The United States Ambassador to South Sudan, Michael J. Adler, has described late senior Eye Radio journalist Emmanuel Joseph Akile as a professional who embraced journalism as a vocation and lived it with purpose.

Ambassador Adler made the remarks on Friday morning January 3, 2025 at St. Theresa Cathedral Catholic Church during a requiem mass for the late Eye Radio Dawn Show presenter, who died on December 30, 2025.

Eulogising Akile, the US envoy said the veteran journalist excelled in his work and made a meaningful contribution to the promotion of freedom of expression.

“Lord Bishop,” he said after greeting other dignitaries in attendance, “you spoke about how journalism is a vocation, indeed, Emmanuel Joseph Akile acknowledged it as a vocation, and as a vocation, he accepted and lived extremely well,” he said.

“To use the M.C.’s words, he excelled in that field. He excelled in his vocation. In America, we consider freedom of expression a cornerstone of citizenship,” he added.

Ambassador Adler also said Akile represented a positive image of South Sudan to fellow citizens and believed in a better future for the country.

“And our friend, whom we bid farewell to today, wanted it to be a cornerstone. He wanted his country happy. We have heard about all that he meant to people.

“I will note what a positive image he presented of South Sudan, just to his own fellow South Sudanese. May South Sudan have peace. May South Sudan have well-being and a better future,” he said.

Following the requiem mass, Akile’s body was transported to Gurei suburb of Juba, where he was buried at his family residence in an emotional ceremony attended by Eye Radio colleagues, family members, friends and the media fraternity.

Akile died aged 36 and is survived by his 13-year-old son, Janothan Emmanuel Joseph Akile.

Moments before his burial, Eye Radio observed a one-minute silence after replaying Akile’s final outro from the Dawn Show on December 23, 2025, before he went on Christmas holiday.

The one-minute silence was part of a series of tributes organised by Eye Radio management to honour Akile’s life and service. News and regular programming had earlier been suspended on Wednesday, a day after his death on December 30, 2025, at a Gudele hospital.