well as very diplomatic.

He worked professionally, he tried by all means to ensure that his work and everything you did together was to all standards and professional journalism.

“So, we are mourning a true hero in the media fraternity, this is a loss for the media fraternity in South Sudan,” said VOA’s Michael Atit.

VOA reporter Gai: “I am so sad to have learned about the untimely death of Charlton Doki, he has been my mentor. Just yesterday we were sitting together with him and this morning unfortunately, I heard he got involved in an accident that took his life, I am devastated,

“Charlton was a man I can’t compare with anything, he was dedicated to his job and worked with journalists, mentored them, and supported them in their work. it’s a great loss to have lost him at this time.

“Charlton was a committed journalist with a good heart – who understood the situation of the journalists always and as in solidarity with them and encouraged them to do their work.”

Dennis Logonyi of Classic FM said: “It is so sad at the moment, we feel sudden with this current situation we are in, we have nothing to say but we know the Almighty Lord who has taken his soul to the right place.

“We will always miss you, we love you and will continue to love you as one of our brothers, a colleague, and friends in the media fraternity.

“You have left a very big gap hard to fix  but we are very sure that God will strengthen us the journalists of South Sudan.”