General Kuol Manyang Juk, Senior Presidential Advisor - courtesy

The Senior Presidential Advisor has said the only way to honor the heroes who died during the liberation struggle is through hard work and building a viable economy for the country.

Gen. Kuol Manyang Juk, who is a war veteran, made the statements ahead of the commemoration of the SPLA Day on the 16^th.

Manyang challenges the people of South Sudan to be creative and productive if they are not to lose their country’s wealth to foreigners.

Speaking to Eye Radio over the weekend, Manyang appealed to citizens to embrace hard work and become self-reliant.

“The able people should also produce rather than sitting under the trees the whole day looking for the government to employ them,” Kuol told Eye Radio.

“There is no country where a government employs everybody in the world. Education doesn’t mean when someone is educated, is a University graduate then he has to be, must be employed by the government,

“They can create their own business because education builds the mental capacity of a person to think and resolve whatever situation that is there and find themselves how to make a living,

“I challenge our people, let us not allow others to come and take up businesses in our country. They came because there are gaps that were not filled,

“Let us encourage our people to be self-reliant. That is how we enjoy our country and this is how we honor our people who died during the struggle.”

On Monday, South Sudan will mark the 39^th anniversary of the founding of the SPLA/SPLM.

Both wings of the movement emerged in May 1983, following a wave of mutinies in the barracks of the Sudanese army in the southern regions, most notably in Bor, Ayod, Pochalla, Wangkai, and Pibor.

The mutinies were commanded by Major Kerubino Kuanyin Bol and Major William Nyuon Bany.

On May 16th, 1983, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army was founded, with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement as its political wing.

The SPLM/SPLA aimed to establish an autonomous Southern Sudan, initially within a united Sudan.

John Garang de Mabior was made its first chairman and Commander-in-Chief.

Kerbino Kuanyin was appointed the second-ranking Commander, and William Nyuon its third in command.

In 1984, the first full-fledged SPLA battalion graduated in the village of Bilpam. The name ‘Bilpam’ carried great symbolic importance for SPLA as the epicenter of the uprising.

After Bilpam, other SPLA training camps were established at Dimma, Bonga, and Panyido.

Its military actions against the Sudanese government culminated in the Second Sudanese Civil War that lasted until 2005.

After South Sudan gained its independence in 2011, the SPLA became the army of the new country.

The SPLA was renamed the South Sudan People’s Defense Force, SSPDF, in 2018, partly after the SPLA splintered into so many groups fighting each other from 2013 and 2016.

As of 2019, the SSPDF comprises the Ground Force, Air Force, Air Defense Forces, and Presidential Guard.